The TRUST Show

S10E1: Building Bridges from Afar: 8 Actions to Nurture Trust in the Remote Work Environment

If there is one shift in how we work that resulted from the COVID pandemic, it’s that we embraced the possibility of working remotely or hybrid, where some work is done remotely and some at the office. I visited that topic in season 8, episode 5 of this podcast, but it has been 6 months since then, and I learned and thought more about it.

Obviously, the first question that comes to mind is what remote or hybrid work does to productivity. Obviously, if it hurts productivity, we shouldn’t embrace it. At the same time, if it increases productivity, we certainly should. Looking at research revealed results in both directions, which is troubling by itself and caused me to wonder how accurate and free of confirmation bias that research is. But the most revealing study was one done by Microsoft in late 2022. When asked whether remote work increases productivity, 87% of EMPLOYEES said it did, but only 12% of LEADERS agreed. So, I guess it depends on who you ask…

Working remotely also has trust implications. It relies on trust, but it also affects trust.

The purpose of this episode is not to prove whether remote or hybrid work increases productivity or not or even to prove the relationships with trust. It’s to give 8 specific pieces of advice on how to maintain and even grow trust while working remotely or hybrid.

S9E12: The Body Language of TRUST

Body language, or non-verbal communication, plays a major role in building trust. That’s why the component of intimacy accelerates positivity. As long as our body language is consistent with the words we use, people trust us. On the opposite side, as Albert Mehrabian said in his 1971 book Silent Messages, “When our words contradict the silent messages contained within them, others mistrust what we say.” So, it could accelerate trust but also prevent trust.

This episode is one of those episodes in which I bring a guest who know and who cares. Today, I have Melinda Marcus, an expert and consultant on influence and nonverbal communication. We will talk about how much control we have over our body language and how good are we at interpreting it. We will talk about the relationship between working remotely, body language, and, of course, trust. We are going to have a great conversation about body language and trust. (as well as other things).

S9E11: 7 TRUST Insights

My framework for Trust Habits® includes the 8 laws of trust and the 6-component relative trust model. But from them, there are 7 insights about trust, which are shared in some detail here in this episode. Those are:

(1) Trust turns a group of creative and productive individuals into a creative and productive team.
(2) Trust is Relative. The same behavior that would cause one person to trust you could cause another to distrust you.
(3) My trust in you is the product of my trustfulness (willingness to trust people) and your trustworthiness.
(4) Your trustworthiness is made of who you are and what you do when you interact with me
(5) If you trust someone, and you show them that you trust them, they will behave in a trustworthy way.
(6) If you eliminate one bad behavior, you will increase your trustworthiness more than if you add one good behavior.
(7) Forming a habit takes as long as it takes until it is easier to continue than to stop it, and you don’t need extrinsic motivation anymore.

S9E10: Laws, Ethics, Values, and TRUST

Do you want to be trusted by everyone? Do you think you CAN be trusted by everyone?

If so, I’ve got some bad news for you. You won’t.

Trust is relative. The same behaviors that would cause one person to trust you could cause another person to distrust you.

In one of my surveys, I found that one of the biggest correlations to the level of trust others have in you is with the level to which you share values with them.

In this episode, I will elaborate on the topic, and specifically the relationship between laws, ethics, values, and trust.

And let me start you think about this question: what do you call the behaviors that are above the legal bar, but below the ethical bar?

S9E9: How Can Investors TRUST Entrepreneurs Enough to Invest?

You may know that I was (still am) a serial entrepreneur. You may not know that I was one of the founding members of the North Texas Angel (investor) Network, and made investments in startup companies. Startup companies heavily depend on investments from Angel investors. But investing in a company in such an early stage is a high-risk proposition. You may lose your entire investment.

Trust plays a major role in making that investment decision.

In this episode, I am happy to introduce a friend of mine, one of the early members of the North Texas Angel Network, a serial entrepreneur himself, and a serial angel investor, Jim Fontaine.

Together, we will discuss how angel investors decide if they trust the entrepreneur enough to invest in their startup company in such an early, risky stage.

S9E8: Motivation, Habits, and TRUST

Building trust will transform organizations and relationships. But to build trust, you must first change behaviors. Changing behaviors requires you to form new habits. But forming new habits is hard. Very hard. It takes significant effort, and to do that, you must have enough, and the right kind of motivation.

My work on trust resides in the intersection of the science of trust and the science of forming habits. In most of the episodes of this podcast, I talk about the why and the what. Why is trust important? What is trust? What makes one person decide to trust (or distrust) another person?

But that’s not enough. If I told you exactly what you must do to be trusted by another person, does that mean you can do it? Knowledge is not enough. You need motivation.

In this episode, I will talk more about finding the motivation to form new habits that will change old behaviors. I will talk about motivation in general. To do anything.

S9E7: My Experiences From Delivering 3 TEDx Talks, Helping 2, and Hosting 1

Are you thinking about delivering a TEDx talk?

You may know that I delivered my 3^rd TEDx talk a few weeks ago at TEDxJCU at John Carroll University in Cleveland. After delivering it, a few friends asked me for advice about how I found those events, how I got selected, and more.

Instead of repeating the same information over and over again with every friend, I decided to hold a live webinar, which I did on May 9^th, but I also recorded it.

I thought you might be interested in listening to it, so I’m including it here in this episode. I covered why did I want to give a TEDx talk? How did I decide on a topic? How did I find them (or they found me)? How did I apply (and get accepted)? How did I prepare and deliver? What went wrong… and finally, what happened afterward?

S9E6: Does HR have a TRUST Problem? (with guest Fiona Passantino)

One of the HR functions is to care for the employee's welfare, and some would say that it's the most critical function. Given the impact of engaged employees on the organization's success, you couldn't argue with that. However, a 2022 Crucial Learning survey showed that 75% of employees don't trust that their HR leader cares about their needs. Only 9% felt that their HR leader would advocate for them, and 47% didn't feel safe confiding in or getting assistance from the HR leader. The HR professional is ideally positioned to build trust in the organization, but they can't do that if they are not first trusted by the people they should be helping.

This episode is a conversation with Fiona Passantino, a former HR professional, and a current speaker, blogger, author, and generally an expert on employee engagement, workplace culture, and internal communications. We discuss why HR is not trusted as much as it should be, what are the symptoms of HR not being trusted, and what they can do to be trusted.

S9E5: How do you know if you can TRUST someone? (Part 4/4)

This is the fourth and last episode of this series under the title how you can tell if you can (or should) trust another person. In the previous episodes, I gave you tools, based on what you know about the other person before you ever meet and interact with them, and based on your firsthand impression while interacting with them. Now, based on all that, you need to decide whether you can trust them, and, more importantly, whether you should trust them.

There is one last thing I want you to think about—whether you should trust them more, or less, than the level of trustworthiness you determined they have.

S9E4: How do you know if you can TRUST someone? (Part 3/4)

This is the third of a four-episode series addressing how you can tell if you can, and should, trust someone, in whatever relationship you are with them. In the first episode, I explained that you need first to decide what you need to trust them with, and how much you need to trust them, because trust is contextual and continuous. In the second episode, I explained how you could tell if you can trust someone based on who they are, and the components of competence, personality compatibility, and symmetry. This is how you can tell if you can trust them before you ever meet them for the first time.

The decision to trust is based on the components of my relative trust model. It has 6 components in two groups. One group includes the who they are components of competence, personality compatibility, and symmetry. The second group includes the what they do during an interaction with you, and is more of a firsthand experience you have with them, and your judgment, or gut feeling of them.

In this episode, I will cover the what they do components, and how you can improve your accuracy in predicting if you can trust the other person based on them.