It's been interesting watching the Nadim Zahawi saga unfold and reflecting on the reasons behind it and why it matters. You can think about all the reasons why he might have behaved as he did, none of them display much in the way of empathy or intelligence but the interesting observation is why it matters and why it matters so much?  Why he is not just another one of the many people whose relationship with HMRC became a little confused.

It matters so much because he was in a position of trust and trust is what makes the world go round. So much of our life is based on trust, the sun comes up every day, the electricity comes on when we flick a switch, the water comes out of the taps when we turn them on. We live on the basis that the world will continue to be pretty much what we imagine it to be, and that people will do what we expect them to do. On the days that the electricity doesn't work and there's no water in the tap we feel threatened and betrayed. That works in our business relations too and it’s the reason why openness and honesty is so critical in building teams and businesses.

When I am asked by leaders what will enable them to scale their business, to move at pace and to embrace agile working my answer is always that it starts with trust and trust starts with the leader.  Trust is the greatest time management tool of all, if the leader is trusted there is less politics, less second guessing. If colleagues are trusted to perform their functions, then there is far less grit in the process, and it moves quickly without need for checks and reporting. Companies that are trusted by their customers and their suppliers survive through the hard times because of the loyalty they have built.

And where does trust come from?  It comes from openness, a willingness to admit to mistakes and fix them fast, a belief in the goodness and honesty of others that breeds openness in return.

Without trust there is suspicion, delay and second guessing, inefficiency and wasted time. If you want to be an effective leader, then make sure you cultivate trust in everything you do.