Building Trust With Those Around You

Have you experienced a break-down of trust in your environment? Many of us have. The mistake we often make is that we forget that there are specific ingredients necessary to create a trust-filled environment. Isn’t it amazing how much a team can accomplish when the trust levels are high? Often one avoids the time wasting associated with unnecessary conflict. You become more productive when the people around you give you the benefit of the doubt. So how does trust break down in the first place?

In most cases trust is slowly frittered away and ends up breaking down for a whole range of reasons:

Failure to deliver on promises
Hidden expectations about what will be achieved
Talking negatively outside meetings
Cliques and sub-groups
Lack of communication
Not raising problems – rather collecting injustices

We each have a trust bank account where people make deposits and withdrawals.

Each person has a trust bank account with you based on their perception of your trustworthiness is generated and sustained by the following ingredients:

Consistency: Whatever surprises you may face, you don’t create unnecessary ones for the people around you. You are all of a piece; You stay on course
Congruity: You walk your talk. There is no gap between theories you espouse and the life you practice.
Reliability: you are there when it counts; you are ready to support your co-workers in the moments that matter.
Integrity: you honour your commitments and promises

I want to keep on doing things that build up the trust bank accounts of the people I relate to. The last thing I want is to take a withdrawal and end up in overdraft with you.

Think of the key people you relate to and write down a list of the things you can do to build your trust bank account with them.