This Month's Article: Building Trust

"Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters."
~ Albert Einstein

"Trust me!"

How many times have you either heard that or said that to someone else?

While those words are short and simple, the act of fully engaging in trust is long and complicated...yet it can be achieved!

Trust is defined as the ability to state what will be done, commit to a time to complete it, and then, deliver to that agreement. And, trust is lacking when people are iffy, distant, non-committal, and/or do not do what they say they'd do when they said they'd get it done. 

When there is low trust, you have slow speed and high costs. still, when you have high trust, you work in a world of rapid speed and low cost. According to JSA, LLC, the keys trust issues stem from baggage, personalities, culture, and myths. My take on on addressing them include remembering:

• Baggage–people have other experiences
• Personalities–consider DiSC and EI
• Culture–no threats, gossip, badmouthing
• Myths–what hasn’t been addressed?

Keeping all of this in mind, trust is about communication AND respect , and since open communication builds trusting relationships, then you can appreciate that lack of communication creates doubt and concern.

It's important to build trust internally with sharing things such as planned days off, getting agreement, how performance management is communicated, and it is important to build trust externally by checking in on others, getting agreement, and aligning what success looks like for all involved.

While building trust takes time, trust is lost in an instant, and rebuilding trust takes far longer, if ever to regain, so If you think you don’t have time to explain something fully or check in with someone, then when will have time to undo the damages from something being done incorrectly and/or them not having faith in you? If it hasn't been clear, a huge part of trust is TRUSTING YOURSELF! So, do trust:

• That you are capable
• That is is okay to ask for assistance
• That if your heart/head/gut tell you there's a problem, do inquire and/or act on it

Some trust DOs and DON'Ts are:

• DO meet w/the team when you ahve any new additions, don't simply let people figure it out
• DO use people's names, don't use "hey" or "dude"
• DO check in on other's impressions, don't rest on your laurels or figue your past repuration is enough
• DO ask, listen, and honor how people like to receive communication and be coached, don't assume or only share the way you like to receive communication or be coached
• DO admit mistakes, don't blame others
• DO be humble, don't be bossy or cocky
• DO lead people and manage process, don't attempt to manage people and lead process
• DO say “I don’t know, and I'll get back to you by TIME/DATE", don't guess or attempt to bluff your way through
• DO ask "What, if anything have I said or done or not said or done that is keeping us from fully engaging", don't be defensive when you hear feedback, even if it sounds like criticism
• DO start over with people by asking for a fresh start, don't keep trying to win over people by ignoring past situations
• DO communicate (especially when money is involved) directly, don't ignore or hope things will simply pass

By being sincere and earnest in your effort, knowing you are not perfect, and that neither are others, you can establish trust and then build on that foundation!

#DoYourBest #ProfessionalDevelopment #PersonalDevelopment #KIND #Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence #PerformanceCoaching #Growth