In one of the Star Wars movies, the robot 3CPO said: “R2-D2, you know better than to trust a strange computer!”
Your mother said it to you too. In fact, you’ve probably been hearing it all your life. Don’t trust strangers! But what happens when that stranger is you?
Trust is the basis for most interpersonal relationships, and we have heard it said a thousand times before that trust is earned and, once broken, it is almost impossible to earn it again.
There are the obvious reasons for losing trust, so we won’t go into those in detail in this article, but the real question is: How do we foster trust, gain the belief of others; and, once we have it, how do we keep it?
The Avocado Vision Trainers, who run the 90-minute Avo Bytes session on building trust, offer the following few pointers:
* The social contract. When you say you will do something, whether you did a pinky-swear or not, you entered into an agreement to get it done.
You need to keep your word! Did you, in passing, say that you’ll email that document right away? Then do it straightaway, not in 10 minutes’ time.
If people realise that they can rely on you to deliver on even the most casual of promises, they will rely on you more and more.
* Spinning. You might have worked with “not-my-fault Franny” before, right? She’s great. Nothing is ever her fault. She didn’t get you your report on time because the printer crashed 10 minutes before it was due, or her laptop blew up, or the courier company didn’t arrive, or, or, or…
Spinning something so that it isn’t your fault, even when it’s actually not, makes it look like you’re avoiding accountability.
If you aren’t accountable for anything, how can anyone ever trust you? Yes, it sucks to be the one taking responsibility, but if you’re involved, don’t blame the courier guy.Own up to the fact that you probably should have had it delivered sooner, or planned for a delay. Spinning makes people angry because it’s shady. Don’t be the shady guy!
* Be competent. Do a good job. If you know, when taking on a task, that you’re out of your depth, ask for help.
Don’t accept the assignment and then make a mess of it. Or wait until the 11th hour to call in the troops!
Let people know early if you can’t handle something, and if you have taken on a task, and not asked for help or advice, then make sure that you can deliver above-standard work, on time.
Trust, just like Rome, isn’t built in a day. It’s an ongoing process that takes an intentional effort in order for it to flourish.
* Jules Newton is chief executive of Avocado Vision. This article is part of one of their series of Avo Bytes, short format learning: Fostering Trust. For details, contact 011 614 0206 or visit www.avovision.co.za.
STAR WORKPLACE