Do you?
“Trust: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; one in which confidence is placed” (Webster’s Dictionary)
Trust is a big word. We need to trust, but these days, it seems like there is a lack of trust across many facets of our lives.
Trust is fragile. It gets eroded when people lie because you can no longer believe that person, brand or institution. When we have a bad experience, our ability to trust long-term suffers. The old adage: “once bitten, twice shy” clearly speaks to our fear of engaging when trust is eroded.
Working remotely has eroded trust in many organizations. Some research from Harvard said that almost a third of managers reported not trusting the competence of their own employees.
One of my clients who works remotely said yesterday that she doesn’t trust her manager or her company. Does that impact her work? Of course it does.
#WiseWords
“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that
from now on I can’t believe you.“
Worth the Share
What if we could intentionally work to build trusting relationships? I enjoyed this Thrive article that talks about granting trust because it is hopeful, and we can all use a little hope right now.
Written by Mike Robbins, he talks about the opportunity to consciously build trust, which will result in deeper connections, cooperation and collaboration in our personal and professional lives.
This quote from Albert Einstein says it beautifully: “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” Eternal optimist that I am, I’m going with friendly. Read on.
And Finally...
I had the privilege of doing some team alignment work with a leadership team that had trust issues. It was apparent that they knew trust was an issue, that it mattered to get on better footing and that they were willing to do the work to build up their trust in each other. Happily, they did the work and are now doing really well as a team.
What are some practical ways to build trust as a manager and as an employee? Research from Gallup shows that the more you trust someone and act accordingly, the more likely they are to trust you in return.
Other tips:
- Communicate clearly.
- Have honest conversations.
- Be vulnerable.
- Admit when you are wrong.
- Be humble.
- Be true to your word.
- Recognize that trust builds over time.
- Be consistent.
Being a good human is a great place to start.
Have a great week,
Mary Jo