Practical Coach: Management Skills for Everyday Life, The

What Is Trust?

Researchers John Cook and Toby Wall define trust as “a willingness to ascribe good intentions to and have confidence in the words and actions of other people.”^[27] This willingness will, in turn, affect the way in which one behaves toward others. Three characteristics are fundamental to our understanding of trust: uncertainty, risk, and perceptions.

Uncertainty

We need to depend on trust—a leap of faith—only if we do not have all information about a person or situation and if we cannot completely control the outcome. If we have total knowledge and control of a situation, we have no need to trust because we can anticipate and ensure the outcome that we want. For example, if we are willing and able to monitor all aspects of an employee's ...