EYN#019 - How To Build Trust. This Simple Technique Will Have A Huge Impact On Your Career

Read time: 3 mins

Building trust is an essential human skill. Building trust with your stakeholders is crucial for being successful, multiplying your impact and achieving more. Not only that, but it's a great attribute to have as a human being.

Why? Well most things in life require teamwork. No person is an island. You need to work effectively with others and the foundation for that is trust.

A few months ago on the Tech World Human Skills podcast Ben Caird talked about managing stakeholders. He introduced this simple way to think about building trust. The Say ... Do Ratio. He said

"So I can talk a good game, but ... over time, do I deliver on the promise?"

Keep Your Say … Do Ratio High

If you talk a good game, but don't deliver on that promise, it erodes trust. Do that enough times and people won't trust you.

• Don't complete your actions
• Don't show up at the meeting you needed to
• Don't deliver when you said you would

If people don't trust you, you will struggle to be effective in a team. If you're ineffective in a team, you're going to reduce your success.

No person is an island.

So keep your Say ... Do ratio high.

Ensure that what you SAY is backed up with what you DO.

• If you say you'll do something, do it.
• Deliver against those actions.
• Hit the deadlines you've agreed.

All these little things add up. BenC said

"If we've got some human connection, we've got some trust, that means that we can achieve."

What If You Can't Do What You Said?

Clearly communicate so in advance. A lack of communication means people build their own narrative which is never correct. So:

• Share what you can do.
• Share what you can't do.
• Share why.
• Share when it will done by.

There we go, keep your Say … Do ration high.

If you want to hear more on the topic, check out the podcast "Managing Your Stakeholders" with Ben Caird.

Hope this helps

Ben

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Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

• Podcast:  The latest episode is "Speaking With Clarity" with Lidia Vasileva.  Check it out on the Elevated You website or on  Apple, Spotify and Google Podcasts.
• Technical Storytelling Essentials: Accelerate your career, increase your impact and influence people.  Affordably priced, world-class course digital course for individuals.
• Technical Storytelling for Organisations: Programs designed to increase the impact of your team.  Inspire, develop and motivate your team to influence key stakeholders and generate action with your customers.