Can I trust you?

The subject of trust is coming up a lot in my talks with clients lately.

Have you ever stopped to consider this - 

What do you do to prove that you are trustworthy? 

How do you know that you actually are trusted by others? 

Trust is a vague, ambiguous, and highly underrated value that gets little to no attention in terms of educational focus or training, even though trust is crucially important in personal AND workplace relationships. 

In personal relationships, trust is paramount for intimacy, growth, and emotional stability. 

In the workplace, I’ve seen that trust holds the keys to productivity, collaboration, retention, engagement and ultimately to profitability.

Some compelling stats that illustrate the power of trust: 

• Trusted companies outperform their peers by up to 400%

• Customers who trust a brand are 88% more likely to buy again 

• 79% of employees who trust their employer are more motivated to work (and less likely to leave)

The importance of trust is at an all-time high - and sadly at a time when the inclination to trust is at an all-time low.

How do we build, earn and maintain trust?  

Here are 5 key strategies to test and greatly improve your trust scores. 

1. Be in it for the long-haul.  No surprise - building trust takes time and commitment. Shortcuts are not allowed. Decide that you will keep showing up and proving you mean what you say, consistently. Don’t expect anyone to trust you just because you think they should. Consider every interaction as your only chance to either prove or disprove your credibility here because that’s exactly how your audience thinks. 

2. Be honest. Sounds simple, but I’m often amazed at how this one rule sets so many back. There will likely come a time or situation when your ability to be truthful will be difficult but necessary. Show others that your word is reliable. Always. Especially when it’s not popular or easy to be honest. This includes not over-promising if you can’t be absolutely sure you can deliver.

3. Be accountable for your faults. Vulnerability is courageous and so very needed in trust-building. When you mess up, admit it. When you know you could have done better, admit it. When you are trying hard to make a change, admit it. Allow others to hold you accountable for the new actions you’re dedicating yourself to improving. I call this “working on self awareness out loud.” This adds immensely to your trust factor. 

4. Be helpful.  Again, it sounds easy, yet you may be surprised when I explain further. To be truly helpful, you must shift your mindset from knowing what someone needs to taking time to discover what is most supportive. Many people fail miserably in this area today as they don’t have the patience or humility to carve out the time it takes  to listen deeply and to bring their curiosity to the table in order to search for the best possible solution. A great challenge on this front: decide to leave each interaction with others having made a positive impact. Read that again. 

5. Be humble. Allow yourself to have emotions, tender spots, and stories. Trust is amplified when times are tough and you are willing to let others see “behind the curtain” of your professional facade. And, when others are down, humility goes a long way to forge connection. Show you’re reliable for holding space for others to have whatever emotions are present, without judgment or the need to ‘fix’ them, or thinking you have the right answer for them. For those of us who are ‘fixers’ and ‘rescuers’, this can be really hard. The right way to build trust is to ask the right questions that allow others to get to their right answers. This was one of the most poignant bits I’ve taken into practice in that last few years.

I could add loads of other suggestions here. However, I've learned through years of coaching and consulting work that small, dedicated steps to improvement are the way to make real progress.

So start with this list and see where you may fall short.  Create a list of 3-4 action steps you can take, consistently, to improve how trustworthy you are with others. 

If you want to master this skill (or others), reach out HERE. For more than 20 years, I’ve been supporting clients just like you. 

Folks come to me with all kinds of desires, all which involve stretching themselves beyond their current identity and into the person that their heart knows they are here to be.  

Their results are evidence that I can be trusted. Each of their stories shifted beyond what they expected was possible. I did it for them and can do it for you too.  That’s a promise I intend to keep.