Psychology Today writer Michael D. Matthews featured the School’s Center for Leadership and Character Director Pat Sweeney’s leadership research in his recent story about trust being essential to effective leadership.
An especially intriguing field study of trust was conducted by military psychologist Patrick J. Sweeney. Sweeney, a U.S. Army colonel, was in graduate school pursuing his doctorate in social psychology at the time the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003. Although Sweeney was slated for assignment to West Point to teach psychology and leadership upon completion of his doctoral studies, General David Petraeus asked him to suspend his graduate studies and assist in the initial military operations to take Baghdad in March of 2003. In conjunction with this request, Sweeney quickly designed a study that allowed him to conduct research on trust among real soldiers engaged in real combat. I suspect that the University of North Carolina, where Sweeney obtained his doctorate in social psychology, had never seen a dissertation of this sort!
Sweeney devised a set of surveys and administered them to officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted soldiers during the fight for Baghdad. It is an understatement to say that this methodology had very high external validity! Following his stint in the war, Sweeney returned to his graduate studies, spent several months analyzing the data he had collected in Iraq, and successfully completed and defended his dissertation.
The results of Sweeney’s research were enlightening. He found three factors central to soldiers trusting their leaders. Sweeney calls these factors the “3 C’s” of trust: Competence, character, and caring. First and foremost, to be trusted, leaders must be viewed by their soldiers as competent. They had to know their jobs, and communicate clearly to their subordinates that they possessed the knowledge and skills needed to get the job done. Incompetence, in this setting, could result in unnecessary deaths or injury to soldiers.
Read the full story at Psychology Today.
FAQs
The results of Sweeney's research were enlightening. He found three factors central to soldiers trusting their leaders. Sweeney calls these factors the “3 C's” of trust: Competence, character, and caring. First and foremost, to be trusted, leaders must be viewed by their soldiers as competent.
What are the 3 C's of trust? ›
I believe there are three key things to building trust, and they are competence, character, and consistency. The three C's, are broadly important as not only do you need to build trust with your teams, you also need to build trust with your suppliers, your stakeholders, your investors and your community.
What are the three C's of leadership? ›
Good Leadership Generates Great Retention
The next time you are leading your team, focus on your mindset and decide to be a three-C leader: competent, committed and with strong character. When we do that, our employees win, and when they win, we all win.
What is 3 C's concept? ›
The 3 Cs of Brand Development: Customer, Company, and Competitors. There is only a handful of useful texts on strategy. Any MBA student will be familiar with these: Competitive Advantage and Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter.
What does the three 3 C's stand for? ›
We are all innately curious, compassionate, and courageous, but we must cultivate these values — the 3Cs — as daily habits to foster the independent thinking, free expression, and constructive communication that will enable our society to reach its full potential.
What are the 3 C's of influence? ›
Clarity, Conviction and Congruence – the 3 C's of Business Influence.
What are the 3 C's of success? ›
The duo says regardless of whether a goal is shared, there are “three C's” for success: communication, compromise and consistency. All three C's are helpful in any relationship, but one of these elements becomes especially important in each of three different sets of circ*mstances.
What are the 3 C's in a relationship? ›
The three C's – Communication, Compromise, and Commitment – are well-known building blocks of a strong and healthy relationship.
What are the three essential elements of a trust? ›
One important factor in understanding how trusts work is knowing who is involved in a trust. There are three roles in a trust someone can fill: grantor, beneficiary, and trustee. Oftentimes, the same person can be in more than one of these trust roles at the same time.
What is the 3 keys factor to build trust? ›
The Core Drivers of Trust
So how do you build up stores of this foundational leadership capital? In our experience, trust has three core drivers: authenticity, logic, and empathy.
Knowing this, we can discuss what needs to be in place before the trustor is willing to be vulnerable, take the risk, and trust someone else. Mayer et al. (1995) found that there are three elements that must be in place before trust exists. They are ability, integrity, and benevolence.
