What are the elements of trust?

There is an old saying that I firmly believe in which says people want to work with who they like and who they trust. Many of us on the service provider side find this theme to be a common denominator as we reflect back on our successful client engagements and why we were hired in the first place. Likeability depends on many factors such as personality, courtesy, respect, sense of humor, etc. People either like us or they don’t. It is that simple. But that is not today’s topic.

Trust is a very powerful word and the question that comes to mind is, “How do we gain trust?” In 2006 Stephen Covey wrote a very popular book that has been published in 22 languages entitled, “The Speed of Trust.” In it he defines one of the underlying principles of trust as being credibility. He explains that credibility is derived from four core sources: Integrity, Intent, Capabilities, and Results. Reading this recently challenged me to think of other key words that support these core sources of credibility. Here is what I came up with:

1. Authenticity – the concept of genuineness, living true to one’s character and honesty

2. Transparency – not having a hidden agenda, caring about the well-being of others

3. Wisdom – applying common sense to what we have learned through experience

4. Reputation – the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something

The graphic below shows a way to think of these terms working together:

This graphic challenges me to reflect on how I measure up in each of these areas. Which areas can I check off as probably being “okay” and which areas do I need to work on? (Okay, I probably need to work on a lot of them.)

Recently, I had a discussion with someone about my previous blog topics regarding what makes projects successful and why simply executing an IPD agreement is not enough. We both agreed that team members need to trust each other to do their jobs, focusing on what is best for the client and the project and not what is best for them. Trust is a key word.

Perhaps reflecting on the key elements of credibility shown above will help us assemble teams with a common view of how trust is defined and how to leverage it towards successful project delivery. After all, that is the goal: great projects that achieve the Owner’s goals and lead to lasting relationships.