It is no secret that getting great things done depends on the ability to work well with other people. Good relationships are even more essential for success in a complex world where there are an increasing number of specialists and no one person can know everything. There are many ways of building relationships with people but trust is the glue that holds them together. People are drawn to others through a variety of avenues, including common interests, values and other forms of mutual attraction but relationships without trust do not survive.
Trust Building Essentials
There are a number of keys to building and maintaining trust:
Delivering on promises: Some managers live by the slogan: “under promise and over deliver.” Too many do just the opposite. They over promise and under deliver, thereby eroding trust. Some over promise because they need to please people.
When managers are asked what they are going to do to solve a problem, it is not good enough to say “Leave it to me,” unless a strong bond of trust already exists. The statement is vague in three ways. It is not clear what is going to be done, when it will happen and when the other party is going to get any feedback.
Honesty: Often managers who promise to solve a problem, don’t have an answer at the moment.. Honest managers spell out how they are going to approach finding a solution and will name a specific time when they are going to give the other party an update. This is not as definite a commitment as implying that a solution will be found. But it is better to be honest than to over promise.
Commitment: When asked to solve a difficult problem, it is often hard for managers to commit to a solution until they have looked into it. The desire to make a firm commitment leads weak managers to over promise. The option is to give an emotional commitment by acknowledging the importance of the issue to the other party and saying how high it is on your list of priorities. Managers make an emotional commitment by conveying how motivated they are to doing their best to find a solution.
Open Communication: Keeping people in the dark is a sure recipe for undermining trust. Poor communicators are either vague, they distort the facts or they simply fail to update key stakeholders. For the sake of efficiency, it helps to ask how much communication people want or how often they want to be updated. Openness also means making people aware of bad news as well as good.
Discretion: To be trusted, people need to know that they can confide important things in you without having them repeated to others indiscriminately. Managers who are always gossiping or bad mouthing others convey the impression that they cannot be trusted with sensitive or personal information. Discreet managers are easier to trust.
Self Disclosure: This factor is a combination of openness and honesty about yourself. Managers who admit their own errors or failings readily are seen as very honest. Of course, it doesn’t help build trust if you are overly negative about yourself
Competence: This leads to the next factor. Competent managers are trustworthy. This is a complex factor that is very much in the eyes of the beholder. Some people feel that no one can do anything as well as they can and they may not trust anyone with certain matters. But, generally, managers must show some expertise in the subject at issue and they must show that they have the ability to organize, be decisive and the focus to make things happen.
The Needs of Others: People trust managers who show a genuine interest in helping them meet their needs. Managers who don’t appear to be listening or are only offering lip service will not be trusted.
Courage of Convictions: Managers who occasionally challenge the status quo, who openly take risks within reason are seen as courageous, as having clear values and as being willing to stand by them.
Emotional Control: Managers who readily lose control of their feelings are seen as unpredictable. Level-headed people are easier to trust.
Consistency: Being inconsistent is also a recipe for low trust. People need to know what to expect in order to trust someone.
Common Values: Some people will only trust people from their own families, community, religion or country of origin. There is little that a manager can do about this issue, hence why it is essential to cover the other factors in order to foster trust.
Benefits of Trust
The benefits of trust are immeasurable. Managers who are fully trusted can expect much more loyalty and commitment from their key stakeholders. They are more forgiving for unexpected errors if they have been kept informed and are used to mistake-free delivery. Where trust is strong, perfectionism is unnecessary.
