I am always reading (or listening to audio books) on various subjects related to custodial operations, communication and relationships. Granted, some of these articles and books can be rather boring topics whereas others inspire me to go to the next level in my understanding of a subject.

One that recently got my attention had to do with developing Credibility and Trust. The author pointed out that we all have credibility and trust accounts with others and that they have the same with us. An extreme example is that we may have a zero or even minus account with someone who walks up to us on the street and asks for a donation to an unknown charity. On the other hand, we usually have a rather high trust account with a surgeon who is going to operate on us to save our lives.

Some of the factors that I have found that impact how much trust we place in someone else is familiarity and performance. Oftentimes the longer we know someone (familiarity) the more we tend to trust them. Performance can determine to what degree we trust them. As I envision credibility and trust accounts with 0 being no trust and 100 being a full account, I realize that even simple mistakes or lapses in judgement can take me from 80 points to 0 in a very short time. I also realize that I have to work at not only earning the trust of others by performing in such a way as to collect those points; I also have to regularly evaluate what kind of trust they have in me due to my performance.

You only have one chance to make a good first impression; and only one chance to destroy that first impression. Your comments and questions are important. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean...

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net


posted on 9/15/2016