Have you ever taken the time to contemplate your perspective on Trust?
Many of us perceive trust to be an all or nothing assessment. In the past I have posed a trust question to participants in professional development workshops. Do you initially trust people? Are you by nature trusting? Do you begin from a place of trust and only when trust is broken do you become uneasy? Or, are you naturally distrusting? Finding only when actions align with words and behaviours does someone earn your trust?
As part of my own professional development journey I recently invested in a Trust at Work®, certification. This 6-week program is based on Charles Feltman’s book, The Thin Book of Trust.
Adjusting your trust lens from “all/nothing” to exploring trust in four distinct domains can have a profound impact on both your personal and professional relationships. Feltman’s work consists of breaking trust into four distinct areas: Sincerity, Reliability, Competence and Care.
- Sincerity – demonstrate integrity and transparency
- Reliability – keep promises, do what you say you will do
- Competence – possess the skills to do the job or will admit when you don’t
- Care – genuinely have people’s best interests at heart
In many cases we realize a disconnect in one or two of the domains while feeling confident in the others. This allows us to find a place to start and get curious as to why we sense trust is at risk.
While taking this course I argued with someone very close to me. It was a tense time in our world; COVID, a job loss and several high stress factors were at play. Considering the four domains I was able to identify where the trust breakdown was. I further acknowledged that I was the non-trusting culprit. My actions and behaviours were not demonstrating my faith and trust around this individual’s Competence. Reflecting on this and reinforcing to them how I valued their level of expertise, abilities, and skills I approached the conversation from a new angle and was able to repair what might have become irreparable.
A colleague asked me to share my key take-aways and there were many that were eye opening. If pressed for one that changed how I look at trust I would say this.
It is human nature to look at a trust model and focus on someone else. We tend to point our fingers outward. I challenge folks to look in the mirror and consider why a relationship may be experiencing a conflict of trust. Perhaps it is in one of these domains that you need to reflect on what you are putting out there.
“From Trust at Work® Certification Program, copyright © Charles Feltman, William Benner and Richard Hews 2019-20.”
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