This is the third of four posts discussing David Horsager’s book ”The Trust Edge.” How Top Leaders Gain Faster Results, Deeper Relationships, and a stronger Bottom Line.
The basic premise of the book is that when we build trust, we gain a competitive advantage in the world we live in. I believe that this applies to both our personal and professional lives. Simply put, when we build trust, we build relationships. And as we all know, people want to spend time with, associate with and do business with people they trust.
The heart of the book focuses on Horsager’s Eight Pillars of Trust – Clarity, Compassion, Character, Competency, Commitment, Connection, Contribution and Consistency.
This post will address the last four.
PILLAR 5: COMMITMENT
I have to point out that this is my favorite pillar. Before I even opened this book, I chose the word Commitment as my one word to focus on this year. Over the years, I have started many things and have to honestly say that way too many were never finished. I can point to all sorts of reasons why they didn’t get finished, but it all can be summed up in this way. I was not committed. When you take on a new project or responsibility, you better be sure of your level of commitment. I would suggest your probability of success will be about the same.
PILLAR 6: CONNECTION
The first thing you better take care of when building trust is connecting with the person you are trying to build trust with. John Maxwell covers this when he says “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Simply put, if you don’t connect with people so that they know you care, they won’t care about what you know and they won’t trust you.
PILLAR 7: CONTRIBUTION
What are you giving back? How do you contribute to your family, your business or your community? If you want to build trust with people, they need to know that you value the things that are important to them. This can be done in a number of ways … time, money and resources to name a few. Think about this – can you really enjoy the things you have without having someone to share them with? Giving back, no matter how you do it, will result in building trust in those who are on the receiving end.
PILLAR 8: CONSISTENCY
I think Horsager saved the best for last. Look at the other seven pillars. Can you be successful at any of them without doing them consistently? Consistency builds credibility and credibility builds trust. Follow-through on what you do and and what you say and others will know that they can trust your motives, your words and your actions.
The Trust Edge provides a blueprint not only for building trust but living a meaningful life. Trust impacts every part of our life. Part 4 will close out this series taking a look at how trust impacts the community around us.
Rate yourself on how well you are doing the things described above. This may give you some insight on your Trust Edge.
See Part 1 of The Trust Edge by clicking here.
See Part 2 of The Trust Edge by clicking here.
Find out more about David Horsager and The Trust Edge at:
www.TheTrustEdge.com or www.davidhorsager.com
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Barry Smith www.buildingwhatmatters.com 2/6/13 photo courtesy of Amazon
