{"id":3245,"date":"2016-06-19T07:43:17","date_gmt":"2016-06-19T11:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=3245"},"modified":"2016-06-19T07:43:17","modified_gmt":"2016-06-19T11:43:17","slug":"trust-what-do-you-mean-by-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=3245","title":{"rendered":"Trust? What Do You Mean by That?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It’s Week #26 of 2016. This latest article is part of a series drawn from our 3rd annual 2016 Trust Poster<\/a><\/strong>….now hanging in hundreds of offices around the world. Get yours today<\/a>!<\/p>\n

52 Ideas That You Can Implement to Build Trust<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bart Alexander<\/a> offers this week’s advice. Bart is both a Top Thought Leader in Trust<\/a> and a member of our Trust Alliance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Assume good intentions.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

I once worked for a leader whose adage was:\u00a0 \u201cScrew me once, shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me.\u201d\u00a0 But do we always know when we\u2019re getting screwed?<\/em><\/p>\n

We often presume we know the intentions of our co-workers, competitors, advocacy groups, customers, clients, not to mention or friends and family.\u00a0 Their actions and words both speak loudly to us.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, how should we react to a rude comment, a put-down in an email, that looking down while I\u2019m speaking to you, or that project that messes up everything I\u2019ve been working on?\u00a0 Don\u2019t these behaviors signal bad intentions?<\/em><\/p>\n

We react to other\u2019s actions and words based on our own background and experiences.\u00a0 But no other person on earth is just like us.\u00a0 That \u2018rude\u201d comment may reflect the straight talk expected in another culture.\u00a0 The \u201cput-down\u201d may have come from an analytical thinker who was presenting \u201cjust the facts.\u201d\u00a0 Those averted eyes may be a sign of respect.\u00a0 That project may have been launched without realizing its impact on your work.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trust depends on honest and authentic conversation, but sometimes we need to put aside our own cultural or style biases and assume good intentions.\u00a0 We can react to our perceived insult or slight by being open and curious \u2014 \u201cWhat did you mean by that?\u201d\u00a0 \u2014 shared without anger or judgement. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This approach shines in negotiations.\u00a0 When we\u2019re open and curious, ask questions and listen, we learn not only the other\u2019s position, but why they hold that position.\u00a0 Mediators call this moving from position based bargaining \u2014 win or lose \u2014 to interest based negotiation \u2014 finding common interests and win-win solutions.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, sometimes there are intentions and resulting actions that are, indeed, unethical or even evil.\u00a0 That\u2019s when my old bosses\u2019 advice to watch your back may be necessary. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Barbara Brooks Kimmel<\/strong>\u00a0is the CEO and Cofounder of\u00a0Trust Across America-Trust Around the World<\/a>\u00a0whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Now in its seventh year, the program\u2019s proprietary FACTS\u00ae Framework<\/a> ranks and measures the trustworthiness of over 2000 US public companies on five quantitative indicators of trustworthy business behavior. Barbara is also the editor of the award winning\u00a0TRUST INC.<\/a>\u00a0book series and the Executive Editor of\u00a0TRUST! Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2016, Next Decade, Inc.<\/span><\/p>\n