When Not to Trust
As we seek to build greater trust in the relationships that matter, we must also deal with people who don’t deserve our trust. At least not yet, not anymore, or maybe never.
Use the 5C’s to evaluate before extending trust.
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Does he walk his talk? Will he do what he says he’ll do? Do we share the same values of fairness, respect, and loyalty?
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Will he be with me through adversity? Can I depend on him when the going gets tough and he must make a sacrifice? What is his intent?
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Can he do what we need done and more? Will he continually adapt and grow as our needs change?
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Does he understand me? Does he really care?
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Can I understand him? What is he communicating by his words and actions?
High-Trust Leaders aren’t saps. They recognize and protect themselves from transactional and deceptive characters who aren’t worthy of their trust. Some may have been trustworthy in the past, but not today.
Lots of people and organizations are in pain because they didn’t ask these questions and trusted someone who didn’t continually earn it.
Or they stopped asking the questions.
Whose fault is that?