Trust: Combining the Equation and some Stoicism

Trust is defined as “the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”[1] Our current reality provides a clear picture of what a lack of trust looks like in action – from politics to business to civil disobedience.  As a retired military officer, trust in those you worked with and in those you worked for was the bedrock of both individual and team performance and, by extension, organizational success.  So, how do we as individuals move from where we are to where we need to go – how do we build the trust necessary to move forward in a positive direction? 

The answer is two-fold:  The Trust Equation and Stoicism.  First is the Trust Equation, which was introduced by former Harvard Business School Professor David Maister, Charles H. Green and Robert M. Galford in their co-authored bookThe Trusted Advisor.  In that book, they offered a formula they called the Trust Equation that includes four components of trustworthiness:  Reliability (Actions), Credibility (Words), Intimacy (Relationships), and Self-Orientation (Motives).  

Long before The Trusted Advisor went into publication, there was an address given on 19 November 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln dedicating the battlefield cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania which spoke directly to our actions and our words - The Gettysburg Address.  Lincoln’s speech was impactful because it spoke to the past and the creation of our nation, the present strife of the Civil War, as well as the future of our country.  His words were simple, eloquent, and straight-forward.  During my military career, I was proud to serve on the USS GETTYSBURG (CG 64) and our motto, Deeds not Words, came from those very words which still speak to me today: 

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.[2]

Another concept, Stoicism, provides an interesting perspective on building trust in our lives, in our communities, and with each other.  Consider for a moment the thoughts of Epictetus:  

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own …”[3]

Taking the time to understand, appreciate, and embrace our internals and externals is vitally important in our current reality.  Why?  Because it provides us with a locus of control – an ability to impact our reality - and, when you combine the thoughts of an Ancient Greek philosopher, a former American president, and Harvard Business School scholars, the trust that others have in us is completely within our control.  

Reliability:  Can people count on you to get things done?  On time?  That meets and/or exceeds expectations?  If the answer is yes, then Reliability is a constant.   

Credibility:  Are the words you use one’s of integrity?  Can others trust what you say and are your actions congruent with the words you use?  If the answer is yes, then Credibility is a constant.  

Intimacy:  Do you have rapport with others?  Do you provide others with the empathy and emotional safety they need to truly connect?  If the answer is yes, then Intimacy is a constant.  

Self-orientation:  What are your motives?  Who do you serve?  Is it all about you or is there a larger purpose?  How you answer that question will determine the denominator of your Trust Equation.  

If there is a lack of trust in some of your relationships – at home, at work, in your community – where is that distrust coming from:  Reliability, Credibility, Intimacy, or Self-Orientation?    Marcus Aurelius said it best:  

"The longest and the shortest life, then, amount to the same, for the present moment lasts the same for all and is all anyone possesses.  No one can lose either the past or the future, for how can someone be deprived of what's not theirs."

- Marcus Aurelius – Meditations 

What can you do today to positively impact the trust others have in you, your team, and your organization?

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trust

[2] https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm

[3] Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (New York:  Penguin Random House, 2016), 9.