Earning Trust

Think of someone you know in person. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate him/her on the amount of trust you have in the person, 1 being totally no trust, 10 being you trust him with your eyes closed.  Don’t think too much.  Let your gut feeling decide on the rating.

Now that you have a score on the person, analyse your choice in your own way and give a new score where necessary. You should not be far off in your final score on the person from your gut feel.  Now why is this so?  Because how much we trust a person depends on our past dealings/experiences with that person.

The job gets started quickly when we trust our team, and our team trusts us.  And, the chance of a successful execution will be high.

Earning trust takes time.  To cut the long story short, the following are some attributes which I feel important to have in order to earn trust:

• Sincerity and Honesty:  Never lie.  All we need is one lie to bring us to the back of the pack.  Do not take credit for other people’s work.  Show our appreciation when it is due.  Be helpful.  Have a listening ear.  Let others finish what they want to say.  

• Humility:  Admit it when we are wrong.  Admit it when we don’t know something.  Do not boast or self-promote.  Give the benefit of doubt to others when appropriate.

• Effective Communication:.  Be frank, go straight to the point.  Explain our thought process/rationale whenever appropriate and necessary.  Watch our body language.  Sometimes, looking away or touching our nose when we are talking signals insincerity.

• Effective Execution:  Double check, triple check our work each time, and produce the best pieces all the time.  Keep our promises.  Don't over promise.  Keep to the time line.  Let others know we value time.  Show others that we can improve, and that we indeed improve along the way.

• Patience:  Don't jump to conclusion.  Wipe away our prejudices and fixed mindset.  Take time to think and reflect.