Trust
Another lesson from Wall Street.
Trust is a fundamental aspect in all of our relationships, both business and personal.
It is interesting that one of the fundamental underlying issues precipitating a failure in the financial markets is the lack of trust between lending institutions. It seems liquidity was not the main issue, it was the fact that these institutions did not trust each other. It seemed that the institutions did not know what the others’ situation was.
This lack of trust seemed to suggest that the institutions were questioning each other’s judgment, honesty, and/or character.
As I mentioned earlier, trust is essential in relationships. As a manager, trust is vitally important. How do we establish and maintain ourselves as trustworthy? I offer the following list.
- Be honest.
- Understand who you are, your character, your values, and consistently use these features to guide your interactions and decisions.
- Say what you will do and do what you say you will do.
- Form and demonstrate good judgment.
- Avoid drifting in the winds of politics and demands.
Trustworthiness takes time to build but can be destroyed in a instant.
Craig @ October 15, 2008