Trust, or to be more precise, the lack of it, is one of the biggest issues that can destroy a company. Whether there is a lack of trust within the members of the company, or from the consumers to the company. We invest where we trust, either it is our money, our time, energy, or loyalty.
With that being said, it is only natural to ask ourselves, what can we do to be perceived as trustworthy? And, is there a way to regain trust if we have lost it?. So let’s start at the beginning… Yes, there are some things that you can do to be more trustable. And also yes, you can gain back people’s trust if you lost it by actually rechecking the basic trust components and fixing whatever needs to be fixed.
So hey, don’t worry much about it if you make a mistake, everybody does, but what you do after is what matters the most. Here we have a little guide on what to do after making a mistake at work, we highly recommend you to read it if you find yourself in that position, and after that, come here for some tips on how to rebuild the trust that might have gotten damaged by that mistake.
So, without further ado, here we have some very practical ways to understand how trust works and how to fix its issues…
How Trust Works
Some say that trust is situation-specific, implying that when you trust someone, it is with a purpose. For example, you trust your neighborhood school to educate your children, you trust the mechanic that fixed your Dad’s car to fix yours, and you trust your boss to lead the company to a good port. But actually, what makes you trust them instead of anyone else? Here is where the components of trust come into place…
A professor at Harvard Business School called Frances Frei, describes three core elements that compose trust, and after doing a little research I found that what lots of people say about the elements of trust can be grouped into one of Frei’s elements.
She said during her TedTalk:
“If you sense that I am being authentic, … that I have real rigor in my logic, … And if you believe that my empathy is directed towards you, you are far more likely to trust me … But if any one of these three gets shaky, if any one of these three wobbles, trust is threatened.”
But, what does Frei mean by all that?… Let’s break it down.
Authenticity
In a nutshell, being authentic is being true to one’s self, living and acting accordingly and congruently with our values and beliefs… regardless of the external pressures that might exist. And what does this have to do with trust?… Well, “We as a human species can sniff out in a moment, … whether or not someone is being their authentic true self” (Frei, 2018)
And think about it, if you sense that someone is not being true to themself, how can they be trusted? If someone seems a little fake, you won’t believe anything they do or say, something will be off, making it hard for them to be trusted. In a way, authenticity shows consistency. If someone does what they say they’re going to do, that shows you that they follow through with their word, that they are honest and therefore can be trusted. If your boss is a very practical and direct person, it shows from the way they walk to their coffee order. Now imagine that they start sugarcoating what they say, wouldn’t that seem suspicious to you? Wouldn’t you think twice before putting your trust in them? Most likely you would and won’t even notice why.
And… How do you fix an authenticity problem?
Perhaps the ultimate: easier said than done, but just be you. This can be particularly challenging if you represent any sort of difference with what surrounds you. But sticking to your values won’t only reward you by making people trust you, but it will also give you an inner consistency that has the capability of making your life very fulfilling… be true to yourself. And this also applies to companies, your values need to align with your people, with your vision… not with what other companies value. It means nothing to have Diversity or Teamwork within your values if that’s not who you are nor what you promote in the company… And people sense it.
Logic
People will be more likely to trust you if they see that your logic is accurate and that you are convinced by it. In some scenarios, this might relate to competence, if you are perceived as competent on the task you are required to perform, you will be trusted to do it. To be more competent, to sharpen your logic, the best way is to educate yourself constantly. Be prepared for the challenges that might come, learn as much as you can, and I assure you, knowledge shows and people notice it.
Now, let’s imagine that you have a manager at your company who doesn’t seem to be managing his team properly, and they don’t seem to trust him. Ask yourself, when was the last time that you as a company invested in your leaders’ training, when was the last time that you coached them or had a performance discussion with them, because there might be your answer… sometimes it is not that they don’t have good ideas, sometimes they need a little orientation to execute them. As Frei said “Logic wobbles can come in two forms. It’s either the quality of your logic or it’s your ability to communicate the logic.”
And… How do you fix a logic problem?
In the case that the quality of the logic is the one shaking, then maybe retraining and constant evaluation might help.
Even though it’s often the case that our logic is okay, and it’s our ability to communicate the logic that is in jeopardy. To help that, you can try this communication strategy: start with your point in a very condensed sentence, show the public the principal idea, what you can offer, and then support your argument with secondary ideas and evidence. That way, people will be oriented on what you want to say from the beginning and even if they don’t listen to the end, they will have heard the essential part of what you wanted to say, you will still get credit for the idea, rather than someone else coming in and grabbing it from you.
Empathy
When it comes to the work environment, we all know that there are no selfless intentions -some theorists question the mere existence of selfless intention, but that’s a topic for another moment-. That friend that recommended you to work on the company is probably getting a commission for it; but what the other gains with it, is not as important as feeling that under all of that, what you are gaining is equal and that they do have your best interest, which conveniently aligns with their best interest.
Empathy is about sharing, understanding, and sometimes sensing what others experience. It requires us to get out of our heads and issues to look at another and take the time to comprehend them. For this to help you be more trustworthy, you need to walk the talk and show that you care, to stop being self-distracted and seeing the other person. Whether that person is your coworker or your customer, they will trust you if you care about them and you show it.
And… How do you fix an empathy problem?
It is pretty simple. Identify your distractors, they are what would most likely withhold your empathy. If you identify your phone as a big distractor, try to avoid it in meetings, so you can actively listen and immerse yourself into your manager’s point of view. If you are too busy thinking about the company’s profit and you stop listening to your clients, they will stop trusting you, because you no longer show them empathy, you no longer give them a sense of a win-win deal, but a feeling that they should go somewhere else to invest their trust.
Trust is a very complex matter, it takes time and effort to build or rebuild. Nonetheless, it is the solid foundation that holds together our links to other people, which makes it very worthy of our work in it. Being reliable, and honoring the confidence that people put in us, should be north of every company, leader, and anyone in general. Breaking its core elements down is an effective way to find if there’s a problem, so why don’t you give these elements a check on your company and team?
