Trust Me On This

If you boil relationships down to the most important element, it is always going to be trust-not leadership, values, partnerships, or anything else.

Trust is the foundation, of any secure and successful relationship. It must be earned and maintained. If you don’t trust, your relationships are in trouble.

In his book, On Becoming A Leader, Warren Bennis says, Integrity is the basis of trust, which is not so much an ingredient of leadership, as it is a product. It is the one quality that cannot be acquired but must be earned.

Developing trust is like constructing a building. It takes time, and it must be done one piece at a time. As in construction, it’s much quicker and easier to tear something down than  it is to build it up. But if the foundation is strong, there is a good chance that what is built upon it will stand.

Trust is not something that simply exists from the beginning, something we can assume or take for granted. Instead, know that trust is an emotional skill, an active and dynamic part of our lives that we build and sustain with promises and commitments, our emotions and integrity.

Lead From Within: Say what you mean and mean what you say as you interact with others today and everyday.


Lolly Daskal is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program is engineered to be a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies, their lives, and the world.

Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.

  1. Javier Munoz

    27. Jul, 2010

    Thank you for this Post Lolly!

    Trust is the foundation for the societies of the future. An idea for your next post would be to talk about actions or elements that could help you earn that trust. Such as:

    1) Transparency
    2) A “social object” built from executing on commitments
    3) Open communications

    Just a real life example:

    I have done business in Mexico. My experience so far with their local corporate culture (with a few exceptions) is that it takes a great deal of work to get a contract signed. The murky waters of second intentions and double talk have to be navigated. You never know where you are standing. You have to go through a number of trust building rituals that take time and are confusing for most people. In the end you could very well end up with nothing.

    I also had the chance to work extensively in Germany. Their corporate culture is fat free. You know whether you are signing a contract during the first or second talk. If you have a NO, it is immediate and there is no anesthesia. Take the No and we will go our separate ways. If you have a YES, the contract is sitting in your inbox within days, not months.

    There are no bizarre trust building rituals, there is just the expectation that you will deliver as offered. If all societies were to embrace the value of trust as a key factor in their productivity, there would be much more emphasis.

    Trust naturally starts within… How much do you trust your own decisions. Are in tune with the importance of executing on your commitments? If you don’t commit firmly to a personal plan, how can you trust others?

    It is a complex subject, but fascinating one. It is also one of the foundations for Just Action.

    I appreciate this post!

    Javier

    Reply to this comment
    • Lolly Daskal

      27. Jul, 2010

      Thank you Javier,
      Your comments are insightful and inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing.

      Reply to this comment
  2. Leiga Monge

    03. Aug, 2010

    Another Awesome Article. So many people are fake and no one wants to trust a fake person. “Trust is the foundation, of any secure and successful relationship”- so true in business and life in general. Keep up the great work!!

    Reply to this comment

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