Employees seek engagement, empowerment and great leadership, which are based on trust and an enabling and uplifting environment.

Trust or a spiritual quotient (ethos) is the foundation of relationships. Without ethos, not much gets done. Do you trust yourself? Do you trust others? Do others trust you? Have you earned the trust of self and others? At any given point in time you will have many things on your “plate,” but probably none are as important as building trust.

When you have the ethos, the inherent trust and credibility of your employees, you have a better chance of attracting and retaining good talent.

Without trust, you cannot get far in relationship building. Without it, everything you do and say will have no basis. All your efforts will be in vain because you have not built credibility by being trustworthy. Just as you have to plant, cultivate, water and weed before you can enjoy a harvest, trust is required to nurture good relationships.

Next comes pathos or emotional quotient, which includes spending time understanding the other person through empathy and compassion. This comes about by respecting people the way they are, not the way you want them to be. The difference is not a weakness; it can be a great strength. If you are open to it, difference creates synergy, growth, and learning. Once you begin to show respect to others and develop a deep understanding through emphatic listening, you begin to be in pathos.

Then comes logic—this is the IQ or logos phase. Many people begin here and do not get further because trust or a spiritual quotient (ethos) and emotional quotient (pathos) are both missing. Everyone wants to share our logic and wisdom, but the wise invest time in building trust and relationships before sharing logic.

Building relationships take time and energy. It requires giving of oneself. It is an investment you make to build a strong foundation.

Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter conducted research involving 200 high-potential senior employees in leadership positions. They reveal in their book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There that what kept the employees loyal was meaningful work, camaraderie, community feeling and pursuing their calling instead of just their paycheque.