The Pillar of Trust

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Conflict is a part of life and can happen in all relationships. It rears its ugly head at work when colleagues have different ideas about how to achieve a goal, when they discuss who should perform certain work, and when personalities clash.

Given how common conflict is, it’s surprising that we’re not better at dealing with it. Rather than addressing our differences, many of us who are conflict-adverse choose to look the other way, brush problems under the rug, or assume we have no power to change the dynamics that cause our consternation.

Alternatively, those who are more comfortable with conflict may be seen as argumentative. These shouldn’t be the only two options. Rather, we should get better at resolving our differences, without avoiding them or getting into disputes.

What we need is a method for managing conflict. Those who are very good at it use a model I call “The Pillar of Trust.” The pillar offers a structure that can support even the toughest challenges and allow individuals or disputing parties to reach their potential and achieve optimal results.

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The Pillar of Trust – From the Bottom Up

Communication

Good communication forms the foundation of the pillar. It is only through conversation – both talking and listening – that we can begin to understand one another.

Relationships

As we learn more about each other and our mutual understanding grows, so too do our relationships. The development of these personal or working relationships then become part of the pillar, making it stronger and able to the bear the weight of even more difficult challenges. In turn, these increasingly stronger relationships beget deeper levels of communication. In this way, communication and relationships continue to spiral around each other, together gaining strength.

While strong relationships are a gift in themselves, they also yield a host of ancillary benefits, including emotional support, confidence, reduced stress, good health, happiness, and trust.

Trust

Confidence, health, and reduced stress are most certainly pleasant consequences of positive relationships, but the development of mutual trust is perhaps the most powerful byproduct. Trust allows us to take risks, open up, and look for mutually beneficial solutions when conflicts occur. Trust gives us peace of mind when we need to rely on one another, and comfort to share our vulnerabilities.

Trust is tricky – in order to determine if someone else is trustworthy, you need to make yourself vulnerable. However, with a strong base developed through communication and relationship building, that exposure is unlikely to feel risky.

The Strength of the Pillar

The triumvirate of communication, relationships, and trust creates a strong foundation and formidable structure, able to bear the weight of the toughest challenges. Looking at the model, you may wonder why communication is at the bottom and trust at the top, if the elements are so intertwined.

The reason is that trust rarely comes first. While it’s certainly true that you need to develop a certain level of trust before you can delve into deep or sensitive conversations, the reality is that individuals are more likely to use lighter conversation topics to build relationships and trust slowly, waiting until they are mutually ready to probe and share more deeply.

To begin building a pillar, don’t wait for others to make the first move. After you set the tone and model the type of honesty you desire, others are likely to follow suit.

Building Trust from the Top Down

Most people have a variety of relationships that differ in the level of intimacy. Though not impossible, it’s unlikely that total strangers would dive into a very deep conversation.

Because building relationships is an iterative process that takes time, perfect strangers, or those with a history of bad relations are more likely to start building (or re-building) their relationships with more superficial topics of discussion. After they’ve found some common ground and established a new base-layer of trust, they become better able to scratch below the surface and eventually have deeper, more personal and more difficult conversations.

Building Pillars, Not Walls

To build relationships strong enough to tackle the personal, professional, or political challenges we face today, we must start by communicating.

Through open, honest, and truthful dialogue, and by sharing our feelings, experiences, fears and joys the Pillars of Trust will rise. These pillars will enable us to enjoy supportive relationships both at home and at work, find common purpose, and resolve or respect our differences.

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Author
Headshot of Susan Landay
Susan Landay

Susan Doctoroff Landay is currently the president of Trainer’s Warehouse. She joined her father in 1997, in what was then a fledgling business. Prior to that, Susan spent 2.5 years consulting and training in the field of negotiation and another two years marketing a business history consulting company.

Sue graduated from Yale College with a BA in 1986, the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University with an MBA in 1992, and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College with an MFA in 1987. Susan values using humor to enhance training.

Connect with Susan on LinkedIn.

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