Eight Powerful Tips on How to Gain Trust For Success and Happiness

Eight Powerful Tips on How to Gain Trust For Success and Happiness

What really is trust? It is reliance or confidence we have on integrity, character, ability or strength of a person. We trust if we can depend on someone to act predictably in the right way in the future.

Trust has to be earned by consistent right action; it is an essential requirement of leadership, success and happiness; it holds people, families, organisations and relationships together.

Experts in life coaching and business coaching tell us that it does not come with power, money, talent or personality; it is gained by integrity, communication, vision and caring for people; it is gained by trusting others, motivating them and believing in them more than they themselves do; it makes them gain self confidence and measure up and do what seems impossible otherwise.

Trust requires dedication, being a role model, motivation and courage. Listening to others carefully with empathy helps build confidence. Trust comes from sacrifice and demonstration that we can give up what we love most for our convictions.

Trust is lost when we become selfish and put ourselves before our family, community or organisation and at the same time, we lose respect and leadership very fast. However, if there is a genuine feeling of remorse, admission of wrongdoing and an honest attempt at reparation, trust can be regained. For this, we have to be more in control of our emotions than focused on our desires.

It takes a long time to build a deposit of trust but it can be gambled away in an instant; it is easy for people to find out if you are not genuine and lose trust in you. Trust comes from our actions and upright behaviour not by just talking about it.

Here are eight tips on how to build trust for success and happiness.

 

1. Mean what you say and say what you mean; it is better to be yourself and not try to be someone else. Being truthful and genuine is the first condition for gaining trust.

 

2. Be open and live an open life; if you are secretive people are suspicious about your motives and do not trust you.

 

3. Be predictable and inform others about changes. Just like you give a signal when you change lanes or signal before you make a turn to avoid an accident.

 

4. Believe in yourself and in others. Giving responsibilities to people beyond their perceived capacity almost always makes them achieve the impossible.

 

5. Communicate often. Communicate your needs, likes and dislikes to enable others to know. Communication is one of the pillars on which trust is built as it clears the way for understanding each other and predicting actions.

 

6. Form your own opinions based on credible evidence. Be courageous and be prepared to sacrifice for your convictions. People respect leaders who don’t blindly imitate others and don’t buckle under pressures and injustice.

 

7. Establish clear and reasonable boundaries for yourself and others and let everyone know. People feel safer in dealing with the known which builds trust, whereas they fear the unknown.

 

8. You may take responsibility for your actions. You cannot build trust if people see you as shirking responsibility and passing blame on to others when things go wrong.

 

Although it is not easy to build trust, once built it can help you to be a good leader and take yourself and many others towards greater success and happiness. A trustworthy person leaves behind a legacy the following generations can be proud of.

Gain Trust and Credibility At Work

No matter what industry you work in, one thing remains the same, every employer wants the best employees who are trustworthy and valuable. With every relationship, whether it be personal or professional, gaining trust and credibility in others is crucial for the relationship to grow and be successful and happy.

In the workplace, consistency in your behavior and productivity are the keys to becoming more credible and valuable.

So how do you achieve this?

Keep your word

Put simply, do what you say you are going to do. Deliver on your promises and keep true to the expectations you set for yourself, and that which others are depending on. This is one of the best ways to prove your worth and show that you have a strong work ethic.

Take ownership for the good and the bad

Life is a rollercoaster, so buckle up and enjoy the ride. The ups and downs of life are simply tests of our endurance, our strength and our core values. Taking ownership of accomplishments and victories at work are easier and more gratifying than taking ownership when deadlines cannot be met or when sales figures aren’t reaching targets. However, this is the time to step-up and be honest and own the situation. Life will never be perfect and in times like these, the best option is to have a clear and honest explanation as to the undesirable outcome and have a Plan B to try and counteract the effects. Respect is gained by taking accountability, especially in the bad times.

Document and present your achievements

Do you keep a log of all your achievements at work? If not, start now!

Ensure you capture the following information (at a minimum):

Keeping a chronological log of all your accomplishments, big and small is essential for informing and reminding your manager of your worth. Many people struggle with tooting their own horn, but you need to break down that barrier and remind your boss why he/she hired you in the first place, and how essential you are to the organization.

If your workplace conducts annual performance reviews, it is essential that you keep a descriptive log of your achievements, and if you don’t have to go through this formal process, meet regularly with your boss to go over your performance in a less formal manner. Taking the initiative to meet regularly with your manager will give you instant credibility. Developing rapport and trust with that in power to make changes, and who can promote your career, are vital.