Columns Paul Donkers

T.R.U.S.T.

Growth is often on our agenda. We want to develop as a person. Or we want to grow as a professional. It can also be that we want to develop our business to the next level.

Whatever it is: you have a product, offer a service or we’re selling ourselves. However, what really fascinates me is the lack of attention that we give to the importance of trust in our ambitions.

We break our minds over how we are going to grow. We invest in expensive CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software that not everyone is using. We're counting the number of visits of our sales colleagues. We train our people to open more new doors. But we fail to invest in the basis of every exchange: trust.

My deep personal experience of 30 years is that trust usually is the real differentiator to move things forward. When there’s trust, most other things will fall into place too. It helps us to reach agreements and navigate through conflicts.

Therefore, I’ve created this self-assessment as a checklist to nudge you and to see where you are when it comes to trust.


Self-assessment

Instructions: For each statement below, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means "Strongly Disagree" and 5 means "Strongly Agree."

Imagine yourself in a professional situation. Now rate:

1. I trust the person I am dealing with.

   • 1: Strongly Disagree
   • 2: Disagree
   • 3: Neutral
   • 4: Agree
   • 5: Strongly Agree

2. I believe the other person trusts me.

   • 1: Strongly Disagree
   • 2: Disagree
   • 3: Neutral
   • 4: Agree
   • 5: Strongly Agree

3. The other person knows what my added value is.

   • 1: Strongly Disagree
   • 2: Disagree
   • 3: Neutral
   • 4: Agree
   • 5: Strongly Agree

4. The person I am dealing with has decision-making power.

   • 1: Strongly Disagree
   • 2: Disagree
   • 3: Neutral
   • 4: Agree
   • 5: Strongly Agree

5. The person I am dealing with has a regular need for what I want to achieve.

   • 1: Strongly Disagree
   • 2: Disagree
   • 3: Neutral
   • 4: Agree
   • 5: Strongly Agree

6. I am on this person's radar in a positive way.

   • 1: Strongly Disagree
   • 2: Disagree
   • 3: Neutral
   • 4: Agree
   • 5: Strongly Agree

Look at your lower scores. These could be areas that need further exploration and thought. Feel free to use this self-assessment to measure where you are today and identify areas for improvement. Discuss it with someone you TRUST…

Looking for growth? Step one: I propose to look at T.R.U.S.T. as acronym:

• Target your audience (what is your fishing pond?)
• Respond and listen to their needs! (not yours!)
• Understand (really and deeply) their pain points
• Show your value; be realistic and pragmatic
• Transform your relationship

If it’s not working (yet)? Make peace, let it go for now, quickly move on and maintain the relationship you’ve both invested in!

Hope this inspires.

Paul Donkers

Paul P.J. Donkers is a sought-after global business coach and management consultant. More about his work and projects can be found via www.tencompany.org and via www.ikigaicoachinginstitute.com

Paul and his partners work since decades with leaders to assist them create more value. If you want to have a confidential conversation, just reach out to us via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.