Thinking Trust
Recently, I finished reading Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Teal Book of Trust. The book attempts to outline the many aspects
of trust: earning it, losing it, how to keep it, and why it’s important. It got me thinking. Who do I trust and why? Who trusts me and why? Seemingly, simple questions to answer but I
found that to not really be the case.
There is much that goes into trusting and being trusted.
What is Trust?
Trust is defined by the dictionary as “reliance on the integrity,
strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.” However, trust is really much deeper than a
simple definition. Trust is also
fragile; it must be earned; it can easily be lost; it can be a measure of the
level of predictability; it can be acknowledged through a decision; it is the
fact of knowing and believing; once established it is very delicate; and it
comes with risk. Trust can be something
you feel or the result of a cause and effect.
In just about everything I do I am either trusting or distrusting the
person, thing or situation – there is no gray area. You either do or you do not trust.
Easy to Earn
Ernest Hemingway stated “the best way to find out if you
can trust somebody is to trust them.”
The proof is in the pudding so to say.
Your actions are evidence of your trustworthiness. When entrusted to complete a task or follow
through on something, do you? Do people
have confidence that you will get the job done?
Trust is earned through actions.
“People ask me why it’s so hard to trust people, and I ask them why is
it so hard to keep a promise? – unknown” Governments trust or distrust other
governments based on actions. Products
are trusted based on delivering capabilities promised and the confidence in the
manufacturer to continue delivering quality products. Just as Craftsmen Tools are trusted our
Military is trusted as a result of integrity, strength and the ability to get
the job done.
Easy to Lose
As quickly as trust can be earned it can be lost. When promises are not kept, distrust is the
result. If I promise a client that I
will deliver a widget or service by a certain date the client is expecting that
widget or service to be delivered by that date.
The client may build other plans around the date I provided building to
the level of trust and expectations. If
the date slips the level of trust my client has in my ability to deliver
slips. If the date continues to slip at
some point the client will distrust any date I provide and will begin to
question my ability to deliver on what I promised – at this point the client
has lost trust in me. My credibility and
the client’s confidence in my ability to deliver fade, and their level of trust
in me diminishes to the point of distrusting me.
Business deals, transactions and relationships happen
because of trust. An element of trust is
the expectation that someone or something will do the right thing. When you trust there is a feeling of
confidence, of being safe and comfortable with the deal, transaction or relationship. The opposite is true when trust is missing
and the deal, transaction or relationship fails to happen.
The Best Situation
Mutual trust is a great achievement which requires
commitment. When each party trusts the
other great things can be accomplished.
When soldiers trust their leaders to make the right decisions in the
heat of battle and the leaders trust their soldiers to follow through battles
are won. In business the same holds
true. When management trusts the workers,
and the workers trust management, not only is a competitive advantage realized
but great things are achieved. Breaking
down walls by building levels of trust is instrumental to any
relationship. Mutual trust builds long
lasting relationships in both personal and professional worlds and decreases
undesirable outcomes. When you think
about it everything we do in our personal and professional lives are centered
on some type of relationship.
When I think of trust, I think of it as an end result. Everything I do should be driving towards an
end result of trust. The result is
dependent on many things but most importantly on two characteristics: my character and my competency. Character reflected in my ability to have
good intentions and integrity to do the right thing. Competency reflected in my capacity and
capability to provide positive results.
In the end George MacDonald said it best “to be trusted is a greater
compliment than to be loved.” Who do you
trust and who trusts you?
