Building Trust

One of the biggest compliments you can receive is someone saying, “I can count on you.”  That means that they trust you, that you will be there when they need you.  What a fantastic accolade that you earn by being fully present every day. It doesn’t have any shortcuts.  You can’t decide one day that you’re going to be trustworthy with someone and turn it on, and it will be there.  It takes time, diligence, a constancy of character, and dependability.  Day after day, you give your best, go the extra mile and show people that you’re supportive, positive, and able to turn things around.  If you have received this compliment, you have earned it and likely continue to make it so.

Trust is built through relationships and relationships through making good decisions every day.  It sounds so easy but can take some close monitoring of your self-talk and thoughts.  By making solid decisions and taking time to do your thinking, you add value to those around you.  They depend on you to be stable in your presentation, to be fully present with everyone.  That is adding value to others, and if you ever lose it, you will quickly realize the value it adds to your life.

Stephen M.R. Covey, in Speed of Trust, says, “Integrity is deep honesty and truthfulness.  It is who we are.  It includes congruence, humility, and courage.”  Congruence is living day to day those values that you hold dear to your heart.  Humility is a presentation of yourself that is unmoving.  One that stands for what is right, not in being right.  Courage has the mind to act according to principles that you have set for yourself.  I like what Colin Powell said, “Never let adversity stand in the way of a good decision.”  We can quickly get into the mind-trap that pulls us away from the right decision because it may have adverse circumstances.  Build trust, build Integrity.

How do you start earning trust with someone?  Read Stephen M.R. Covey’s book Leading at the Speed of Trust.  In that beautiful book, he talks about how to earn trust, how to earn back trust with someone whose confidence you have lost, how to trust someone you don’t believe, and many other scenarios.  I want to challenge you today to take a look at the various trust levels in your own life, you to many others, and others back toward you.  Challenge yourself to develop those relationships further.

For more information on Speed of Trust, please see Leading at the Speed of Trust – FranklinCovey Australia & New Zealand.

For a related topic, please see my post on Balance at Balance–Seasons & Kids – Dr. Rich Patterson (pattersonphd.com)

Yours for a Better Life,

Rich