Environments of Trust 1

One of the characteristics of high-trust environments/relationships is an ability to talk both positively and negatively in a group setting in balanced and beneficial ways.  Doing this makes many people uncomfortable. 

Books such as Crucial Conversations give each of us more tools to engage in ways that increase the probability of positive results – how to function in high-trust environments/relationships.  Here are some characteristics of high- and low-trust environments/relationships:

High Trust Environment                    Low Trust Environment

Celebrating success                             Bragging
Fixing sources of failures                      Finding blame
Asking for help                                    Suffering in silence
Understanding                                     Judging
Power-with                                          Power-over
Offensive/progressive                           Defensive/protecting
Collaboration                                       Independent Decision-making

Each environment has its proper place.  For so, for example, when the ship is sinking, power-over (Get on the darn life boat!) is preferable to power-with (Do we all agree that  getting on the life boats is a good idea?).  When danger isn’t quite so imminent, such as in business or social groups, I have found that sustainable success will more predictably come from high-trust functioning environments.

Next time...Benefits of Self-Awareness