After a decade or so of successful field work for the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Samuel Worth traded the streets for a desk job — a standard climb-the-ladder move in many organizations.
Worth took on his leadership roles with little actual management experience. But over the next 20 years or so, working his way up to deputy director of the NCIS, he learned a valuable lesson. It came, in large part, from daily chats with an unusual source: the office custodian. That lesson? A culture of trust from the top in any organization has to come from deeds, not mere words.