Trust, is a delicate condition. How much are the engines of creation driven by trust? I would guess quite a lot. However, it is quite sad to contemplate, that many of those engines are powered by misplaced trust; or what you might say is one-sided trust. How many have heard your superiors say something along these lines “I’m not going to pay to train them, they’ll probably just leave once they have the training to get a better paying position. Does any part of that statement illustrate trust? I can’t begin to describe the many ways it is wrong, but since the topic is trust let’s stick to that one. Can you imagine what a front-line employee, who is trying to learn something newly assigned, would feel if they heard their superiors say that; wouldn’t they say their trust was broken? Hmm.
Just to remind myself I had to look it up. The interesting thing about trust is that it relates back to confidence and reliance. In my words, it is the confidence in someone that they always have your best interests foremost in your relationship. However, perhaps the greatest teacher I have ever had said “Never trust anyone!” Largely, I agree with that, I mean let’s not fool ourselves. In this me-first world that we live in, who can really comply with my or the dictionary’s definition of trust.
My point is not to judge the world, but to remind everyone that our perception of what true trust is, is hardly ever found in the business world. There will always be subtle nuances to relationships that we need to factor into our decisions. We also need to remember what business relationships are about, business. Business is about making money for you, your boss, the shareholders, but it is about making money. What I don’t understand is everyone seems to play his or her part. Employees know that management can’t tell them the truth, so management doesn’t. I guess that is a kind of trust.
For me, the problem with this situation is employees invest too much trust into the relationship. They subconsciously hope that corporations have their best interests at heart, but consciously know that they don’t. However, a great shift is coming. The shift will forever remove that hope from their subconscious. When employees finally understand they can’t trust corporations for their well being, then a new basis of trust will be formed. We will base the new trust on merit. We will base trust on the negotiated need within the relationship. When we mutually meet our needs, then trust will be possible. Until then, don’t give your trust away too easily.
