Building Trust: An Essential Part of Any Business

Critical to the success of any business is the ability to develop and maintain high-trust relationships – relationships that lead to repeat business, referrals from clients and partners, competitive vendor terms, and the ability to attract and retain the best talent.  It is these kinds of relationships that enable a business to lead in service to its industry, market, and community.

A senior federal government agency employee responsible for overseeing large, complex construction projects was speaking to a group of contractors and lawyers about how to avoid being terminated for default.  In his view, it was really quite simple:

“As long as I trust you (as the contractor representative who I work with on a daily basis), I will never terminate your contract for default.  If I trust you, you are my best alternative to completing the work; we’ll work through any difficulties together.  But, if you mislead me once, everything changes.  I can no longer trust you and I will likely decide default termination is my best alternative.”

Trust, like integrity, is an all or nothing proposition.  One intentionally misleading statement can destroy a relationship of trust built up over years.  The rapid pace and complexity of today’s business environment demands high-trust relationships built on absolute integrity.  (The reality is that when trust is lost, it is extremely difficult to regain within the timeframe required to maintain a positive business relationship.)

Building high-trust relationships does not require blindly trusting others.  It does require a unilateral decision to unconditionally live by one’s word and intentions, while being aware of the fact everyone else may not do the same.

Building such relationships also does not mean “giving in” in order to resolve problems quickly or “amicably”.  A reputation for being trustworthy increases credibility; strengthening the ability to maintain valid positions, avoid unnecessary disputes, and resolve problems on a principled basis.

Trust affects every aspect of business: marketing, business development, client/partner relationships, proposals, vendor contracts, project plans, internal operations, external operations, and safety.  Subsequent articles viewable here will describe how to successfully build and maintain high-trust relationships in each of these areas.

Enjoy!