Trust: moving from “when” to “how”

This week we’ve covered two powerful tools to determine when trust is appropriate.
  

1. Invest time in getting to know people.  You’ll get valuable information that will inform your future interactions. Plus, you’ll be more familiar to each other, and more capable of collaborating effectively.  

2. Ask “Is trust appropriate here?” 
This way you can choose a smart strategy to either manage a threat, or cultivate a trusting relationship. If you blindly try to build trust with someone who has no interest in collaborating, you can end up getting “bitten” and jaded about trust.  

In a future week, we’ll look at the ideal case, where

both parties intend to collaborate. Good intentions are just the start: it takes effective trust building skills to plan for success, manage the bumps along the way, and develop those robust relationships that will get you results. We’ll cover:

• how to effectively manage two common pitfalls that lead well-meaning people to mistrust each other
• what you can do when things go awry between well-meaning people, and how an effective approach can dramatically enhance the level of trust

Paul Konasewich, connectleadership.com

© 2007 Paul Konasewich