My central argument in this series of posts is that trust is the foundation of leadership. The logic is simple. You willingly follow someone only if you trust that person to lead you.

You wouldn’t follow a financial advisor unless she knows something about investing. You wouldn’t follow a trail guide unless he is strong and savvy enough to take you through the jungle. You wouldn’t let a surgeon operate on you unless she has the proper credentials.

And in order to build trust, a leader must have the proper convictions, character, and competence.

People Must Know You Care for Them

But there is fourth quality for inspiring trust, and it is this: care for others. In order to be trustworthy, a leader must genuinely want the best for the people he or she leads.

Why is care for others such an important quality of leadership? Consider this scenario: Suppose you have a boss who has impeccable integrity, consummate competence, and unwavering convictions. He then asks you to follow him through a series of decisions that could affect your life for better or for worse.

Up to this point, you have been willing to follow him based on his character, knowledge, and skills. But now there’s something else you need to know about him: does he really want what’s best for you?

If you suspect that his decisions are driven by what would benefits himself at your expense, you might go along with it. (Maybe you’re afraid that you’ll lose respect or income.) But in that case your reasons for going with it are not because you trust him, which means he really isn’t leading you.

It’s true: leaders who don’t genuinely care for their people might gain short-term influence, but they won’t earn long-term trust.

Examples of Caring Leaders

History has shown us great leaders who, besides being people of character, conviction, and competence, also deeply cared for others.

George Washington, during the winter of Valley Forge, noticed that some of his men had wrapped their feet in rags to protect themselves against the cold. Washington immediately took action to procure proper footwear for them. He would personally visit the soldiers’ huts, listening to their stories, and empathizing with their plight.

Abraham Lincoln would write heartfelt letters of condolences to bereaved family members. This letter to one woman, Lydia Bixby, is brimming with pathos:

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Caring actions and words help to build trust, but the real proof of a leader’s care is when he or she makes a sacrifice for the good of others.

As a Christian, it is impossible for me not to see Jesus Christ as the perfect model as a leader in this regard. Jesus suffered the ultimate disadvantage—death on the cross—for the benefit of people who, at that time, were his enemies (Romans 5:8). He came, “not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

How to Be a Caring Leader

There are many practical ways to show people you care. Be a patient, careful listener. Affirm people’s unique contributions. Show that you value people for more than just what they contribute to you or your organization. Remember details about their personal lives, and bear these things in mind when making decisions.

Ultimately, however, caring for others is not something you can fake. When it comes down to the moment of decision, either you care or you don’t. Caring is not about technique and methods. Ultimately, it’s about love.

Sound sappy? One of the most thoroughly researched books on leadership I’ve read puts it this way:

“Of all the things that sustain a leader over time, love is the most lasting. . . . the best-kept secret of successful leaders is love: staying in love with leading [and] with the people who do the work. . . . Leadership is not an affair of the head. Leadership is an affair of the heart.”