Continuing the #TrustTip Countdown

Many people in this world work for tips alone.  We think it’s about time that the tips start working for people.

That’s why we’re giving out a Trust Tip per day, counting down the days until the release of “The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook: A Comprehensive Toolkit for Leading with Trust,” a new book written by the two of us – Charles H. Green and Andrea P. Howe – to be published by Wiley Books on October 31, 2011. They are simple tips that you can use every day to remove the obstacles that slow down the building of trust.

If you follow us directly on Twitter (@CharlesHGreen and @AndreaPHowe) you’ll get these tidbits delivered straight to your Twitter feed; or you can find them by using the hash-tag #TrustTip. We’d love it if you joined us; we’ve been having rather enlightening conversations over on Twitter.  You can also check them out from Charles Green on Google+. 

But if you’re an eye-roller when it comes to social media, camp, there’s no need to fret. We keep a running list of the tips right here on our site.  You can always catch up–see our recaps below:

Trust Tips #144-135

Trust Tips #134-115

Trust Tips #114-105

Trust Tips #104-90

Trust Tips #89-81

Trust Tips #80-71

Below is the freshest batch, tips #70-56

#70: Try letting someone else have the last word.

#69: Dare to be really honest even (especially) when it makes you look bad.

#68: Saying ‘trust me’ is like saying you’re the winner of the ‘most humble’ award.

#67: Don’t be a blame-thrower; it burns you as much as the intended object.

#66: Rule of thumb: if communication fails, it’s the responsibility of the speaker.

#65: Deliver ‘early & ugly’–collaborate and iterate.

#64: Be willing to make a referral to your competition, if that happens to be the right thing to do.

#63: When your heart’s no longer in it–go find where your heart went.

#62: Trust is a two-way relationship: one to be trustworthy, the other to do the trusting.

#61: You don’t have to think less of yourself to think about yourself less.

#60: Hire for trusting-ness; train for trust-worthiness.

#59: Is there someone you trust greatly? Have you said so to them lately?

#58: People really don’t care what you know, until they know that you care. Maybe a truism, but it’s the truth too.

#57: Trust but verify? No. Trusting means you don’t need verification.

#56: Gossip is poison; envision everything you say being recorded on YouTube for everyone.

A Couple of Our Favorites:

#68: Saying ‘trust me’ is like saying you’re the winner of the ‘most humble’ award.

Having to goad people into trusting you flies in the face of building trust. It’s great when people say you are trustworthy. And it’s valuable to think about talk about how you might become more trusted.  But don’t try to self-advertise.  And please don’t build a marketing campaign claiming that you are someone’s trusted advisor.

Let your actions, not your words, tell people to trust you.  Your credibility will grow and your self-orientation will shrink at the same time, letting your trustworthiness shine through.  Let your actions do the talking, and leave the testimonials to others.

#57: Trust but verify? No. Trusting means you don’t need verification.

Ronald Reagan’s famous Russian-sourced proverb is great rhetoric—and probably sound politics—but it isn’t accurate about trust.  The essence of trusting means accepting the risk that someone might do you harm.

To take a risk without thinking is either an act of faith or of stupidity.  Neither one of those is trust.  But neither is it trust when you cross your fingers behind your back, sneak a peek at the cards, or “trust but verify.” To trust is to consciously assume a risk, knowing that the relationship that can result is often worth more than the risk actually taken.