Be it professional or personal life, ‘Loyalty’ has become a rare attribute. To have a long-standing relationship with anyone, the most important thing is to have Trust and one of the key measures of Trust in a relationship is the level of deemed loyalty.

Loyal people are those people who stand up for you no matter what. People are comfortable reaching out to them in times of need when the situations are challenging as the first person that comes to your mind is the one who has been loyal to you. Loyal people give respect to everyone irrespective of their relationship with that person; they refrain from talking behind someone’s back. If they are ever faced with a situation where people focus their discussion on those who are not present, they either leave the conversation or they stay silent without saying anything or they say something positive about the person to try to balance out the discussion, but they will never bad mouth anyone.

Loyalty is an essential factor for the success in relationships; personal and professional alike. We don’t like to be acquainted with a person whom we think will betray our trust and faith. Relationships break due to loyalty issues. A person loyal in a relationship is respectful towards their partner irrespective of their flaws. A loyal person keeps the confidence, and they won’t share any details of the conversation with anyone if it is meant to be private. Be it a partner or an immediate family member. Showing loyalty and maintaining the same, goes a long way towards a lasting relationship.

In business also loyalty is a significant aspect of the success of an organization. Loyalty in the business world is not limited to the customer only; employee loyalty is also significantly important for the organization. Contributions of loyal employees directly impact the productivity of the business. Loyalty takes you beyond the walls of teams and organization and in to a world that is built on purpose. A loyal employee puts in their best effort in creating a value for the product and services offered by the organization and clients are always on the lookout for things which will give them value addition.

One important way to show loyalty is to give credit to others, to acknowledge them for their important part in bringing about results. By giving credit, you not only affirm the value of an individual’s contribution, but also create an environment conducive to innovation and collaboration. The other way to encourage loyalty amongst the employees is to speak about others as if they were present. When you talk about others behind their backs, it causes those who are present to think you’ll do the same to them when they’re not there; it creates a negative geometric impact on trust. Last but not the least, Loyalty is not sycophancy i.e. you’re not an apple polisher. Just that when people who are loyal, have a tough message to give or challenging news to share they do it with utmost respect, privately and ensure that what is addressed is the “issue” without in anyway casting any doubts on the “person”.

Loyalty is based on the principles of integrity, gratitude, recognition and ensuring alignment to principles, is normally the easiest way to demonstrate loyalty to people. I firmly believe that Loyalty is one of the factors that separate leadership from management.