I want to talk about trust in this blog. I have had my trust betrayed on a number of occasions in both business and within projects. I have also had it tested and have been shown great trust by business colleagues and friends.

A very good friend of mine, Graham Durant-Law, has a great saying about trust that is just so true:

trust is easily given, trust is easily removed,
but trust is very very hard to earn back

To my mind being part of a team whether that is a project team, an infantry platoon, a small business, or a footy team is all about building relationships and trust. For any group to work together, particularly where the stakes are high, then trust is essential.

Now in my book the following equation is true:

Plainly decreasing anything on the right decreases TRUST. Just as increasing it, increases TRUST.

In a new or established business or team TRUST needs to be developed/maintained because:

• Although HONESTY is generally a given at the start of a new relationship, it has not been proven at the commencement of any endeavour. This is particularly so if the team members are new to each other. HONESTY is something we find out about each other over time, unless of course there is some criminal record upon which we can rely.
• CREDIBILITY can be researched through due diligence on those who are team members. But CREDIBILITY is also built over time by "doing what you say you are going to do" (delivering what you say you are going to deliver) and making sure others do the same. Making sure others deliver on their promises may not seem such a big thing. But it really can impact upon your credibility. If you never or rarely check on whether something has been done or completed, then eventually, unethical or lazy people will think they can get away with not doing it or not delivering it. You consequently lose credibility in their eyes and with the others in the team who are doing the right thing.
• TRANSPARENCY must be in all dealings. This can be achieved by open communications, briefings, seeking input, etc. Graham and I for instance started doing business together with an explicit contract. From then on (and over many years) we didn't need one because we built up that trust through transparency.
• SHARED EXPERIENCE will come but is not pre-existing. It will test the other three elements. A difficult shared experience, if it doesn't destroy a relationship, will make it stronger. This is so true in many endeavours, particularly where danger or hard physical times are shared such as in a football team or a military unit.

So you need to be careful where you don't have these elements at the start of an endeavour or a project. Beware if you have suspicions on one or more elements of the equation.

I did have suspicions in one of my business endeavours, but didn't act on them. I doubted their transparency and hence their honesty even though the Directors had businesses themselves and even held academic positions. It turned out I was correct. They were saying one thing but doing another. In the end, they simply lied about the whole interaction and threw me out of a venture I started. I was left to either take them to court or to accept the situation.........(it is yet to play out completely, so I can't say too much here).

So as part of a team or any business or project, I tend to follow those principles. I also have three other "sayings" that work together, that I often quote:

1) deal in the facts not agendas,
2) bad news does not get better with time, and
3) ......... beware arseholes who don't have ethics!!