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I DA U N I V E R S A L M ay -J u n e 2 0 2 0 33 and suspicion. Add to that the decline of trust we have in the media and our political leaders, and it's a wonder we trust anyone. The trust edge The good news in all of this is that it gives an advantage to those of us who understand the value of trust. In this environment of being overly guarded, if we convey an open and honest level of trust towards our customers, colleagues, team members and employees, we are perceived as a refreshing and more trustworthy alternative. You and your business have a golden opportunity to stick out in a positive way amongst your peers. So how can we develop a trusting disposition in ourselves when there is so much fraud and deceit poking us in the face? Here are some steps that can help: • Examine your relation- ships. Take an inventory of your current relationships with individual clients, po- tential clients, partners, and employees. Are there any with whom you have a low trust relationship? • Consider the reason for the mistrust. Is it well-founded or is it suspicion based on un- certainty? Has that person or organization given you a solid reason not to trust them? • Open up. Decide what ac- tion you can take, no matter how small, to exhibit trust toward them. Be transparent. Be vulnerable. Take a small leap of faith they can appreci- ate. • Instead of requiring others to earn your trust, default to an attitude of trust and as- suming they are trust-worthy until they do something to earn your mistrust. This takes some guts because we are fi ghting against are natural lizard-based instincts and there are always risks involved. Organizational Distrust Another strategy to increase trust is to look at your organization's policies. Often companies have systems in place that create an atmosphere of low trust. For example, do you have a non-disclosure non-compete agreement that is overly restrictive? Do you monitor employee activities with methods that are perceived as intrusive and overbearing? Do you managers micro- manage their employees' activities? I worked for a company that required new trainees to sign a large promissory note. If you left the company for any reason within three years after completing the training you had to pay the company a huge sum. This was done to protect the company's investment, but it reeked of mistrust and created an underlying adversarial senti- ment between the employees and the company. We have all been burned by someone we trusted, whether in a personal relationship or in business. It hurts and it damages us, causing us to harden our walls and be more guarded against future violations. There is no doubt that trust involves risk. But consider that every key decision we make involves risk and we need to weigh the risks against the rewards. Keep in mind that the potential rewards of high trust can be enormous, so don't underes- timate the value of trust when weighing the risks. ABOUT STEVE HAFFNER Steve is a speaker and decision performance specialist. His varied experience includes a successful 30 year career as a systems engineer, software developer and systems analyst. He grew into the position of Business Analyst for a Fortune 500 insurance company and became Vice-President of Performance Measure- ment Systems for a healthcare information corporation. In 2011 he launched his own business as a speaker, corporate entertainer and mentalist. His keynote and workshop programs on peak decision performance explore how subconscious impulses, biases and mental shortcuts can sabotage decision making. He is the author of the Invisible Mind Blocks newsletter and the ebook 7 Strategies for Making Great Decisions. Information on Steve's programs can be found at stevehaffner.com. It is not advisable, however, to throw caution to the wind indiscriminately. Rather, evaluate the risk of trust vs. the risk of distrust. In some cases, applying the proverb "trust, but verify" is appropriate. Leadership and trust expert Nan S Russell recommends using a "trust, but verify" approach only when the outcome outweighs the relationship. "But if it doesn't, go fi rst with trust and build trusted relationships." Next level relationships Your relationships with all of your partners – manufac- turers, buyers, employees and others – depend on a basis of trust to function at a high level, low on friction and high on value. Is the foundation of your business relationships one of high trust or low trust? Take some time to review each one. Is it humming along like a well-oiled machine, or is suspicion clogging up the works? See what you can do to increase t he trust level in t hose relationships t hat need work. Your reputa- tion, brand and bottom line depend on it. ●

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