There’s usually a small, seemingly inconspicuous place where Trust begins. It might start out with something as simple as a caring smile, a helping hand, or a listening ear. A small promise kept can also mark the beginning.

At this early stage, the feeling that exists can better be described as one of reliability. For this feeling to grow, to become something more, requires repetition over an extended period of time.  It requires  consistent  repetition, to be exact.  Providing consistency in routine things creates a feeling of familiarity and growing confidence in what to expect next.

If the pattern continues in a positive way, uninterrupted and always reliable, it may progress to bigger things. This can be seen in genuine commitment to a person, cause or service beyond yourself.  The stakes become higher here, both personally and financially in a business setting. The promises are bigger ones and fulfillment often depends upon reliable action when no one is there to observe it but you.  This is the point at which reliability graduates to Trust.

In order to create Trust in Big Things, you must be reliable in the small ones.  It isn’t possible to deliver Trust consistently in a professional setting unless it already exists in a personal one. Trust is cumulative.

As we’ve witnessed so many times in the public arena, what sometimes passes as Trust can be deceptive to those viewing it from a distance. Almost always, however, those closest to the action know if it’s genuine Trust, or just practiced deception, that is being displayed.  It’s what happens one-on-one, or when no one seems to be watching, that reveals the truth.

Of all the values that can be adopted by a person or an organization, Trust is the one that elevates all of the others.  Its humble beginnings and the way it grows are the very things that make Trust so powerful — and finding genuine Trust so rare.