Trust

30th September 2010

Trust is a word I come across a lot when I am working with my coaching clients, and is of course essential in any working relationship. My clients need to trust me initially, when they take me on at my word, and equally well I need to trust them, that they will carry out the tasks and actions necessary to move their business forward.
Trusting people isn’t something which just happens. You have to earn the right to be trusted by backing up your words with actions. It is in this repect where I find the “trust” word most used when business owners are talking about their teams.
I am a firm believer that a true business is one where the owner directs and manages his or her staff, and the staff are the ones who actually make things happen. Obviously this can only happen over time, while the business builds in size, turnover and employee numbers. However, I often find that although the business owner or owners have built a good structure, the owner(s) are still doing far too much of the day to day tasks. When we start to find out why this is the case, the owners often make excuses, such as “only I can do that”, or “no-one does it better than me”, or “he or she needs help with that”. But is this really the reason? If you find yourself doing things that you have employed someone else to do, ask yourself the real reason. And if in your heart of hearts it comes down to trust, i.e. you don’t really trust them to carry out the responsibilities you are employing them to do, then you need to do something to remedy that situation.
Don’t stick your head in the sand. Deal with it and everyone will be happier.

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