Trust Begins with Honesty
Do you trust me? If you know me, you might. If you don’t then I’d guess the best I’ll get is the benefit of the doubt. If you doubt something about me then you’ll wait and see if it’s true before making a decision.
Trust is earned over time and the price we pay to gain it is being honest. That costs us something but not being honest costs us more. It might seem to solve a short term problem or help us save face but once the lack of honesty is discovered then the price is lack of trust and it’s hard to get anything done if you’re not trusted.
The thought bouncing around in my head is also about forgiveness. Sometimes Trust and Forgiveness get tangled up. If someone is less than honest with you I believe you have to forgive them. That’s about you and how you treat someone who has hurt you. If you don’t forgive then it festers in you and damages your well being. It’s OK to forgive and move on.
Trust is about the other person. If someone steals from you and you forgive them I think the result is peace for you. Do you trust them again? Likely not and that’s OK. It’s how it works.
Forgiveness is about you, trust is about them but back to trust.
Being open, authentic and the same inside as outside is how we are honest with each other and over time it builds trust. It takes time together and we learn quickly who we can trust and who we shouldn’t.
I can say in my office the folks I work with are trustworthy. My vendors I recommend are trustworthy. They’ve proven it over and over. They do what they say they will do. They make it right if something goes wrong and they fess up quickly when things don’t work the way we expected. It’s simple but not easy.
Think about someone you trust. How did that start? What did they do or not do in the beginning to get that going? I meet lots of folks and over time I earn their trust by making promises and keeping them. I earn their trust by doing more than expected and giving when I don’t have to.
One quote that sums it up is “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundation principle that holds all relationships.” – Stephen R. Covey
There is one more post about culture and I’ll get it out this week.
See, there’s a promise I can keep 🙂
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
678-616-1578 Direct
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