Trust is the glue of life

Trust is the glue of life

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” –Stephen R. Covey

If I ask you who do you trust, you would probably say your family, your parents, your close friends, your children. That’s because, in order to create strong and meaningful relationships, there must be trust. Without trust, relationships can’t last. So, why trust is so important? Let me give you an example.

In the course of a coaching call with one of my clients, we talked about trust and he shared with me a family problem he was dealing with. (I’m writing this with his approval.) 

 Every family has problems. But he noticed that those problems were getting bigger and bigger and his parents were in constant fighting. They were refusing to discuss the problems they had with each other and sometimes they didn’t even talk to each other even if they were in the same room. The environment in the house reached a point where it was hostile. What was happening? There was no trust in their relationship and because they didn’t want to discuss it, the problem was becoming bigger. And without communication, the hope of building trust again seemed impossible. Long story short, he (my client) helped them realize that it was time for them to take separate ways.

That example indicates that trust is the foundation of any relationship and if it gets shocked, it loses its stability. And eventually, if that gap of lack of trust gets bigger, sooner or later the relationship will collapse.

When we feel that we lost trust in a person, we withdraw our energy and level of engagement. We don’t want to share with the other person that we are upset and we don’t want to have any contact at all. We feel betrayed.

On the other hand, when there is trust in our relationship we’re “feeling safe when we’re vulnerable”. We feel protected and we are willing to give more than we take. We also want to contribute more time and energy to overcome any difficulty and grow stronger.

6 Keys to build and maintain trust in your personal and professional life.

1. Authenticity

When you are not true to yourself, the people around you can feel and understand if you are just making empty promises. The key here is to be authentic, to do what you promised you could do, and then people will rely on you.

2. Transparency

When there is transparency in the relationship – either if it is personal or professional – and people know the truth and where they stand, there is:

• Better teamwork & communication
• The bond of trust becomes stronger between co-workers and leaders, parents and children, etc.

3. Accountability

It is very important when you set deadlines to meet them while you’re accountable to someone else, because:

• You become reliable and people trust those who keep their word
• You own up to your words and actions, rather than placing blame on others

4. Integrity

It means to live according to your values. Let your actions speak for themselves. When you are a man of your word and you have integrity, people are more likely to be influenced by you, follow you, and cooperate with you.

5. Openness and humility

No one knows everything. You have to be humble with other people and open to new ideas, especially if you are in a leading position. You will develop trust with other people faster and more successfully than someone, who ignores and doesn’t care about the opinion of others.

6. Respect

Last but not least, you have to be respectful. If you don’t show respect in your relationship with others, people will never trust you.

I would like to end this article with a quote of Thomas S. Monson:

“When we treat people merely as they are, they will remain as they are. When we treat them as if they were what they should be, they will become what they should be.”