I'm Your Agent: How True Leadership Starts with Earning Your Team's Trust
Image by Keith Johnston from Pixabay
Leadership is more than a title; it’s a responsibility. It’s about being the advocate, the protector, and the agent of your team, always working to ensure their well-being and success. A true leader serves as an agent for their team, fighting for their best interests and shielding them from unnecessary harm. But too often, we see leaders demanding loyalty, trust, and respect without ever earning it. It’s a troubling irony: those who shout the loudest for loyalty are often the ones who fail to provide it in return, breaking promises and prioritizing their own interests over their team’s. This article was inspired by such troubling revelations, where leadership failures have led to devastating consequences, not just for individuals but for entire organizations.
Consider the recent case of a former CIA officer who was sentenced to 30 years for drugging, sexually assaulting, and filming women over a 14-year period. This horrifying breach of trust and abuse of power didn’t just reflect one man's actions—it spoke to a larger systemic failure. Leaders at every level have a responsibility to protect and advocate for their people, not exploit them. As agents for their teams, leaders must ensure the safety and dignity of all those they are responsible for. Yet, as this case shows, when leaders fail to act as agents, the fallout can affect the entire organization, allowing toxic behaviors to thrive unchecked.
BE, KNOW, DO: A Timeless Leadership Framework
In the US Army, we often refer to the philosophy of BE, KNOW, DO—a framework that outlines the essence of leadership:
These actions demonstrate that a leader is more than a manager—they are an agent, actively working on behalf of their team’s best interests. This isn’t just a military principle—it applies to leaders at all levels, across all sectors. Whether you’re leading a small team or a massive organization, these principles remain the same: leadership is about earning trust, loyalty, and respect through your actions, not demanding it through your title.
The Irony of Demanding Loyalty
Here’s the irony: leaders who demand loyalty often have the least to show for it. They may preach about commitment and respect, yet their actions consistently prioritize self-interest over the welfare of their team. Statistics show that 70% of employees worldwide are disengaged at work due to bad management and leadership, and roughly two-thirds of managers are ineffective. Many leaders rise through the ranks without demonstrating true leadership qualities, often because they are better at playing internal politics rather than serving as agents for their teams.
True leadership is about creating an environment where people feel safe, valued, and supported. You don’t need to demand loyalty when your actions speak for themselves—when you stand up for your team in tough situations, ensure they have the resources to succeed, and follow through on your promises. It’s about being their agent, someone who always has their back and fights for their best interests, even when it's difficult.
Taking Care of Your People
The best leaders are those who actively take care of their people. A recent and well-regarded example of this kind of leadership comes from Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Since taking the reins in 2014, Nadella has transformed Microsoft’s internal culture from one that was once seen as aggressive and hyper-competitive into a more empathetic, collaborative, and growth-oriented environment. Employees widely praise Nadella for his focus on creating psychological safety, allowing them to innovate and grow without fear of failure.
Nadella is not just a visionary; he’s a leader who consistently advocates for his team. By shifting the company’s focus, encouraging risk-taking, and fostering collaboration, Nadella ensured that his team felt empowered and supported. Microsoft’s financial success under his leadership is no coincidence—it’s a result of his commitment to being an agent and advocate for his team. He fought for their success, created the conditions for growth, and continually demonstrated that their well-being was his priority.
When a leader acts as an agent for the team, the team takes care of the mission. It's that simple. Trust, loyalty, and respect follow naturally when people know their leader is always in their corner.
The Dangers of the 'Above the Law' Attitude
In stark contrast, we see the devastating consequences of leadership failures in the case of former CIA officer Brian Jeffrey Raymond. Over the course of 14 years, Raymond exploited his position of power to commit horrendous crimes, drugging, filming, and sexually assaulting dozens of women. His actions went unchecked for years, enabled by an organizational culture that failed to hold him accountable. Leaders like Raymond failed to act as agents for their teams, instead prioritizing their own gain, which fostered a toxic environment.
Raymond’s case highlights the 'above the law' attitude some leaders and employees adopt when they feel invincible in their positions. When leaders fail to act as effective agents and advocates for their teams, they often create environments where certain individuals feel untouchable, eroding trust and psychological safety for everyone else. In Raymond’s case, this allowed toxic behavior to spread unchecked, with devastating consequences for the entire organization.
This same attitude can be seen in toxic environments across many organizations. For example, the recent firing of New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh was linked to his tumultuous relationship with star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers, a high-profile employee, wielded more influence than the head coach himself, leading to a fractured team dynamic. When leaders cannot act as true agents for their teams, it opens the door for powerful employees to undermine leadership authority, ultimately leading to the leader's downfall. In Saleh’s case, Rodgers’ influence eroded team cohesion and led to the head coach’s departure.
Boeing’s Leadership Crisis: A Divide That Cost Lives and Astronauts’ Plans
Another stark example of leadership failure can be seen in Boeing’s recent crisis. Over the past few years, Boeing has suffered from catastrophic engineering failures, leading to loss of lives and devastating reputational damage. The divide between Boeing’s employees, particularly engineers, and its management and shareholders has been a major contributing factor. Employees have spoken out about how decisions increasingly focused on profit margins rather than the company’s original mission of safety and quality. This shift in priorities reflects a leadership failure to act as agents for the employees and customers.
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Beyond these tragedies, Boeing’s lack of focus has also impacted their work on critical space missions. NASA had originally planned to use Boeing’s Starliner to send two astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, on a short assignment to the International Space Station. However, due to Boeing’s engineering failures—faulty thrusters and helium leaks—the mission was delayed, extending the astronauts’ stay by months. Ultimately, NASA lost confidence in Boeing’s ability to bring the astronauts home safely and reassigned the task to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. This shift was a clear signal of NASA’s reduced trust in Boeing’s leadership to act as agents for their astronauts’ safety, and a warning of how leadership failures in mission-critical projects can have lasting repercussions.
Furthermore, Boeing has faced whistleblower allegations that reveal even deeper leadership issues. A 2024 Senate investigation exposed claims that Boeing hid faulty parts from regulators and retaliated against employees who raised safety concerns. In January 2024, a Boeing 737 MAX suffered a door plug failure, leading to an emergency landing. These systemic failures reflect a company culture where leadership failed to act as agents for the people on the ground, prioritizing profits over safety. Whistleblowers have consistently reported a culture prioritizing profits over safety, contributing to Boeing’s deteriorating reputation.
When leaders fail to be agents for their teams, the result is a collapse in trust, performance, and ultimately, the mission itself. Boeing’s inability to get it right not only disrupted the astronauts’ plans but also called into question the company’s future in spaceflight and aviation—a clear example of the consequences of poor leadership, mismanagement, and misplaced priorities.
Managing the Project, Not Just the People
Leadership is not just about managing people—it’s about managing the environment in which they operate. Leaders must identify and remove obstacles, whether they come from internal politics, external pressures, or organizational inefficiencies. You are your team’s agent, and your role is to create the best possible conditions for their success.
Take, for example, a leader who refused to let their team be overcommitted by negotiating fair deadlines with senior leadership. They didn’t shy away from hard conversations or pass down unrealistic expectations. Instead, they advocated for their team, understanding that success was tied directly to how well they could protect them from outside pressures.
On the other hand, I’ve seen leaders who failed to do this, and the results were catastrophic—overwhelmed employees, missed deadlines, and a toxic work environment. The difference between a great leader and a poor one often comes down to whether they see themselves as an agent for their team or just another manager pushing work down the chain.
Feedback and Continuous Improvement
Leadership also means ensuring that everyone on your team is aligned with performance expectations, and that requires meaningful, consistent feedback. Not just an annual review, but ongoing, actionable conversations about what’s going well and where there’s room for improvement.
Good leaders create an open culture where feedback flows in all directions. Great leaders make that feedback actionable—they don’t just point out problems; they help provide the resources, support, and guidance necessary to improve. They act as agents of growth for their team, making sure they have what they need to succeed.
When you show your team that their growth matters as much as the project’s success, you build something greater than a functional team—you build a high-performance unit.
Leadership as Agency
At the core of leadership is advocacy. Your job as a leader is to make sure your team has what they need to succeed, whether that means securing resources, negotiating timelines, or pushing back on unreasonable demands. Sometimes, it even means shielding them from external or internal threats—navigating office politics, addressing toxic behaviors, or standing firm when upper management is out of line.
You are their leader and their agent, the person who fights battles behind the scenes so that your team can focus on what they do best. When you embody the role of an agent, your team knows you have their best interests at heart and can trust you to lead them to success.
Conclusion
Leadership is earned, not demanded. Trust, loyalty, and respect are the results of consistent, thoughtful actions that prioritize your team’s well-being. By advocating for your people, managing projects with their success in mind, and ensuring they receive the feedback they need to grow, you become not just their leader but their agent—the person who represents their best interests and fights for their success.
As the cases of Satya Nadella, Boeing’s leadership crisis, and Brian Jeffrey Raymond illustrate, the difference between good and bad leadership can transform or destroy an organization. Statistics from a 30-year study show that half of managers end up failing, and leadership crises—like Boeing’s—often come with devastating consequences. True leaders act as agents and advocates, fostering environments where psychological safety, trust, and loyalty thrive. Anything less is a violation of what it means to lead.
About Dr. Michael Woody
Dr. Michael Woody (Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army Retired) is the founder and CEO of Three Six Zero Leadership, a leadership consulting firm. Dr. Michael Woody is an expert on High-Performance Teams, Toxic Leadership, and Leadership Development. Learn more about Dr. Woody at https://www.high-performanceteamhpat.com/ . Message Dr. Woody here on LinkedIn to have him speak at your event.