Guest Columnist: Rodney J. Johnson, President

Prescient Consulting Inc.

Trust is a word we commonly use and think we understand. We think of it as a simple concept, and speak of how important it is to us. However, that doesn't mean that we truly appreciate trust for what it is, how it is gained, how it is lost, and what we can do in our everyday lives to make use of it. Trust is something we want to receive and something we want to give.

It is no strange thing then, that we only give full trust to those we have direct knowledge of. Since we trust those we know well more than those we don't, and our goal is to be trusted, then our mission should be to ensure everyone knows us well.

We've all heard about how trust is the grease of civil society, the invisible ink of the social contract. Society has even created various tools (contracts, credentials, references) to solidify the benefits of it. If we can trust, things can happen. If we can't, we either have to get what we want on our own or go without. We do make contracts, which we think will give weight to our trust, but don't even make those contracts with those we can't trust.  Trust speeds things up. It allows for more rapid decision making and more decisive action once things are settled. The trusted man gets the job. Read On

The trusted man gets the job. Trusted companies get the business. All other things being equal, the trusted candidate, partner, investor, supplier and friend gets the job over a party lacking trust. The lack of trust can come from outright distrust or from simply being unknown. That seems like a no-brainer, but what about when all other things are not equal? What if one potential partner is trusted and one is not, but the trusted party is not the equal of the distrusted or unknown one?  Well, that is for each one of us to answer on our own. If it isn't rocket science we're talking about, then there is probably a sliding balance between trust and capability. It's my hunch that within that scale, trust weighs more than capability and except in the instance where one party is completely incapable, the less capable and trusted party will still win out.  

So if trust is so important and we want to trust others and want others to trust us, how do we go about increasing trust?  That is a tough question and the subject of many sales strategies, marketing plans, and personal efforts.

There are many shortcuts that people and organizations employ to try to gain trust, though virtually all of them are focused around gaining the trust of those who don't know us well, rather than repairing a situation where there is no trust because people do know us well! In that unfortunate situation, there are probably no shortcuts.

Probably the weakest tactic to gain trust is to borrow it. People attempt to borrow it from someone who has it. That includes working under the umbrella of a trusted company or brand, dropping the name of trusted mutual acquaintances, advertising credentials from a trusted university or organization, etc.  Companies do this all the time by associating themselves and their products with things their target customers already trust.

Further up the difficulty scale of trust gaining methods are winning it and earning it. Trust can be won by championing an idea, "putting your money where your mouth is", or otherwise taking a principled stand at your own potential risk. Trust can often be won simply by "telling it like it is," implying that to do so is risky in itself. Trust can be earned by making promises and keeping them. Being consistent and predictable is a tried and true way to slowly earn someone's trust.

The common denominator in all methods of earning trust is the act of increasing knowledge. Trust is a byproduct of knowledge. The more real the knowledge of someone or something is, the deeper the trust. The more direct and close that knowledge is, the more difficult to lose that trust. If you want someone to trust you, make sure they know you. If you want someone to really trust you, make sure they really know you.

At the heart of increasing knowledge is increasing transactions and interactions. The more your partners, customers, and friends see you in action the better they will know you. The more times they witness your excellent performance the more they believe that they know what that performance is going to be like next time.  The more times they see you make mistakes the more times they know how conscientiously you fix them. More importantly than being seen to be perfect is just to be seen. So get out there and interact with the people you hope to be your next customers, partners, and friends. Interact in a variety of ways, earn their trust, and then watch good things happen.

McKinney Consulting Inc., is a retained Executive Search & Coaching firm based in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 2001, McKinney hasrefined expertise in Asia helping multinational companies and leaders succeed in the region. McKinney Consulting is a member of the World Wide Association for Retained Executive Search Consulting Firms (AESC) and the Leaders Alliance for Commerce. Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it