Trust. Trust! Trust? That’s a word that keeps popping up in ads, in the media and in more and more conversations. President Obama in his State of the Union address earlier this year said we have a deficit of it. Ask ten people what that word means, and you’ll get twenty different responses. Look it up in your dictionary. Don’t be surprised if you get over 45 different definitions! However you define it, experts agree that trust is the critical ingredient in effective relationships.
Take a moment to think about trust – what does it mean to you? You probably thought of words like dependable, truthful, reliable, or even caring. Ask around. Many would say they don’t believe that people in general tell the truth, keep their promises, or just can be trusted! Some might say it’s just about extinct.
Hmmm, are you one of those in the eyes of others who can’t be trusted? Impossible, you say! What can you do to show others that you can be trusted?
Think about the basics, the ABCDs so to speak, and ask others if they think that you are:
A. ABLE to do your job,
B. BELIEVABLE because you act with integrity,
C. CONNECTED to them by showing that you care, or
D. DEPENDABLE because you do what you say you do to get things done.
These four elements (Able, Believable, Connected and Dependable)* lay the foundation for trust. Trust is essential to all relationships, be they between boss and employee, peers, team members or one person to another. If one of these is lacking, even in the slightest, trust can be broken. Someone once said that Trust is like money – it takes hours to earn it but seconds to lose.
*The above is based on the TrustWorks!® system developed by Cynthia Olmstead and is used to build and maintain trust in more than 50 organizations.
This is the second in a series of three articles written by Cynthia Rogers. Next month’s article will cover the link between behavioral styles and trust.
Cynthia is President of Rogers & Associates, a Training consulting firm. To learn more about TrustWorks!® or for more information about the products and services offered by Rogers & Associates, please contact Cynthia Rogers at CRogersAssoc@aol.com or (847) 223-5914.