Trade, Investment and Trust.

WHY IS TRUST IMPORTANT IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT:

Have you found yourself working in spaces of conflict with high stakes and where there is a large amount of potential that can be unlocked??

Have you ever noticed how many deals and therefore projects do not get off the ground because people can't agree on a way forward??

The more I worked with multiple stakeholders to unlock complex projects, the more I realised how challenged we really are by a common lack of? understanding about what drives people to make decisions.?

And until we can understand that, it is near impossible to unlock deals in a way that everyone wins.

So you might be wondering what trade and investment has to do with trust.

By the time we are done, you will realise that trade and investment has everything to do with trust.

This is not a commonly known or well understood relationship - even Google doesn't think of people having much to do with trust and investment.

When you google Trade and Investment you get these kinds of pictures.

I think that is partly to do with how we define the purpose of the economy. The economy is a measure of production, consumption, and distribution of goods and services.

Somehow we have forgotten that trade and investment is actually about people. And not just about people, but about the relationships between people.

You are able to trade when you address the needs of another person or group of people, and those people trust that you will deliver what you say you will deliver.

You are able to secure investment because someone trusts that you will deliver a return on their investment.

It always comes down to an exchange between people. But somehow we lose sight of this.

Every exchange that happens takes place between people. And both trade and investment are exchanges. So the success of trade and investment deals relies on the success of the relationships between the people who are negotiating an exchange.

But this gets very little attention. It takes a lot of time, but people often refer to it as a nuisance. Or talk about how people just get in the way. This is crazy…

The first step in negotiating any deal is building relationships. A contract will only be signed and a deal concluded when a level of trust has been reached between two parties. And yet we know so little about building trust.

And to make it more complex, when we are talking about Intra-Africa trade and investment, we are talking about trading with different cultures. In other words, building trust between people of different cultures. And that obviously becomes infinitely more challenging and if you don't have the tools to know how to build trust it can become slow and cumbersome.

Do you ever wonder what makes you trust some people and not others?

This might just be the key to expanding your business, closing your high stakes deal, or securing your next career move to take advantage of the AfCFTA and the opportunities it opens for Intra-Africa trade and investment.

Could it be their demour?

Their demeanor is the outward expression of something that is invisible to most people.

True right.

What is invisible to most people are the values of an individual. And that is what drives someone's demeanor.

So let's explore this in more detail. Because there are also many ways to understand what I mean when I say someone's values.

Or even why that is important.

So let me make a statement and then unpack that. Because when you get this, you will be able to build trust with anyone regardless of how different or similar they may first appear.

But before diving into values, let's just explore a bit more about how trust impacts trade and investment.

Trust. A deceptively simple idea and little spoken about, but possibly one of the most powerful ingredients in expanding your leadership, whether you’re in business, politics or government.

It is an abstract idea, but in today's session we will explore why it's important in building Intra-Africa trade, national economies, your own business or your next leadership move in government and politics.

So much of our world focuses only on what can be seen, the tangible things. Information, policy, strategy, resources and action is what we pay attention to. These are the masculine qualities. They are important, but they are not powerful.

We give little attention to the more powerful intangible things like mindset, relationships and our senses. These are the feminine qualities. I believe it is our duty as women to bring these qualities back into the world of economics, politics, government and business.

Learning to build trust is the most powerful way to achieve results.

Whether the result you are looking for is GDP growth, business growth through Intra-Africa trade, personal income growth, securing your next investment or expanding your social power and influence. Trust is a master key for how to achieve it.

Why is trust building important for Intra-Africa trade?

Intra-Africa Trade is about cross border trade, which means that it is cross culture trade.?

And as we just mentioned, trade is about relationships. Its an exchange that happens between you and someone else.

Because there are many preconceived negative perceptions about Africa.

And even between Africans...Perhaps even more so.

Which is going to make Intra-Africa trade very expensive because of all the time and wasted energy that goes into trying to build relationships on a rocky foundation of distrust.

I read a paper written by an investment banker who was researching the question of why so little investment is flowing into the sustainable development goals in Africa.?

The primary conclusion was that the high levels of distrust pushes up perceived risk, and that makes projects unfeasible because it pushes up borrowing costs.

I thought that was fascinating! So trust has a direct relationship with investment feasibility.

Wouldn't you agree then that that is a very important issue to tackle?

And even before you get to that stage of defining whether an investment is feasible or before a trade deal is concluded, you spend a lot of time building relationships. Which means a lot of time and money that you have to spend upfront. If you are unable to build the trust that is needed to conclude a deal or a transaction, then all that upfront work gets wasted.

So how do you accelerate that when you are working with people of different cultures? It can be difficult enough to do when you are working within your own country.

And how do you know when you can trust someone else?

Good question.

Another way that trust affects trade and investment is this thing that is so often spoken about in Africa, and I think even more so in South Africa: Bureaucracy.

Hmmm, that makes you think differently..... YES!!!!

The level of trust in a country is indirectly proportional to the level of bureaucracy.

So a low level of trust will result in a high level of bureaucracy.

If we don't trust that everyone is pulling towards a shared vision, then we will try to manage that by putting in place regulations to make people move towards a common goal.

Interesting point of course.

What this means for business owners, politicians or government officials is that it becomes increasingly impossible to get things done. It makes doing business very expensive.

So if you look at a country like South Africa, and obviously many other countries in Africa, there is a distrust between people. Economies and businesses are built on relationships between people, not on the production of goods and services.

Wouldn't you agree this is an important issue for policy makers? ??

And I am yet to see this being given the focus it deserves.

Now that you are starting to understand more about the relationship between trade, investment and trust, you might want to explore how to apply this approach to a project or deal to accelerate your negotiation and decision making process.

Follow this link: Actuality Trade, Investment and Trust

Let's look at it from a more personal level.?

So far we have been focused on trust between people. But what about self trust?

Most of the discussions about economic inclusion of women speak about access to information, access to networks of powerful people, access to opportunities, or access to recourse. To have the right business strategy and business plan. These are absolutely important.

But the problem is, you could have access to all those things but if you don't have self trust you won't be able to do anything with the information, powerful people or resources.

You can go to a networking session with amazing people, but not have the confidence to ask for what you want. Or even the clarity of vision to know what it is you want to ask for. Or if you like me, you want to run into the bathroom and lock yourself in there until it's your own because you feel so lost in a room full of people.?

And even though I had been to sessions that gave me information about how to network, when it came down to it I didn't have the self trust to walk up to the person I wanted to speak to and introduce myself. I didn't believe I was worthy of their attention.

You can have all the information in the world, but without self trust you won't be able to turn that into wealth.

And you can have access to all the resources, but without a deep sense of self trust and self worth, you'll just give it all away because you don't believe you are worthy of having it.

If you are negotiating a deal with an investor and you are seeing them as better or more important than you, you are unlikely to close the deal in a way that is beneficial to you. You are more likely to give away your value for too little money. And this is directly related to your level of self trust and self worth relative to them.

Food for thought ??don't you think.

I guess by now you get a sense of the importance of trust in trade and investment.?

So now let's look at what makes you trust some people and not others. And what builds self trust.

You might be wondering: What are some of the factors that make you worthless or what behaviors does one exhibit to show that the other party is better and could lead to you losing a deal?.

We may even be doing some of these unconsciously.?

There is no person on the planet who is worthless. Every person is here to contribute something unique. It is only in your perception that you will perceive yourself to be worthless relative to someone else.?

Let me unpack this in relation to what I spoke about early: values.

Maybe you are also working in an industry where one of the goals is greater stakeholder engagement and collaboration. You are likely to find that trust is key to this process.?

Have you found that where trust is not built, or is lost between stakeholders, it is often where insufficient time is given to understanding what each party stands (or hopes) to gain from the relationship. This so often leads to a feeling of one party taking advantage of the other.?

So my question is: to what degree would you say reciprocity, or lack thereof, between the parties plays a part in building, or eroding, trust.

These are great questions...let me try to answer them both at the same time because they are linked.?

I spent many years facilitating multi-stakeholder processes, but without an understanding of values....I could have saved so much time and money with what I know now about values.

A statement about trust with others:?

You are more likely to trust someone who shares the same values as you and more likely to distrust someone who has a different set of values to you.

A statement of self trust:?

You will have the highest level of self trust when you are doing something that is most aligned with what you value most.

First I need to clarify two things about values that for me are different to how many people understand them.

Firstly, organisations don't have values, people do.

Secondly, values are often confused with behaviour traits. Things like honesty, integrity and transparency are human behaviour traits. And these are not the same as values.

The framework I use to understand values is more about how an individual prioritises the 7 different areas of their life.

Every person will place a different level of importance on each of these areas. And this is what makes each individual absolutely unique.

So no you might be thinking that sounds like compatibility ??.? You don't just need a compatible partner.? You also need a compatible STAKEHOLDER THAT SHARES SAME VISION & VALUES that will help drive and achieve Your business objectives and goals.? ????.

But here's the thing...we need to be able to overcome the desire to only associate with people who have similar values. This is what makes it so difficult to work cross-culture. We need a framework that enables us to transcend this so that we can embrace diversity.

Diversity is fundamental to our resilience and ability to adapt during disruptions. And it is also necessary if we are to deal with the huge amount of conflict in Africa.?

And this is not going to work for Intra-Africa trade! We can only work with people who are the same. So we need to move beyond our current way of building trust.

And once you understand values, you will have a different understanding of trust. Because you will come to understand that the only thing you can trust about someone else is that they will make decisions based on what their prioritise are relative to these 7 areas. Every single person sitting around a table will be negotiating through the lense of what's most important to them as an individual.

Currently we refer to this as the hidden agenda. Which is crazy once you understand values. Every person has a unique set of values, which is their personal purpose.

How do you then achieve a win-win situation?

Once you are able to work with values, and understand someone's purpose, which is the same as saying their unique contribution, you are able to make everyone's agenda visible. And only then can you start working towards a win-win.

When the agenda is hidden and is seen as something negative...in others somehow selfish...then it is impossible to achieve a win-win.

But what about those hidden values?

Values is the framework that will help you to see someone's hidden agenda as their greatest most meaningful contribution that they are here to make. So it is a reframing.

But it is also a tool that I teach you how to use so that you can do this for yourself and be able to identify it in others so that it is no longer invisible. Because here's the thing....this is still invisible to most people.

I wonder how many of you understand why you say yes to some things and no to others?

What drives the decisions that we make as individuals is so often blind. And this is what makes negotiating a win-won so difficult.

So you first have to make the invisible, visible. Only then can you start to have a conversation about how every person can win at what they are uniquely here to contribute. And what they are here to contribute is what they are going to want to get out of the deal.?

And that is why it is so frustrating for people when a negotiation is not going their way. They don't have the tools to understand all the invisible forces that drive decision making.

Back to Intra-Africa trade: the thing that sits behind culture is also values. Culture is a shared set of similar prioritise in these 7 areas.

Ok, so then how do you achieve this..... Making the invisible, visible?

The first step is to learn to see it in yourself. To understand this about yourself. You will not be able to identify it in others, until you can see it for yourself.?

Your life is a walking demonstration of your values. Every decision you make, consciously or unconsciously, is based on your desire to fulfil what is most important to you.?

Ever noticed how you always have money for some things and not for other things.

Or how quickly you can make decisions in some areas of your life and not in others.

You are more likely to have power and influence in the areas of life that are important to you. You are more likely to have self worth and self trust in the areas that are important to you because you are constantly dedicating resources, time, goals and actions towards those things that are important to you.?

And so is everyone else. This is the only thing that you can trust about someone else.

Very true!

?And when you can understand this about the other person or people that you are negotiating a deal with, you can be certain that they will have more power than you in the areas that are important to them. And if these are very different to your values you might feel less than them. But if you understand this principle, it is so much easier not to let this allow you to give away your power.

Touching back on the point of Intra-Africa trade. We speak about different cultures but mostly we don't understand why people have one culture or another.?

Here's a quick way to think about this: In South Africa we celebrate public holidays that commemorate social movements. In the UK, every public holiday is called a bank holiday.?

Ever wonder what that says about the values of those two cultures.?

What do you think is the highest priority in terms of the 7 areas I shared earlier to each of those different cultures?

Being able to identify this for individuals, organisations, countries and continents is the key ingredient to accelerating the progress of trade and investment in Africa.

If you would like to know more about how to apply this to a specific project that is stuck in a myriad of hidden agendas, an investment deal that won't close or your next career move that you would love to accelerate then follow this link to find out how you can work with me.

Actuality Trade, Investment and Trust

It's time to break down the boundaries that stop us from building relationships of trust with people we perceive to be different to ourselves. This is what will accelerate Africa's growth and development.