Amongst my values, trust probably sits the closest to the core and is the most fragile. Trust is the acted-upon assumption things are going to be OK. That you are going to be OK. That this other person or group of people is going to be OK, in themselves and in relation to you. And that when they trust you, you are able to live up to it. Trust needs to be given, needs to be earned.
Is trust what we do when we can’t have the certainty we really want but can’t get? I recently came across something like this “trust lowers transaction costs”, which is a business-ese way of saying there is no feasible way to achieve 100% certainty and if you did, modern day city life would slow to a crawl or be very cumbersome and expensive. And no more innovation, creativity, positive kinds of risk taking. No proposals. No “yes”. Nobody would ask each other out anymore on a balmy evening either. So, we are yearning for trust. Lots of it. We can’t make this whole “humans being with other humans” thing work otherwise.
What helps you make that first step into trust? What helps you rebuild trust once it has been broken? How do you sustain trust?
Check out the values worksheet here.
Or go deeper and get the book.
Or ping me about how coaching might help.
Lior Locher 