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Why Trust Affects Your Influence and Success-And How to Rebuild It

In an excerpt from “The Trust Edge: How Leaders Gain Faster Results, Deeper Relationships, and a Stronger Bottom Line,” author David Horsager says “Everything of value is built on trust, from financial systems to relationships. Trust has always been foundational to genuine success of any kind.”

Yet so many people take it for granted.

When you lose the trust of your customers, colleagues, employees, or other stakeholders in business, you’ve given up much more than you realize. And you would be surprised at how difficult it takes to rebuild that trust once it’s lost.

I read a statistic that said that once you lose trust, it takes 37 experiences to get back to the point you started with in the relationship. And once you do recover trust with that individual, if you have another misstep—and lose credibility—the process starts all over again.

To rebuild trust, there are a few things you can do:

• If you’ve done or said something that resulted in a loss of trust, understanding the reason you violated the individual’s trust in you is the first step to rebuilding the relationship.
• Acknowledge your mistake—take responsibility for the action that caused the loss of trust.
• Be patient. Your actions, moving forward, will speak louder than words. Know that it’s going to take time for the relationship to get back on solid ground.
• Before you make commitments, ensure that you are being realistic with expectations. As much as you want to “WOW” a client, it’s best to under-promise and over-deliver!

My last piece of advice is to cut yourself some slack. Life happens. If you find that you’re constantly in a state of “catch up,” and you’re not meeting commitments, it’s time to build in some “Get Real Time.”

In “Get Real Time,” you add a buffer to your day – extra time to get things done. Schedule time in your day for interruptions and for personal breaks. Be realistic with your time.

To keep the trust of others, start by being respectful to yourself. Know your own limitations. The word “no” is not a dirty word. In the words of Tony Blair “The art of leadership is saying no, it is very easy to say yes.”

Trust affects your influence and success—at every level of business. Without it, you lose your effectiveness—and your competitive edge over others.

David Horsager has spent years studying the connection between success and trust, and outlines 8 key areas that he calls The Pillars of Trust. To gain a competitive edge, take these “Pillars” into account to build a strong foundation of trust.

Your turn! Do you have any advice for us on how to rebuild a broken trust?

Posted by Margaret in Communication and tagged business relationships, trust.