(4 mins read)
TRUST is intangible and abstract. We cannot touch it or define it in numbers. However, trust is a fundamental factor that significantly impacts many areas of personal or business relationships, a happy family, effective teamwork, and successful collaboration.
In professional life, every organisation aims to build a culture based on transparency, open dialogue, mutual respect, where people speak up, share their thoughts, and concerns without any fear of retaliation. A trust-focused organisation would create an environment where people would not be afraid of taking risks, innovating, failing, and succeeding. A company built on trust will be reliable, credible, transparent, and ethical.
However, there is one challenging element; it’s extremely difficult to establish trust on an organisational level. It’s difficult to say if we trust an organisation but it’s easy to say if we trust a person or not. So, if we want to establish a trustworthy culture, we need to recruit, retain, and develop people who are TRUST BUILDERS.
Below are some tips for TRUST BUILDERS:
- Be honest and transparent – always communicate things as they are, don’t sugar-coat. Don’t be afraid to share challenging news. Honesty is the first and fundamental step in the process of building trust.
- Be reliable – keep promises and deadlines. Say what you are going to do and then do it. If possible, try to surprise and overdeliver. Ensure that being reliable, delivering, and keeping promises become your personal brand attributes. A trust-building person is available for others when they need support, advice, or help.
- Communicate openly and honestly – don’t lie and don’t avoid difficult discussions. Engage with people and don’t withhold information. People listen carefully, and they will detect any false notes in your voice.
- Build personal connections – connect with people at different levels. Take the time to develop meaningful and respectful relationships. Ask about their families, their life, moments of joy or sorrow, and share your personal details as well.
- Listen actively – don’t talk and pay attention to what others are saying. Ask questions based on what they have said to understand more and show that you care.
- Respect others – treat everyone with respect and dignity. Recognise when formality is required. Don’t be nice to your manager or senior leaders only. Appreciate every person in your work environment.
- Be accountable – take responsibility for your actions and admit mistakes. We are all human, and not everything will go according to our plans. Show knowledge and skills; demonstrate your ability to fulfil the required work.
Below are some tips on how to recognise TRUST DESTROYERS:
- Break promises – trust destroyers, despite their commitment to do something, don’t keep their promises or commitments. If they do it once, it’s not a problem, but over time, their consistent failure to keep promises can lead others to doubt their reliability.
- Avoid difficult conversations – due to many different reasons, trust destroyers are afraid of having difficult conversations. It could be linked to the culture or their personalities. They believe that if they sweep something under the rug, it will disappear.
- Do not respect people – trust destroyers may be nice or super professional when they need something from you or when they believe you may be useful to them.
- Are not reliable – unreliable people use excuses to justify their failure to meet commitments. We may see some signs of procrastination, task and promise delays, or indecision.
- Lack transparency – trust destroyers may intentionally mislead or withhold information from others. It might work in the short term, but later, when people learn the actual situation or problem, they will be disappointed.
- Lack skills and competencies – trust destroyers may demonstrate incompetence or an inability to fulfil their responsibilities. It may be visible through not understanding the issue or proposing inadequate solutions to problems.
- Blame others – if there is a failure and we confront trust destroyers about their unreliability, they may shift the blame onto others. They may try to make excuses or claim that all problems are due to factors beyond themselves.
Now, it’s your turn. Who are you? Are you a TRUST BUILDER or a TRUST DESTROYER, or both, depending on the situation? Take a blank piece of paper, ask yourself the questions below, and self-reflect.
Am I always honest and transparent when I engage with others?
Am I always available for others when they need support, help, or advice?
Do I build deep personal relationships at work?
Am I an active listener?
Am I capable of conducting difficult discussions?
Be open and honest with yourself. It’s not a test, and nobody is judging you.
Honest answers will help you identify some focus areas and actions that will help you strengthen as a TRUST BUILDER.
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