Page 308 - ILIAS ATHANASIADIS AKA RO1

Indeed, any successful relationship — whether it’s leader to follower, consultant

or coach to client or the relationship between spouses, siblings and friends —
relies on a level of trust that must be earned.

Yet even trust that is earned can be quickly lost and cannot be quickly regained.

If members of a team or relationship lose trust in each other, it takes a great deal
of work to restore it.

People are not quick to reinvest in a relationship where trust has been broken.

They generally move on.

Six Building Blocks of Trust

Since trust is so important in both working and personal relationships, how can
we monitor it, build upon it and heal it when it becomes frayed?

It is useful to view trust as a natural response to certain qualities in a person,
group or organization, and the absence of these qualities will diminish the level
of trust. These qualities are:

Reliability and Dependability: A person or group that is true to their word and
fulfills their commitments encourages trust.

Transparency: People are anxious about unknowns and tend to assume the
worst when they’re not informed about a new development.

When management meets in secret or does not share important information,

team members can easily become distrustful.

On the other hand, when people share their thoughts, feelings and
considerations, or when an organization, usually through its leader, tells its

members what is going on, everyone knows where they stand and trust can
flourish.

Competency: This is another element that is central to building trust. If you
think a person, leader or organization is not capable of doing what they are

supposed to do, you cannot trust them.