The First Wave: Self Trust

The First Wave: Self Trust, page 41.

• The first wave – Self Trust – is where we learn the foundational principle that enables us to establish and sustain trust at all levels.
• That principle is credibility, or believability.
• The good news is that we can increase our credibility, and we can increase it fast, particularly if we understand the four fundamental “cores.”
• Two of these cores deal with character and two with competence.
• What gives trust its harder, more pragmatic edge is the recognition that competence is as vital to trust as character is, and that both are within our ability to create or change.
• As we develop these four cores, we increase our personal credibility. We then have the foundation from which we can establish and sustain trust in all relationships in life.

The Four Cores of Credibility

• The First Wave – Self Trust – is all about credibility.
• It’s about developing the integrity, intent, capabilities, and results that make you believable, both to yourself and to others.

• The first two cores deal with character; the second two with competence. All four are necessary for self-trust.
• Most people you interact with will not recognize these 4 Cores of Credibility as parts of a greater whole.
• They won’t realize that your credibility has four dimensions and that you can rate high in some and low in others.
• They only see the whole – either you have credibility or you don’t.
• Why it’s important to understand the 4 Cores:
  1. They will help you understand your own credibility and focus on areas where you need to improve.
  2. They will give you the wisdom to know how to behave and establish trust.
  3. They will give you the judgement to learn how to extend “Smart Trust” to others.

• Core 1: Integrity
  • What most people think about when they think of trust.
  • Integrity includes honesty, it’s much more.
  • It’s Integratedness.
  • It’s walking your talk.
  • It’s being congruent, inside and out.
  • It’s having the courage to act in accordance with your values and beliefs.

• Core 2: Intent
  • This has to do with our motives, our agendas, and our subsequent behavior.
  • Trust grows when our motives are straightforward and based on mutual benefit.
  • Intent means caring not only for ourselves, but for everyone we interact with, lead, or serve.

• Core 3: Capabilities
  • These are the abilities we have that inspire confidence – our talents, attitudes, skills, knowledge, and style.
  • They are the means we use to produce results.
  • Capabilities also deal with our ability to establish, grow, extend, and restore trust.

• Core 4: Results
  • Results refer to our track record, our performance; Getting the right things done.
  • If we don’t accomplish what we are expected to do, it diminishes our credibility.
  • On the other hand, when we achieve the results we promise, we establish a positive reputation of performing, of being a producer…and our reputation precedes us.

Tree Metaphor

• One way to visualize the importance of all 4 Cores of Credibility is through the metaphor of a tree:
  • Integrity is below the surface; it’s the root system out of which everything else grows.
  •  Intent becomes somewhat more visible. It is the trunk that emerges from beneath the surface into the open.
  •  Capabilities are the branches. They are the capacities that enable us to produce.
  •  Results are the fruits – the visible, tangible, measurable outcomes that are most easily seen and evaluated by others.
•  Visualizing the 4 Cores of Credibility in this way will enable you to see the interrelatedness of all four and the vital importance of each.
•  It will also help you see credibility as a living, growing thing that can be nurtured.