In the last semester, I took a module called " Customer Relationship" . In this course, I came across the Trust Equation. The Trust Equation was first introduced in 2000 by David Maister in his book ‘The Trusted Advisor’.It is a useful equation to guide individual and organization on how to increase the value of their trustworthiness.
I had been pondering on this equation and it helps me to analyze the trustworthiness of a person and an organization. Everyone knows that Trust is an important ingredient in a relationship. It can build or break human relationships. Many a times, I was disappointed by people who betrayed my trust on them. Over the years I learn not to give my trust away too quickly. Trust should not be given away too easily. Time is required to observe the behavior of the person and decide if that person is trustworthy or not.
But how to do that? The Trust equation is a good guideline to help to decide if you can trust a person.
It is also a good self assessment on how to increase your trustworthiness.
What does the equation means?
Credibility:
Credibility is simply ‘do they know what they are talking about?’ We trust people like doctors and lawyers because they are trained professionals. They’ve had to pass exams and been tested to make sure that they are credible and that they have a level of knowledge which allows them to advise people. We trust them as experts in their field.
My application : When someone is making a statement is he making up the story or it is from a source which we can trust.
E.g. Gossip is something we should be wary. When someone is making a statement on somebody, it is advisable not to agree everything but to find out if the person is making a true statement about the other person.
Reliability
Reliability is about delivering on their promises. Does this person deliver on their commitments or do they consistently fail in this regard? Repeated failures to do what you say you are going to do undermine trust. If someone is consistently late to meetings where a time has been clearly agreed, it erodes trust. When they say they’ll meet you at a time and a place there is a part of you that knows it is unlikely to happen – this is evidence of a reduced level of trust in the individual. If they can’t get to a meeting on time, what else are they going to fail to do?
Sometimes people are their own worst enemies when it comes to this. They commit to help or support others but because they’re too busy or disorganised, they fail to deliver. They don’t want to fail and they have the best intentions but the effect of their actions have an impact on trust people place in them.
My application: Is the person sharing the information reliable? Action speaks louder than speech. If the person's speech is not consistent with his action, I would say that person is not reliable.
Intimacy
Intimacy is about whether you can trust someone to keep something confidential. Do you trust them with information or have they let you down in this regard? Confidentiality is enshrined in relationships that doctors and lawyers have with their patients and clients. This is done to protect the individual but also to maintain trust in the profession. If someone breaks this trust, then there will be legal consequences – everyone is clear on this from the start.
My application: When we share secrets with a friend and few days later the other person knew about that secret. That person whom we had shared the secrets are not true friends as they talk about your secret to other people. The total value of that person's trustworthiness drop.
Self-orientation (Motives) - Anything that keeps us focused on ourselves rather than the person we are trying to get to trust us. Self-orientation can manifest itself in several ways, selfishness being the most common.
My application: It is important to understand the motive of a person when he or she tries to appear helpful out of the blue. If your intuitive is high, you can sense if the person being nice is out of selfish motives or not. A person who talks behind your back but appears helpful in front of you is a person who is helping you with a selfish motive.
This equation has helped me to group people whom I know into acquaintance, close friends or family members. I can decide who to delete or not to delete from my Facebook account.
Which group of people scores 100% in this equation? Of course they are my immediate family. Blood is thicker than water. Parents are true giver to their children. They give without any motive and expect nothing in any return. My siblings are the best friends in the world.
It doesn't matter if someone is sincere to us or not. I think the first step is to build our trustworthiness towards our family and friends. Use this equation as a self assessment to increase the value of our trustworthiness. We can't control how people treat us but we can use this equation to avoid such people and to be with people whom we can trust.
Sources : http://www.leadershipforces.com/the-trust-equation/
Disclaimer:
This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity.
