Earning The Currency Of Trust

I have come to realise that trust is among the greatest assets that anyone can own in their life and career. In a lot of things, including relationship and even business, people trade trust. You will agree with me that you are more likely to do business or go into relationship with the person that you can trust. When people trust you, a lot of things will become easier. They will want to share your ideas, work with you, and even help you when you face tough times. But if people do not trust an individual, no amount of talent will save them. You have to understand that trust is not built through one mind-blowing or heroic action, but by daily actions. Like the things you do daily, what you say daily, and the promises you keep.

Something very insightful happened in a place where I did one of my vacation jobs when I was in school. There was this employee who was very talented and good at what he did. However, he had a bad attitude or being late and giving excuses for it. There was a time he was asked to perform a task that was to be used by the Head of Department to meet a client by 2:00pm, but he got distracted and delivered it by 4:30pm feeling very less concerned. He thinks that, since the job was perfect, that the time of delivery does not matter. But that singular act costed the Head of Department the meeting with the client. This made him to lose trust and confidence in him.

It was not up to 1 month after the event, a major promotion came up. One of the senior staff relocated, so a vacancy came up. Everyone expected that since he was the most talented in the department, that he will be given the position on a platter. But the manager gave the job to another employee, even though he was not at much as talented as the other guy, but he always delivered jobs on time. You see, it was not talented that handed him over the job, but the trust he was able to build. When you build trust through your daily habits and actions, it will open doors that you may not even have been qualified for. The truth is that people will relate with you based on what they constantly perceive about you.

People may think that trust is built through great sacrifices or huge announcements. But on the contrary, trust is actually built in the smallest moments. Moments like keeping the little promises that is easily overlooked. For example, if you tell your colleague at work that you will send them the email in 10mins. If you keep to your word and send it in 10mins, you will earn a little piece of trust from them. Or if you promise to come by 8:00am, and you arrive at 8:00am, you will also earn a little piece of trust. These little pieces of trust will grow over time to become much. It will make people to rely on you. If people can trust you in small things, they will not have difficulty in trusting you with a much bigger thing.

It is worthy to note that, just as keeping little promises will build trust, small failures can also destroy trust. Each time you keep your word or fulfill a promise, you are adding a drop of water to the bucket. But when you break a promise, then you are creating a hole at the bottom of the bucket. The "it does not matter," and the "it is not a big deal," at the long run, it will matter much and will become a big deal. This is why, in everything you do, do not do things that will break trust. It may take a long time to build trust, but it can be broken within a short time, so beware.

To build the currency of trust, you have to maintain honesty even when it feels uncomfortable to do so. Even if you make mistake, do not give excuses for it or blame another person. Just own the mistake immediately, and look for ways to fix it. This will make people to know that you are responsible for your actions, and that you have a good reputation.

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