Consistency Magnifies Trust

Cathie Leimbach • September 6, 2022

“It’s the little things – done consistently – that make the biggest difference,” says David Horsager. “If I am overweight, it is because I have eaten too many calories over time, not because I ate too much yesterday. It is the same in business. The little things done consistently make for a higher level of trust and better results.”

Consistency is the critical driver for success. Being consistent means dedicating yourself to your goals and staying focused on the things and activities needed to achieve your goals. Consistency requires a long-term commitment from you and involves sustained effort in doing actions repeatedly until you achieve your goals. 

Discipline, accountability, and responsibility are all parts of staying consistent. Why is it so difficult to stay focused, to be disciplined, to hold ourselves accountable, and to exercise personal responsibility? 

One of the reasons is that the world around us and technology provide so many distractions that people don’t stay focused on their priorities. Another is that most people don’t have a focus because they haven’t been intentional about deciding what they want to do in life, what they want to accomplish. 

Let’s look at a few aspects of being consistent.

  1. Set Clear Goals – Determine the priorities in your life and define them in measurable ways. For example, if one of your priorities is to be a high performer at a job you love, you may set a goal for sales, client retention, average customer satisfaction, and/or your performance feedback rating. 
  2. Create a Plan to Achieve Your Goals – Write down all the things you need to do to achieve each goal. How much time will each take? How frequently do they have to be done? When will you do each of them. Create a schedule for each day, week, or month and enter all of the things you need to do to achieve success.
  3. Follow Your Plan – Now is the time to demonstrate consistency. Live in the present. Every day, week, and month, do the things on your schedule. Discipline yourself to follow the plan. Find an accountability partner who will check in with regularly to acknowledge your progress or get you back on track. Take responsibility when you fall behind due to your lack of follow-through.
  4. Review and Adjust – Evaluate the progress you are making towards your goal. If you haven’t been following it, what do you need to do to increase your consistency. If you are regularly implementing your plan but not making enough progress, what changes could improve your results? Revise your plan and consistently follow the new plan.  If you discover your goal is unrealistic, revise the goal and modify your plan.

When people see that you are clear on your priorities and consistently working towards achieving your goals, they will see you as trustworthy. Your track record of trust will be built over time; there is no other way to lasting success. Deliver the same quality of results every time and you will maintain trust.

The Power of Strategic Choice: Making Room for What Matters

By Cathie Leimbach • November 10, 2025
In most organizations, the instinct is to add —more goals, more projects, more meetings. But as Juliet Funt, founder of the Juliet Funt Group, teaches in her Strategic Choice process, real leadership strength lies in deciding what to stop doing . Strategic Choice is the intentional narrowing of priorities—cutting away the clutter so teams can focus on what truly drives results. It’s a disciplined act of letting go: saying no to good ideas so there’s room for the great ones. Funt’s approach challenges leaders to pause, think, and create the mental and operational space their people need to perform at their best. By removing unnecessary tasks and misplaced effort, leaders make room for precision, innovation, and real thinking time. This isn’t about doing less—it’s about doing what matters most. When businesses adopt this mindset, they replace overwhelm with clarity and regain control of their time, energy, and outcomes. For small to mid-sized companies, embracing Strategic Choice can transform busyness into focus—and that focus is where sustainable growth begins. Want a quick visual overview? View Strategic Choice: Making Room for What Matters to see how this process helps leaders focus on what truly drives results.

Unlock Your Team's Potential: Fix Dysfunction, Boost the Bottom Line!

By Cathie Leimbach • November 4, 2025
Hey team leaders! Ever wonder why some companies soar while others stumble? Patrick Lencioni's bestseller, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team , nails it: workplace dysfunctions such as no trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoiding accountability, and ignoring results lead to mediocre performance at best. But here's the good news—smart leadership development changes the game! Start with building trust . Train leaders to open up and be vulnerable. Teams bond, ideas flow, and costly mistakes drop. Next, embrace healthy conflict . Teach team leaders to make it safe for team members to share the pros and cons of current or new ways of doing things. This helps everyone understand different perspectives. Then, drive commitment . Leaders who clarify goals, ask everyone to share their level of buy-in, and address their concerns get everyone bought in. People focus on high value work and get more done. . Hold folks accountable through coaching. Leaders learn to give kind, direct feedback by praising good work and calmly providing more training as needed. Turnover plummets and the quality and quantity of work improves. Finally, focus on results . Be clear on expectations. Keep score by monitoring progress weekly or daily. Acknowledge team wins when the goals are met. Winning sports teams pay attention to these Five Behaviors of a Team. How would a World Series winner have been determined this week without trust among the players and coaches, openness to tough coaching, the whole team working together, players focusing on their specific positions, and getting players around the bases to get the top score? Every workplace can benefit from these team behaviors as well. Lencioni's research proves it: Companies who prepare their leaders to overcome these 5 common workplace dysfunctions, improve the culture and see huge financial gains. Invest in your leaders today. Your bottom line will thank you! Click here to learn more about the painful cost of team dysfunction.