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Trusted Leader Blog

Access leadership and trust building communication tips to help you improve team productivity and safety.

Posts about trust is given:

Is Trust earned or given?

Is Trust earned or given?

A common statement that (older) leaders assert is that trust must be earned.  Many a time I've had to listen politely while a CEO or senior executive tells me (uninvited) how they believe trust has to be earned. That if you give trust, people will take advantage of you.

And then other times, people will tell me that they believe trust is given first.  Interestingly, such leaders tend to not try to convince me so rigourously.

But here's the thing.  It's neither.

Trust is reciprocated.  It's an exchange between two or more people.

Trust begets trust.

Don't believe me?  Well, this is where social science holds its own.  It is how the brain works and can be proved scientifically.