Do you want to know how to develop trust?
If you do, then you are not alone.
Trust is essential for every relationship.
It helps to build strong relationships.
When there is no trust, a relationship is bound to fail.
Hence, it has to be developed to avoid this from happening.
However, several people do not know how to develop trust.
If you are one of those people, we are here to help you correct that.
So, come with us as we share vital information on how to develop trust.
We will begin by understanding what trust is…
What Is Trust? – How to Develop Trust
Trust is the belief that someone or something is true and reliable.
It is when a person has confidence in another person’s character and actions.
They believe that this other person can be relied on, and they will not intentionally hurt them.
When there is trust in a relationship, there would be little to no doubt of the intention of each party in the relationship.
Hence, they will all feel safe and secure in that relationship.
Trust is needed in all types of relationships; whether professional or personal.
This is because it would make it easier for people to achieve their common goals together.
People would find it easier to relate, connect, conduct business, and do other things with you when you can develop trust with them.
What Does it Mean To Develop Trust? – How to Develop Trust
To develop trust means to make someone else believe that you are sincere and honest, and will not intentionally cause them harm.
It does not stop there.
Developing trust also involves believing in the sincerity and honesty of the other party.
Hence, developing trust is a two-way project.
It can either start with one person in the relationship or all the people in the relationship.
What we mean is that two people in a relationship can actively work to build trust together.
Or one person can show that they are trustworthy, and trust the other person first.
If trust is developed through the second method, then the person who developed it would have to be patient to get the other party on the same page.
For example, if you develop trust with your clients by showing that you are trustworthy; you would have to give it time to have them trust you.
Once they trust you, they would show their loyalty and commitment to sustaining that trust you have developed between you and them.
Pillars of Trust – How to Develop Trust
To effectively develop trust between yourself and others, you have to know the pillars of trust.
The pillars of trust are factors that would make people believe that you are trustworthy.
When you can exhibit the following, you would find it easier to gain the trust of others
Clarity
It is easier to trust something or someone unambiguous.
This is because people love to know where they stand and what they are doing.
When you remove every form of misdirection and confusion, you would find it easier to get people’s trust.
Hence, clarity is one essential pillar for trusting building.
Competency – How to Develop Trust
Competency is important for developing trust.
This is especially true for professional relationships.
When you cannot do your job or task well, people will find it difficult to trust you with their things or projects.
So, you need to ensure that you are good at what you do, to gain people’s trust.
Compassion
People easily put their trust in others who care for others.
They believe that if these people can care for more than themselves, they would not intentionally hurt others.
So, compassion is needed to develop and gain trust.
Commitment – How to Develop Trust
People who are committed to what they do and their relationships find it easier to gain the trust of others.
This is especially true for professional relationships.
When you can show people that you are committed to your work and business, they would be moved to build a trusting relationship with you.
Check here to discover the 10 commitments for excellence in business.
Character
When you do the right things, people notice you.
This makes them believe that you would do right by them.
As a result, they would find it easy to trust you.
So, build good character.
Connection – How to Develop Trust
People find it easier to trust people those who they connect well with.
So, figure out how to connect with people on their levels.
In your relationship, whether professional or personal, make your people feel appreciated.
Consistency
Consistency is an important pillar in developing trust.
A person needs to be capable of delivering and doing the right things at all times.
When they cannot, people find someone else who can.
So, ensure that you are someone who would continuously do the right thing.
Be a person of integrity.
Contribution – How to Develop Trust
In every relationship that you are in, ensure that you contribute.
Your contribution can be your resources, attention, talent, time, or opportunity.
Whatever it is, make sure you give as you expect to receive.
This will help you gain the trust of the other party in the relationship.
Tips on How to Develop Trust
Now that you know the pillars of trust, we will share tips that would help you use these pillars to develop trust.
We implore you to practice the following tips:
1. Stay True
Developing trust requires a person to stay true to their words and actions.
That is, keeping to your promise, being sincere and honest.
Your actions and words should not misdirecting or confusing.
They have to be clear to avoid misdirecting or confusing others.
Your words should match your character and actions at all times.
If you say you hate lateness, then you have to be on time at all times.
Let there be congruency in everything you do.
Also, what you say you would do should be what you would do.
For example, if you say you tell your customer that you would give them a discount if they order more of your product, then, ensure you do so.
If you know you cannot keep a promise ensure that you do not make it.
When you stay true to your words and action, people will respect you, and slowly it will develop trust between you and them.
2. Clearly and Effectively Communicate – How to Develop Trust
Several relationships have broken because communication was poor and trust was not grown.
You have to avoid that in your relationships.
How to do that is by communicating clearly and effectively.
When you can communicate effectively with people, you would do away with confusion.
You would easily share your thoughts and feelings with your people.
This way, they would be carried along and know where they stand and what they are doing.
As a result, they would appreciate and respect you for carrying them along.
Gradually, this would develop trust in them for you.
So, if you do not know how to communicate effectively, learn how to.
Some ways to communicate effectively are:
- Think before speaking
- Respect the person you are speaking with’
- Be audible
- Use simple language or the language your listener understands
- Watch body language signs
3. Stay Committed
Understand that trust cannot be developed overnight.
It is a gradual process that requires commitment.
So, do not expect people to trust you quickly.
Rather, take daily small steps to grow trust and show your commitment to gaining people’s trust.
However, your commitments should also be small.
When trust starts growing, it would then be best for you to make and accept bigger commitments.
For example, if you want to gain your romantic partner’s trust, you have to start with small sweet gestures of trust and care.
Then, over time, you can go on to do more.
This way, they would trust your intentions and you.
However, when you start big, they would doubt if you are there to stay.
When you stay committed to gaining people’s trust and also trusting them, they would trust you in return.
4. Learn to Say ‘No’ – How to Develop Trust
As you develop trust, you have to learn to say ‘no’ and stick to your boundaries.
This will help you to avoid committing to things that you cannot do or delivered.
Yes, you might disappoint people, but this is better than making commitments and not sticking to them.
Let them know why you cannot agree to their request.
Make them understand that if you agree to it, you would not be able to deliver and this would cause more issues.
They would appreciate you for this.
Before you agree to anything, ensure that you know the commitment and tasks you already have to do.
This would help you to know if you have the liberty or chance to accept more commitments.
5. Keep Their Secrets
Secrets are important to people.
When they share it with others, they believe that it would be kept.
If their secrets are not kept, they lose the trust they have in the person who shared their secrets.
So, you have to learn how to keep people’s secrets.
People would trust you when you keep their secrets.
There are sometimes when under pressure people spill others’ secrets.
If that happens to you, then you should immediately take corrective measures.
The corrective measure is to admit to that mistake and apologize to the owner of the secret.
Yes, the person would most likely be angry at you.
However, it would save you from incurring more of their anger if they discover your betrayal from another person.
Also, it will provide you with an opportunity to minimize the damage you might have caused.
6. Value Your Relationships – How to Develop Trust
As we earlier shared, consistency and compassion are pillars of trust.
So, if you want to develop trust you need to value your relationships by showing compassion and staying consistent.
In other words, at all times, show care and concern for others.
Value and respect them
Display loyalty to them by being supportive
Listen to them when they need someone to listen to.
Make them see that you are interested in their happiness and growth.
As you keep doing this, they would gradually start trusting you.
7. Avoid Aggressive or Abusive Behaviors
People cannot trust others who are aggressive or abusive.
So, if you want to develop trust with people, you have to ensure that you avoid any aggressive or abusive behaviors.
Some examples of abusive behaviors are:
- Physically hurting people
- Threatening others
- Degrading or humiliating people
If you mistakenly maltreat people in any way, you should immediately apologize.
Also, promise them that you would do better, and ensure that you honor your promise.
8. Be Honest – How to Develop Trust
Honesty is very important when developing trust.
If you lie to people, you make them feel like fools and betray their trust.
Hence, you should avoid lying.
Rather, tell them the truth.
However, if you know you cannot tell them the truth for one reason or the other, be sure that you make them understand why you cannot.
For example, if you run a business, it is not everything about your company you would share with your customers.
Hence, make them understand the need for confidentiality.
However, if you know you want to tell people the truth, ensure that you do not omit crucial details.
This will help you to avoid losing credibility.
When you are honest with people, you would be able to develop trust with them.
9. Admit Mistakes
Whenever you make mistakes, you have to ensure that you admit that you did.
If you hide them and people find out, they would see you as a dishonest person and not worthy of their truth.
Hence, avoid this by being vulnerable and open to people.
Everybody makes mistakes.
So, when you admit to your mistakes, they will be comfortable with you because they know they also make mistakes.
However, if you hide your mistake and pretend to be perfect, they would not believe you to be someone trustworthy.
When people see only the ‘perfection’ you have painted, you would be hiding the ‘real you’ from them.
As a result, they would most likely not trust you.
10. Be Yourself – How to Develop Trust
You cannot build trust on a lie.
Hence, you need to avoid pretending to be someone other than yourself.
Yes, you would have to learn and change some of your negative attitudes or behaviors.
However, doing that does not change who you are.
So, ensure that you are not someone else but yourself.
11. Do Not Self-Promote Every Time
Self-promoting every time only makes people see you as a selfish person.
Selfishness does not help trust to grow.
Hence, you should avoid self-promoting yourself every time.
Rather than doing that, recognize and appreciate other people’s talents and good deeds.
Praise and encourage others when they do well.
Remove the spotlight from yourself from time to time.
When you do this, people will feel appreciated and treasured.
This will make them respect and appreciate you in return.
Gradually, their trust in you will start developing.
12. Share Your Feelings with Them – How to Develop Trust
Trust also involves being open to others.
This is because people find it difficult to connect and trust those who are closed up or cold.
However, when you share your feelings with other people, it shows that you trust them.
This will help them to connect with you and get to know you for who you are.
As a result, it would soften their heart towards you, and gradually they would start trusting you,
Remember that connection is a pillar of trust and sharing your feeling is a great way to build connection and eventually trust.
13. Share Responsibilities with Them
Sharing responsibilities with people shows that you trust them.
It shows that you believe in their ability to play their part in a task, duty, activity, or work.
As we earlier said, showing that you trust someone else helps to develop trust.
So, you should learn to share responsibilities.
In your company, delegate responsibilities to your employees.
At home, share responsibilities with your partner and family members.
Make them believe that you have trust in their ability.
Benefits of Developing Trust – How to Develop Trust
When you succeed in developing trust, here are some of the benefits you would enjoy:
It Increases Productivity
When there is trust in a relationship, whether professional or personal, it increases productivity.
This is especially true in work relationships.
Everybody in that relationship will feel unity.
As a result, they will work together in unity to achieve their goals.
This, in turn, increases their success and productivity rate.
It Reduces Conflicts – How to Develop Trust
When there is trust in relationships, there would be mutual understanding.
As a result, everybody in that relationship will know where they stand on different matters.
This will eliminate confusion and misunderstanding
Consequently, it reduces conflicts in that relationship.
It Promotes Positivity
When you develop trust in your relationships, you promote positivity.
This is because trust is about believing and depending on someone else.
It is the belief that someone’s intention towards you is good.
In this dangerous world, that shows and promotes positivity.
When there is positivity, it promotes good energy, positive thinking, and sometimes health benefits.
It Promotes Self-confidence – How to Develop Trust
When you develop trust in your relationships, it promotes self-confidence.
This is because trust entails appreciating and believing in someone else’s judgments, abilities, skills, and so on.
So, when there is trust in a relationship, every party will feel appreciated and respected.
As a result, this will make them feel more confident in themselves and their abilities.
It Creates Psychological Safety
Trusting someone is believing that you would not be hurt by that person.
You feel safe without feeling scared of any negative consequences.
When you trust someone, you are not scared to open up and be yourself around that person.
You would feel that you would be accepted by that person just the way you are.
This is what psychological safety is.
Hence, developing trust in your relationships creates psychological safety.
Conclusion on How to Develop Trust
Trust is crucial for every relationship.
It helps to build strong relationships.
Hence, trust needs to be developed.
