IDA Universal

I DA U N I V E R S A L M ay -J u n e 2 0 2 0 32 often been said that we only do business with people we know, like, and trust. To get potential customers to know us, we use effec- tive marketing strategies. The "like" factor is achieved through creating a brand that people are attracted to and appreciate. The piece that often gets overlooked and undervalued is "trust." And trust may well be the most important piece of all. Trust improves all facets of your business. It enables you and your organiza- tion to get more done, make more money, retain great employees, and feel better about yourself and your work. It is the grease that makes collaborative relation- ships easier and accelerates decision making and opera- tions. Lack of trust, however, is expensive. As Professor John Whitney of the Columbia Business School says, "Mistrust doubles the cost of doing business." In his book, "The Speed of Trust," Stephen M.R. Covey likens low trust to a tax on your business. Likewise, high trust is a dividend that acts as a performance multiplier "elevating and improving every dimension of your organization and your life." We know intuitively that for people to trust us we need to keep our commitments, have credibility, and be trans- parent in what we say and do. There is one essential element to being trustworthy that is not quite so obvious but opens the door to trust-based relationships: to be trusted, you need to extend trust to others. Trust is a two-way street. People are more likely to trust you if they sense that you trust them. Unfortunately, we humans have subconscious impulses that are barriers to developing trust. Meet the Lizard Our brains have ancient built-in mechanisms that exist to achieve one goal – to keep us alive so we can pass on our DNA to future genera- tions. These are the oldest, most basic impulses that even small animals have. I collec- tively call these impulses, "the lizard," a nod to the term "reptilian brain." We don't control these lizard impulses because they infl uence us at the subconscious level, so we are not aware of what they are doing or how they are affecting us. How does the lizard help us survive? By constantly being on the lookout for food, potential mates, and threats. While food and mates may be more exciting topics, it is threat recognition and avoid- ance that hinder trust. You've heard the saying that if you have a hammer everything looks like a nail. Similarly, if you are always looking for threats (as the lizard is), everything looks like a poten- tial threat. Psychologists call this the negativity bias. When we have uncertainty about someone or their intentions, we assume the negative. We all do it. You do it. Your customers do it. Your employees do it. We jump to negative conclusions quickly and easily without giving it a second thought. Think about when you watch your favorite sports team and an offi cial makes a terrible call against your team. Notice how quickly you start to wonder why that bad call was made. Do you assume it was an honest mistake? Probably not. Our fi rst reaction is to wonder why that ref wants our team to lose! We default to the negative when we are uncertain. This natural inclination to default to the negative is stronger now than it has ever been. With the rise of the information age, thieves, scam artists, and other purveyors of deceit and fraud have easier access to us now and they are using that access to its fullest extent. That raises our overall suspicion level so that we question others' motivations before we even engage with them. This makes us subconsciously more mistrusting than we already naturally are. Click bait, fake news, robo-calls, spam – all combine to create in us a mindset based on mistrust The Hidden Barrier to High Trust How elevating your trust level improves your brand, relationships, and bottom line It's

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