Good morning everyone,
I hope you are all experiencing the warm weather finally! It has been a cool start to summer here in the mid-west, but has really cranked up the heat in the past week.
Last week we started unpacking how to build trust and we focused on building credibility. You can get credibility from education, life experience, and from pointing people in the right direction to help them.
Today, lets talk about the second variable in building trust. It’s Reliability. How reliable are you? When you say you’ll do something will you do it? Will you do it to the best of your ability? Do you forget to do it? Will you do the right thing when no one is looking? Do you think it is not that big of a deal?
It's a BIG DEAL!!! here on earth if you are being reliable or not. Trust is won or lost on your actions.
I remember when I was younger, my father telling me to always do what you say you are going to do. Do not waiver. He also stated to do the right thing if everyone is watching and when no one is watching. Don’t tell me, show me is the slogan I heard all my life.
That has always stuck with me.
I remember when I first met my wife’s parents. We were up at their cottage grilling steaks and I was assisting my future father-in-law. I told him that I usually every spring season the grill grates after the first steaks have been cooked by applying foil to the top of the grates and turning the heat up high while I ate and then it would bake all the flavor.
What I didn’t know is that his grill grates on his expensive grill were actually anodized aluminum and not steel…
Did you know when you crank the heat and use foil that reflects the heat back into the grates when they are aluminum that they actually make the grates melt and break in half? Yep, it was an awesome experience for me to figure that out. I told him that I would replace them even though he said don’t worry about it. The next day I was on the phone with the grill manufacturer ordering the new grates. I was originaly going to order just two, but they informed me that they had two different sizes in that grill…. so, I ordered a complete set. Did you know that anodized aluminum grates cost more than any grill I have ever bought? Next day air shipping was also an extra cost.
That weekend was the most expensive steak dinner I have ever bought, but by doing the right thing and doing what I said I was going to do our relationship has grown and he has put a great deal of trust in me. He knows that if I say I will do something that I will get it done. He still likes to bring it up every once in a while just like any father-in-law would to his son-in-law, but I know he is bringing it up because I stood firm to my word.
When we interact with our teams, customers, family, or friends we need to make it a constant effort to be reliable. Without being reliable it is almost impossible to have any kind of trust.
Is there a time that pops in the back of your mind where someone else has fallen short being reliable? How did it make you feel? Did you lose a little trust in that person?
I know I will fall short sometimes, but I make it my best effort to do what I say I am going to do and if I am going to come in short I communicate the situation and try to better the situation to the best of my ability. If you do not commit to being reliable the amount of favor is limited by those you come in contact with. We need trust in order to keep moving forward with others. Focus on how you can make sure you are doing what you say you will do and apologize to anyone that you may have fallen short with.
Next week we will at the final variable to the trust equation numerator and it is a huge variable. I look forward to sharing with you next week!
Below is where we are in the trust equation:
