Trust Me

I have a song called 'Trust Me - Famous words' that I wrote in response to so many people that think it's OK to just 'assume' trust. I actually sing a part of it in my keynote speech!

I saw, today, that one mining company appears to be saying just that - 'Trust me', to shareholders over a cash offer. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23068783-16941,00.html

While they might rightly feel that they do not need to provide evidence to support their rejection of the offer, no-one has the right to assume trust - it needs to be earned. Not just earned generally, but situationally.

What does that mean? It means that we assess our ability and willingness to trust someone (a person, a company, a group of people, a product or a service) based on how much we can rely on them to deliver what we expect, what we need and what they have promised us (implicitly or explicitly). What we often do is assume that, because we we were trusted in one situation, that we can automatically expect them to trust us in other situations. This is where trust comes tumbling down.

Evidence, proof that it's OK to trust me, is needed every time the situation is different. If the directors of Allegiance have been in this situation before, or something similar, and their decision faired well, then sure, shareholders could trust the decisions this time around. But shareholders will first think about their needs - is this offer going to satisfy those? If so, why is it being rejected? If the reasons are not clearly outlined, then some shareholders may very well begin to distrust Allegiance, regardless of how well they may have managed the business to date.

This is a great example of remembering that trust is earned, and should be respected and nurtured - always remember ENPs.

What do they expect?
What do they need?
What have I promised them?