Chapter 31
Training for Trustworthiness
Can people learn how to be trustworthy? The short answer is yes. This chapter looks at what is required to teach the mind-sets and skills of trustworthy people. It explores specific training strategies to inspire aha moments and make their lessons stick. It also provides you with tactics for creating a supportive learning environment and strategically involving key stakeholders.
There are at least two very real challenges when it comes to training for trustworthiness:1
1. You cannot learn trustworthiness from a textbook. Learning to be trustworthy requires high-touch experiences combined with practice over time to become habitual. Even the book you are reading right now is only as good as the extent to which you do apply it consistently in your own business dealings. You cannot just cognitively understand your way into leading with trust. It takes time and practice to become natural.
2. If your underlying mind−set is not right, trustworthiness skills will be ineffective. It is not enough for you to follow a behavioral checklist. Attitudes and ways of thinking drive decisions and actions. You may have exceptional interpersonal skills that would be thwarted, either temporarily or consistently, by a limiting mind-set.
You cannot just cognitively understand your way into leading with trust. It takes time and practice to become natural.
The answer to these challenges lies in a creative, dynamic, and sometimes unconventional approach to ...
