Aspire's Awareness Academy

📅This month the topic spinner stopped at TRUST. The Awareness Academy will focus on the social/emotional value of Trust for the month of September.

Recognizing the significant role trust plays in our personal and professional lives is essential. Trust forms the foundation of healthy relationships, effective communication, and successful collaboration. It is not simply a given; it is earned and nurtured over time through honesty, consistency, and vulnerability.

🧑🏻‍🤝‍🧑🏻In the journey of self-empowerment, understanding trust begins with ourselves. Trusting our own instincts and judgments allows us to make informed decisions and take calculated risks. As we deepen our understanding of trust, we also learn how to cultivate it with others, fostering connections that inspire growth and collaboration.

Throughout this month, we'll explore various dimensions of trust, including self-trust, trust in relationships, and the impact of trust on our overall well-being. Together, we will reflect on how building and maintaining trust can empower us to lead more fulfilling lives.

🔺During my research on this topic, I discovered several YouTube videos featuring Professor Frances Frei. In one short video introducing her work on "trust," she discusses the concept of the trust triangle, which is filled with specific values. She emphasizes that to become trustworthy, you must be your authentic self, think logically, and prioritize empathy. These three components form the foundation of the trust triangle.

Holding back your true self can undermine how authentic others perceive you to be, making it difficult for them to trust you. Inauthenticity is often easily recognizable. If you’re not expressing your genuine self, why would others feel comfortable being authentic with you?

🔺Logical thinking promotes clarity in communication. When you present your thoughts and decisions in a structured and reasoned manner, it helps others understand your perspective. This transparency eliminates ambiguity, allowing people to feel more secure in their interactions with you. Consistency in applying logical reasoning fosters predictability, which is another critical element of trust.

Being open to understanding others' points of view demonstrates empathy, allowing them to see that you value their opinions, even if you don’t necessarily agree. This attitude shows that you care about others and are not always putting yourself first. You cannot expect others to trust you if you do not genuinely empathize with them.

🔺If you are interested in a 14 minute video please click here: https://youtu.be/pVeq-0dIqpk?si=E01rk0jTQ8nms9_a

👬Pillar 1 Value Long-Term Relationships: Trust requires a long-term perspective. While it may seem easy to blame others or make short-term decisions for personal gain, consider how these actions will impact others' perceptions of you in the future.

👥Pillar 2 Be honest: Developing a reputation as someone who is dishonest is one of the fastest ways to erode trust. Always tell the truth, even if it’s awkward; don’t give people an opportunity to catch you in a lie.

🤝Pillar 3 Honor your commitments: A trustworthy person does everything in their power to stick to agreements they’ve made. If you make a promise, follow through on it. Avoid making promises that you might not be able to keep.

🤥Pillar 4 Admit When You’re Wrong: People dislike excuses. When you make a mistake, be upfront about it. Owning your faults humanizes you and enhances your trustworthiness. Admitting errors is an essential aspect of honesty.

💬Pillar 5 Communicate Effectively: Trust can be easily damaged by miscommunication. Strive to communicate clearly to avoid misunderstandings. If uncertain, ask questions for clarification. Remember, listening is as important as speaking—giving others a chance to talk shows you genuinely care.

💪Pillar 6 Be Vulnerable: Sharing your emotions can help build trust, as it shows you care and allows others to see your humanity. Don’t hesitate to express if something upsets or stresses you. However, approach this carefully—avoid oversharing personal details. Gradually open up, and with emotional intelligence, you can strengthen trusting relationships.

🆘Pillar 7 Be Helpful: Trustworthy individuals go out of their way to assist others without any hidden agenda. When you done with work or finished a project look for opportunities to help. If you see a coworker/friend/family member struggling, offer support and then act on it.

👩🏻‍❤️‍👩🏻Pillar 8 Show You Care: People trust you more when they feel you’re genuinely interested in them. Remember small details, like a coworker’s child’s name or asking about their weekend. The friendly person who checks in is often seen as more trustworthy than someone who is self-absorbed. Simple gestures, like using someone’s name, can go a long way.

✊Pillar 9 Stand Up for What’s Right: People respect honesty. Don't compromise your values for approval or advancement, as this undermines trust with others.

📣Pillar 10 Be Transparent: Most people will understand your actions if you explain what you're doing and why. Avoid secrets and information hoarding, this can just cause you shame.

Building trust takes time and is essential for both personal and professional relationships. To effectively build trust in the workplace and beyond, adopt a long-term approach: be honest, honor your commitments, and admit when you're wrong. Following these steps will help you be seen as a trustworthy individual. Now, it's time to take action and start cultivating trust in your own life.

Most of this came from a blog: Leadership & Management in BetterUp's resources. It was written by Maggie Wooll, MBA 10-21-2022

Dr. Anne Bockler Raettig, psychologist and author of Theory of Mind, tells us the psychology of trust is derived from how we, as humans, choose who to trust and who not to. She states that our signals of trustworthiness are not so trustworthy. This is what she means. We use visuals like facial features, signals of authority, and what others' have to say about that person (reputation/gossip) to decide who is trustworthy. She breaks it down further sharing that we make our decisions to trust by how someone looks, how they present themselves, what they are wearing (we trust more easily with those in lab coats or in uniforms assuming they are working from a place of good). All very subjective.

In her book Theory of Mind, she writes about the significance of forgiveness and how people who are trusted are also those who forgive people. The empathy that creates second chances, and trying to understand the other person's perspective allows for space to forgive and give opportunities to save the relationship.

If no one takes the leap of faith, then trusting relationships would not be possible.

~Dr. Anne Bockler Raettig

Dr. Bockler Raettig is a professor at Universitat Wurzburg in Würzburg Deutschland.

I hope there was something here that resonated with you about Trust. It is such a foundational value, we build our lives on the levels of trust that we have with ourselves and with others. If you ever feel you need help in the area of trusting, you know I am always here for you. You can always schedule a call.

Just tap on the link here: https://app.paperbell.com/checkout/packages/35371 and you can always visit my website: https://www.aspireself.com