How To Become Trustworthy
Being trustworthy requires you to be trusted by others and learn how to trust yourself. The good news is, you can learn how to build trust. Asking yourself questions, and being intentional and vulnerable, will help you learn how to build trust. The more you can trust yourself, the more confident you will be.
Our CEO and Founder, Jessica Chen, recently hosted a Soulcast Media | LIVE event on LinkedIn. She interviewed Managing Director at ZRG Partners LLC., and author, Summer Anderson.
They shared tips and personal stories about how to become trustworthy. This Soulcast Media | LIVE event is brought to you by our amazing sponsors at ZRG Partners, and the book Start Within: Better ROI starts with you.
ZRG Partners is a global talent advisory firm. As a recruiting partner, ZRG uses a universal process to identify talent that fits into your business needs, company culture, and global requirements. We use this analytical approach to identify executive talent for some of the world’s leading companies.
Start Within: Better ROI Begins With You is a business book for managers, leaders and teams to acquire knowledge, foster better team outcomes, and ROI.
1. Building Trust
During the Soulcast Media | LIVE, Summer said one of the easiest ways to learn to build trust is to ask yourself questions. These questions will help you understand where your blind spots are and how you can change your behavior or your story to become the person you want to be.
Consider the following:
- Have I been trustworthy? – Think about your past experiences. Have you been trustworthy? For example, can you remember when you weren’t forthcoming about your role in a project? Perhaps you didn’t tell your superior everything a client requested. When you reflect on your past experiences, note the times you weren’t trustworthy. Think about why you weren’t. Decide to change your habits so you become more reliable.
- Does My Story Need To Change? During the Soulcast Media | LIVE, Summer shared how when you choose a purpose-driven and others-centered story, you immediately gain trust. This is because you aren’t focused solely on yourself. For example, if you decide your story needs to change to focus more on others, your actions will change as well. Instead of trying to shift the blame, you will take responsibility. Instead of saying one thing and doing another, you will do what you said you would do.
- Do I follow through? – As you begin to build trust, ask yourself whether or not you consistently follow through? Are you the type of person others can count on to get something done? Or do you often make excuses for not completing your work? You build trust when you follow through because others can rely on you.
When you decide to build trust, your habits change. You begin to form micro habits day after day and eventually gain the trust of those within your organization.
2. Vulnerability
When you are vulnerable, people are much more likely to trust you because they believe you are being honest and forthcoming. It can be scary to admit when you missed the mark; however, vulnerability boosts your authenticity and helps you become more trustworthy.
Consider the following:
- Taking Ownership – Nobody likes to make mistakes; however, they are bound to happen. No one is perfect. When you are vulnerable and take ownership of your mistakes, you become more trustworthy. For example, one way to take ownership is to say, yes, I made a mistake. Instead of trying to make an excuse or correct the issue and prove you didn’t make a mistake, a simple, “Hi Rob, thanks for pointing out the spelling error in the copy. I will correct it immediately. I appreciate your catch!” When you take ownership, you build trust and authenticity.
- Being Honest – If you’ve been in the workplace for some time, you’ve probably come across people who tell tall tales. Maybe it is a story about how many sales they closed or how fast they rose to the top of their field. Stories can be fun, but tall tales don’t build trust. If you want to become trustworthy, you need to be honest. There is no shame in telling the truth. For example, when sharing your sales with your superior, don’t inflate the numbers. Any lie, no matter how small, can break trust.
- Admit You Don’t Know – Admitting you don’t know something can make you feel very vulnerable. And that’s okay! When you admit you don’t know something, you become more trustworthy. When you are upfront about what you don’t know, others will trust you more when you do know the answer. Admitting you don’t know something can be difficult.
Being vulnerable can be scary. However, the more you can practice being vulnerable, the more trustworthy you will become.
3. Purpose Driven
Part of becoming trustworthy is being able to trust yourself. During the Soulcast Media |LIVE, Summer spoke in-depth about what it means to be purpose-driven.
What you think is what you become. – Summer Anderson
Consider the following:
- Intentional – When you are intentional with your time, thoughts, and actions, you build trust from the inside out. When you know what you want and are intentional about the steps you need to take, you will find the time to accomplish it. For example, if you know you want to get a promotion, but haven’t passed your certification course, you may have to carve out time early in the morning every Saturday. Being intentional helps you build trust within yourself.
- Clearly Write Your Vision – Do you know what you want or your vision? If so, have you written it down? If you aren’t able to clearly communicate what you want or what your vision is, it most likely won’t come to fruition. Clear communication is needed to ensure you fully understand your vision. For example, when writing your five-year plan, be very specific about what you want. Instead of writing, I want to get a promotion. You can write, in the next two years, I want to be promoted to senior copywriter at Rolling Stone Magazine. When you are specific with your vision and goals, your purpose is clear.
- Journaling – During the Soulcast Media | LIVE, Summer shared how journaling can help you find your purpose. For example, you can write down four things you are good at, or four things that excite you. And then, when something comes your way that doesn’t fit within those four things, you may want to say no because it doesn’t fit within your purpose. Journaling can help you trust the decision you make moving forward.
When you are clear on your purpose, you cultivate trust from within. When you trust yourself, you can build trust with others quickly.
If you want to become trustworthy, you have to be vulnerable and own your mistakes. You also have to build trust with yourself. The more trustworthy you are, the more confident you will become, and the more career success you will find.
If you want to see the full LIVE version of this LIVE, check out Jessica’s Youtube Channel.
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