I have been employed as a leader in the Information Technology, Training Solutions and Consulting industries for 12 years. What I've taken to heart most is that solutions are always about people -- not hardware, software, 1s or 0s. You can create the most viscerally impressive solution in the world, but if it does not solve a real problem for the user, it provides no tangible worth.

I am constantly studying what customers and partners value. Since 1999 my career has afforded me the privilege to work closely with many different types of clients on many different kinds of solutions across 3 continents. What I have found is that the ability to gain trust and be successful has hinged critically on showing a true and sincere concern for solving a customer's problems. If you care, they will trust. If they trust, they will confide. And if they confide, you can get to the heart and soul of your market and serve them better than anyone else.

When building internal teams within organizations, I've found that the ability to gain trust and influence through sincerity, action, and example will almost always trump bestowed authority as a foundation for effective leadership. In addition, I believe that leadership built upon the former set of principles is deeper and more resilient than leadership built upon the latter. Every human has internal motivations; a good team-builder will invest the time required into each person to understand those motivations, and leverage them to create a successful environment for both the individual and the team.

"Human organizations are not like mechanisms, even though organizational charts suggest the metaphor that they are. Human organizations are much more like organisms: they depend upon feelings and relationships and motivation and value and self-value and a sense of identity and of community."

-Sir Ken Robinson