On March 21, 2018, Robert “Bob” Reid, former president and CEO of Community One Bancorp visited Wake Forest School of Business as a guest speaker sponsored by the Allegacy Center for Leadership and Character. After meeting with 44 students in MIL124, he shared additional insights on leader development in an interview with the Allegacy Center for Leadership and Character.
Many of his comments built on the idea of a leader needing to have self-awareness and authenticity in order to gain the trust of individuals in an organization. To accomplish this, a leader has to know his or her own values and be comfortable as an individual and as a leader. This self-awareness and sense of personal and professional values should be communicated to others in the organization frequently through demonstrating transparency, high integrity, and care for people.
Leadership is about the people and when trust is built, individuals and teams will perform at a higher level. Relationship building is important because ideally a leader should place people into positions that capitalize on their strengths and fill in gaps where the leader may have weaknesses. To find this balance, trust needs to be shared and that includes respect for diverse views and a willingness to find the common ground necessary to move forward toward mutual goals and organizational success.
Please view the video for more highlights.