Hi! believed
Did you know that people in high trust organizations (businesses in which the team members report a high degree of trust with each other) also have:
- 74% less stress
- 50% higher productivity
- 13% fewer sick days
- 29% more life satisfaction
- 40% less burnout
On an individual level, trust increases oxytocin which decreases cortisol. In English that means that trust makes us feel safer and happier and less stressed, overwhelmed, afraid. And it’s not only being trusted that creates those chemicals – so does trusting others, and actually trusting others gives you higher levels of oxytocin (the good-feeling one of that pair).
Cool. How does that translate into a strategy or action item? I’ll tell ya.
For yourself:
You need to be believed, and be believable. Telling your truth in ways that other people can hear you (not assuming people will “just know” how you feel) is crucial. Avoiding exaggeration or stretching the truth or actually lying matters because your brain won’t give you the good chemical reaction if people “believe” something you yourself know isn’t true.
For others:
Do your best to believe what your people tell you. This does not mean taking their word at face value when you have a concern it’s not correct. It means finding a way to talk about that concern you have. It means asking more questions, listening, collaborating to find out what is really happening. And (and here’s the best tip in this post) it means believing their emotions are true for them. That’s all empathy really is anyway, and we all know that we can show empathy to someone else even if we see the situation completely differently.
Building trust will make you and your people (at work, at home, in your community) safer and healthier. Would you hit reply and tell me one relationship that could use a little more trust in your life?
All my best,
Dr. G
