On The Fluidity of Trust

Author

Darin Harm
January 17, 2024

1 Strategy + 1 Quote + 1 Question… 

…to help you and your team thrive

This Week’s Topic: The Trust Account

1 Strategy 🎯 

Think about your bank account.

Your account balance is never static for long.

When you make a deposit the balance goes up (Yay!)

When you make a withdrawal the balance goes down (Boo!)

You can apply this same concept to your relationships by visualizing each relationships as having its own ‘Trust Account’.

The concept of a Trust Account was popularized by Stephen Covey in his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”.

It’s a powerful metaphor that goes like this…

When you behave in ways that build trust, you make deposits.

When you behave in ways that erode trust, you make withdrawals.

The “balance” reflects the amount of trust in the relationship at any given time.

For example, when you praise a colleague in public, you’re making a hefty deposit into that relationship’s trust account.

Conversely, if a colleague learns that you took credit for their work, you’d be making a withdrawal from that relationships account.

It’s important to note that withdrawals are typically larger than deposits. 

In the immortal words of Warren Buffet, “It takes 20 years to build a good reputation, and 5 minutes to ruin it.” 

Here are a five strategies to help keep your trust accounts “in the black”.

  1. Communication is Key: Be transparent, openly share information and foster open dialogue.

  2. Recognize Publicly: Per the example above, look for opportunities to recognize their accomplishments in the company of people they respect.

  3. Own Your Mistakes: When you drop the ball, acknowledge your mistake and the impact it had immediately, and work to make it right.

  4. Cultivate Empathy: Actively work to understand their feelings, perspective and priorities.

  5. Deliver Consistently: The simple act of doing what you said you would do is a key component of building trust.

1 Quote 📜 

❝

The best way to find out if you can trust someone is to trust them

Earnest Hemmingway

I love this quote because it emphasizes our responsibility to proactively nurture trust. Rather than waiting for others to earn our trust, let's give others are trust and make decisions about their trustworthiness based on what they do with it.

1 Question 🤔  

What’s one small action you can take today, to boost your account balance with an important relationship in your professional or personal life?

Reply to this email and let me know how it goes! I look forward to hearing from you.

See you next Wednesday,

Darin 

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