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 Michael Maslansky
When it comes to building trust with colleagues at work, this may be the most important lesson. Whether you are trying to get promoted, get your idea heard or ensure that people follow your lead, trust is an essential ingredient to success in the workplace. To build and maintain trust, there are some critical communications lessons that emerge from all of our research.
Understand "their truth." We all have different worldviews shaped by our personal experiences and biases. The first step in communicating with trust is to demonstrate in your communication that you understand where your audience is coming from.
The facts aren't enough. It's frustrating to feel that you have the facts on your side and yet people disagree with you. The reality is that not everyone agrees on the same facts. But we often can agree on larger principles or ideas. So start from there and then use your facts to support a compelling approach.
Be plausible. Management often tries to ignore the perceptions of employees on the front lines. But making big promises that lack credibility is a recipe for failure. Whether you are a manager or employee, it's better to acknowledge the flaws that everyone knows exist. Then focus on your strengths.
Be positive. It's easy to talk about problems. But too much talk of negatives can cause paralysis or turn people against you. Instead, present your biggest challenges in the context of recommended solutions and you will find that people turn to you for advice in the future.
About Michael:
Michael Maslansky advises Fortune 500 corporations, industry associations, major litigation practices and non-profit organizations on communication. As a keynote speaker Michael shares his in-depth understanding of hot-button issues in banking and financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, corporate social responsibility and non-profits, technology and consumer products, and litigation and politics. He is the author of The Language of Trust: Selling Ideas in a World of Skeptics.
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 Nicholas Boothman
Some experts estimate as much as 15 percent of your financial success comes from your skills and knowledge while 85 percent comes from your ability to connect with other people and engender trust and respect. In today's workplace whether you're interviewing for a job, trying to make a sale, talking with your boss about a raise, or just communicating with a colleague, the better you are at engendering trust and respect the better your chances of success will be. And you have to do it fast! People make that like/don't like, okay/no way decision in 90 seconds or less.
Trust can precede you implicitly in a title (General Manager), your credentials or your reputation. Trust at first sight though, is earned through attitude, facial expressions, body language, voice and your personal packaging.
Here are 5 quick tips to boost you on your way.
- Wear great clothes because more people will take you seriously and want to talk to you
- Adjust your attitude because it drives your behavior and theirs.Choose one of these: Enthusiastic, Resourceful, Curious or Welcoming. Or any upbeat attitude of your own
- Look people in the eye and smile. Eye contact says "trust is in the air." Smiling makes you appear happy and confident
- Open your body language. It signals, "I'm not going to harm you"
- Get people talking and keep them talking. Ask "talk-show host" questions - a statement followed by an open question. "I hear your new launch went well. What have you heard from the retailers?" Keep them talking with feedback: nod, smile, etc.
When you make your best efforts to create mutual trust and understanding you'll find establishing rapport, making deals, achieving mutual goals, and initiating projects will be much easier.
About Nicholas:
Nicholas Boothman has spent more than two decades studying the ways in which human beings connect, communicate and collaborate through teamwork. Nicholas is author of two popular books How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less and How to Connect in Business in 90 Seconds or Less.
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 Dr. Michael Pantalon
Who do we trust? Our mothers, spouses, business partners? Sure, we trust all of these people to a large extent.
But the person we trust best is OURSELVES.
No matter who suggests we do something (see a doctor, come home earlier, innovate more boldly), the last person we consult when deciding whether to do it is ourselves. That's because we trust our own thoughts, feelings and desires more than any others'. So, whenever you're trying to motivate someone to do something, the process should be about bringing out that person's best and most trusted motives. Here are 3 questions that will help you elicit motivation from the most trusted source, using the example above...
1) "Why might you consider my vision for our project (forget about what I think; focus on you)?"
2) "Imagine we moved forward with my vision, what would be good about that for you?"
3) "Why are the good outcomes you gave in question #2 important to you and mainly you?" (Repeat 3-5x)
These questions will show that you understand that the other party is the one who needs to be trusted and that you can help them access their most trusted thoughts and feelings about the issue in question. This is the best chance you have of motivating them in a trusting way.
Better yet, because these questions focus on your colleague's internal and deeper motives, they create sustainable, or as I like to say, "green", motivation. This, in addition to the fact that a natural by-product of trusting your colleagues more is that they trust YOU more, will make future conversations that much more satisfying and successful for both parties.
About Michael:
Michael V. Pantalon, Ph.D. is Yale Psychologist, Motivation Expert, Speaker, Coach & Author of "Instant Influence: How to Get Anyone to Do Anything--Fast"
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