The Trust Equation
Trust in relationships is vital to the way we do business today. In fact, research shows that the level of trust in business relationships - whether internal with employees or colleagues or external with clients and partners - is the greatest determinant of success.
When we think of trust and what it means, it quickly becomes apparent that it encompasses many things.
The challenge is having a conceptual framework and analytical way of evaluating and understanding trust. Without the proper framework for evaluating trust, there’s no actionable way to improve our trustworthiness.
In 2000, 2006, and 2012 Charles H. Green co-wrote three books: The Trusted Advisor, Trust-Based Selling, and The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook. All three books describe The Trust Equation in detail.
CREDIBILITY - has to do with the words we speak. In a sentence we might say, “I can trust what she says about intellectual property; she’s very credible on the subject.”
RELIABILITY - has to do with actions. We might say, “If he says he’ll deliver the product tomorrow, I trust him, because he’s dependable.”
INTIMACY - refers to the safety or security that we feel when entrusting someone with something. We might say, “I can trust her with that information; she’s never violated my confidentiality before, and she would never embarrass me.”
SELF-ORIENTATION - refers to the person’s focus. In particular, whether the person’s focus is primarily on him or herself, or on the other person. We might say, “I can’t trust him on this deal — I don’t think he cares enough about me, he’s focused on what he gets out of it.” Or more commonly, “I don’t trust him — I think he’s too concerned about how he’s appearing, so he’s not really paying attention.”
Credits: trustedadvisor.com