A Concept to Challenge Your Status Quo
“The ability to establish, grow, extend, and restore trust is the key professional and personal competency of our time.” — Stephen M.R. Covey
Picture a master architect designing a skyscraper. The architect doesn’t lay every brick or install every beam. Instead, they create blueprints, clarify the vision, highlight structural options, and empower engineers and builders to bring the vision to life—each expert trusted to make critical decisions on the ground. As fiduciary leaders, our role is to architect clarity, not micromanage construction.
The Fiduciary Leadership Blueprint: The Five Pillar Model
1. Lay the Foundation with Perspective and Evidence
The strongest buildings stand on solid ground. Elite leaders ground their teams with both data and real-world stories—like an architect referencing both engineering specs and lessons from past projects to guide the team’s thinking.
Ask yourself: What evidence or story will help my people build perspectives on bedrock, not sand?
2. Present Structural Options and Highlight Risks
A great architect offers multiple designs, each with its own trade-offs. Fiduciary leaders do the same—clearly outlining paths forward and the risks of each, so the those they’re leading can make the most informed decision and prepare for challenges.
3. Ask Questions that Empower Ownership
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” — Harvey Firestone
Instead of dictating every detail, ask: “How would you solve this design challenge?” This invites those you’re leading to become co-architects, fostering innovation and buy-in.
4. Simplify with the Keystone Question
In complex projects, simplicity is power. And as a leader we should wake up everyday asking how we can remove interference from our people to help them come closer to their true potential.
Cut through the clutter by asking:
“What is the one thing that, if done, would make everything else easier or unnecessary?”
This question, like identifying the keystone in an arch, brings clarity and focus to the next right step.
5. Empower by Elevating Core Commitments Over Distractions
Remind your team of the blueprint—the core objectives that matter most to fend off distraction on a by harnessing creativity. Guard their attention from the “urgent” but unimportant activities that constantly threaten the most important activities.
A Vulnerable Anecdote
Earlier in my career, I tried to be both architect and builder—micromanaging every detail. It led to bottlenecks and burnout. Only when I trusted my team’s expertise and focused on clarifying the vision did our projects rise higher and faster.
The Fiduciary Leader’s Challenge
Conventional wisdom says leaders must be hands-on everywhere. The fiduciary leader knows their real value is in designing clarity, trust, and empowerment.
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” — Lao Tzu
Share this with your leadership team. Ask: Are we building on a shared blueprint, and where can we empower each other to construct something extraordinary?
Great leaders don’t just build companies—they design the future. Start today.