Over the last couple of months I keeping hearing the word ‘trust’ used.  As in “I don’t trust my partner” or “How can I know for sure if I can trust my vendor to be giving me the best price”…you get the point.  As often happens it got me thinking about trust and what it actually means.  Wikipedia defines trust as reliance on another person.  That definition covers both performance based and ethical trust.   When people use the word trust, what does it mean to them?  So I started asking my clients and colleagues and pretty much everyone I could think of what trust means to them.

What I suspect is that many people could define the word trust if asked, but it’s as much a feeling as anything else.  Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in fact says just that.  Sometimes we can’t put our finger on why we trust or don’t trust someone but we just get those little gut feelings.  I’m a great believer in gut feelings, and I also believe that there is evidence we can point to that supports those feelings.   Let me give you some examples:

1. You have an employee that consistently does what they say they are going to do when they say they are going to do it. Over time you just assume they will always deliver. You trust that you can count on them and even if they miss a deadline you chalk it up to something out of their control.
2. 
   
3. A company you use for development and management your website frequently quotes you a price, starts the work and then comes back and tells you it’s going to cost more to do what you want. It’s happened enough times you start to question if they are idiots or just wanting to get you committed to the work and then do the proverbial bait and switch. Makes you wonder whether you can trust them, probably whether you should be working with them.
4. 
   
5. You’ve been working for a boss that always has your back. Whenever a problem comes up they are there to protect and defend you. You believe (trust) that you can count on them.
6. Whenever there is an opportunity to tell a ‘little white lie’ and get away with it your colleague does. Yes it’s not really unethical but I bet it makes you question other things about them.
7. 
   

In each of these examples you might say you had a gut feeling about them but in each there was evidence along the way that supports your feeling.  So this brings me to the question.  What is trust?  Is it a feeling, something you develop with individuals or companies over time?  Is it something you are born with…you just naturally trust people?  Or is it something you learn over time through experience…whether to trust or not?

© Incedo Group, LLC