There are certain character words that when you hear them, they immediately resonate. Loyalty – Demonstrating commitment to others. When you hear the word Loyalty, what are some thoughts that create visions in your mind? A loyal pet that greets you when you return home. A loyal brand that you continue to purchase because it’s never steered you wrong. A loyal fan of a team regardless of their lack of winning record. A loyal employee who takes a pay cut to help the company they work for. A loyalty rewards program that provides you freebies for continued shopping or use of a credit card. Maybe it’s that scene in the movie where one character says to the other, “come on man, you owe me”, or a loyal friend that you can call anytime of the day or night, when times are tough.

Showing loyalty and receiving loyalty is easy when things are good, but it’s when loyalty costs us something that it becomes a most valued character trait, as it produces trust. Loyalty is a commitment to the people placed in our life’s path and loyalty is demonstrated when life doesn’t go the way we think it should. Loyalty is not necessarily a reaction to a moment in time, it is more like a foundation that is built over a period of time.

When I’m an employee, it’s easy to be loyal to my company when I have no other options. As a customer, it’s easy to be loyal when I have never had a problem, never been offended. As a friend, it’s easy to be loyal when no one has disappointed me. But when the rubber meets the road, true loyalty stands out.

Loyalty is more than choosing a side. Loyalty is not quid pro quo and it is not enabling destructive behavior. Loyalty is more than just keeping a promise you made, it is making a commitment to another person that you will hold them in high regard, recognizing that we are all a work in progress, and step up to the plate when they can no longer bat, because you know the direction they are aiming for is a good one and you will both succeed if you keep pushing each other forward. It is stopping the gossip at the water cooler and directing the discussion towards the mission and away from the toxicity, it is an honest answer or a confession of a mistake, it is creating open dialogue. It is showing others that you care about them as a person or that you are dedicated to a particular outcome and in return your behavior builds a trust level that you will do and will act in the manner that you speak. That you make decisions and judgements rooted in purpose for all, rather than convenience or selfishness. And when the hard times come, loyalty is provided to you in return.

I read somewhere that a good leader, a strong leader, a servant leader, earns the loyalty of those around them and that loyalty is a consequence of leadership.

One thought to take away is that if you are living in a manner that is inspiring loyalty, then you are also in danger of losing that loyalty. Study after study has found that a large percentage of employees feel they are loyal to their organizations, while a much smaller percentage of employees felt the organization was loyal to the employee and often cited such for leaving. And not in the way of pay and benefits, but more so in the way of feeling undervalued or that the supervisor and even co-workers didn’t have their back when things either went wrong or times got tough. This made me stop and think about building a culture of trust. We all contribute to building our workplace culture; have you thought about your participation? Do you affirm others by speaking well of them when they are not in the room? Do you demonstrate respect by keeping challenging conversations private? Do you promote a growth mindset by sharing and talking about moments that didn’t go as planned and what was learned from them? Do you ask for honest feedback and seek to learn rather than throw up your wall and turn off your hearing? Do you demonstrate that you are trustworthy by presenting a unified front when a decision is made that doesn’t line up with your preference? A good reminder that loyalty is not given, it has to be cultivated.