#favouritemodel No. 6 – How trust is created

My #favoritemodel is the tree metaphor by Stephen M.R. Covey. This symbolism makes the topic of “trust” tangible and thus facilitates access to this emotional playing field in the corporate context. The metaphor compares the development of trust or trustworthiness with a tree.

The roots of the tree stand for integrity:
Integrity lies hidden – in the roots of the tree – and forms the basis for creating trust and credibility. Integrity means being honest. But it also means doing what you say (walk the talk!) and following up your words with the corresponding actions, i.e. being “congruent”. Integrity means having the courage to act in accordance with your own values and beliefs.

The trunk of the tree stands for the intention:
The trunk of the tree is already becoming more visible and grows from the roots. Intention is about the personal agenda, one’s own motives – and the resulting behavior. Trust in a person grows when their motives are transparent – and when these motives are not only focused on the good of themselves or individual groups. If we suspect a so-called “hidden agenda”, we become suspicious and observe very closely what the other person says and how they act.

The branches of the tree represent skills:
Our skills, knowledge and talents are also important factors in establishing trust. They are the means of achieving good results and keeping agreements. For example, no matter how much integrity and positive intentions a doctor may have, if they lack the skills and experience to carry out an important examination or operation, they will ultimately lack trustworthiness.

The fruit of the tree stands for the results:
The performance, the results that we ultimately achieve are the fruit of the tree – what we and others see in the end as a visible and tangible result. If we don’t do the things that are expected of us, this reduces our credibility. And vice versa: if we do the things that we have promised to do, we gain a high level of credibility and other people see us as reliable and productive.

How does my #favoritemodel help you?

All 4 components of the trust tree are essential for building trust and credibility. As a first step, it helps to reflect on yourself using the 4 components of the tree:

Integrity: What do I stand for? What are my values and beliefs? Do my actions correspond to my inner values?

Intention: What is important to me? What do I want to achieve? To what extent is this transparent for others? How do I deal with other people’s needs and try to find compromises or win-win solutions?

Skills: What are my strengths? What skills would I like to contribute?

Results: What results are important to me? What have I promised other people? How do I deal with it when I realize that I can no longer keep my promises?

Author

Susanne Stock
Project partner