Evidence of trust begets trust.

 ​- Plutarch

Imagine a new person just joined your team. Would you share your ideas openly with him right off the bat? Seek his input on a big project? Delegate important tasks to him? Or would you keep your best ideas to yourself, tell him how it’s done around here, and give him trivial tasks until he proves himself?

Many of us would land somewhere between these two extremes, but your answer to that question can have far-reaching consequences. 

For the past few weeks, we’ve been diving into the Four Elements as a means of becoming worthy of the trust of others. In addition to cultivating your own trustworthiness, the best option you have for getting trust is giving trust.

Studies show that people who feel trusted, tend to return that trust in kind.

Part of the reason for this is what social psychologists call reciprocity. Reciprocity is a social norm whereby humans tend to feel obligated to respond to a positive action with a corresponding positive action in return. The converse is also true—we tend to reciprocate negative actions and feelings as well. 

When trust is reciprocated, it confirms the original trustor’s decision and their trust deepens all the more. This creates a reinforcing cycle of trust begetting trust.

Therefore, the quality and quantity of trust you receive is directly related to the quality and quantity of trust you extend. There are other factors for sure, but reciprocity alone can produce a virtuous or vicious cycle of trust/distrust…

…depending on the initial conditions.

This is why beginnings are so important. How we approach someone new can set the tone for our professional relationship going forward. Will you come together as collaborative partners? Or perhaps drift apart as quiet rivals? It all may come down to how much and how well one person chooses to trust the other.

Being the first to raise the stakes of trust can be difficult. We’ll spend the next few weeks looking at how to wisely extend rational and relational trust.

For Reflection: How would you rate your own propensity to trust? What are the risks and rewards of how you rated yourself?​

Update: 46,441 words 

I’ve written 46,441 manuscript words out of a goal of 60,000. That puts me about 77% complete with the first draft, which is 5% more than last week.

Past the three quarters mark…and it doesn’t get any easier! There continue to be days when the ideas and words flow, and others when it just feels like pulling teeth. It’s the consistency at this point that motivates me, more than whether the output is as I planned or not. Progress is progress!​​