Aug 28, 2023
Are you struggling to trust others?
There are times in life when someone hurts you and makes it difficult for you to trust them again. Broken trust is hard to repair when emotions are high, including in co-worker relationships.
Returning to episode 113 of Int-HER-rupt, host Linda Yates revisits her conversation with Cheryl Nye. They discuss the importance of trust and how to respond when it is broken - whether in the workplace or in life.
Cheryl’s Background
- After dabbling as an entrepreneur, Cheryl found her niche in corporate America. She is a data consultant who has worked with the same company for 17 years.
- As a Toastmasters Club Sensor Toast member, she gained confidence in communication and leadership. This experience created the foundation for the work she does today.
The Importance of Trust
- Nye calls trust the “foundation of all relationships” - whether at home or in the workplace.
- Without trust, communication falls apart. If someone doesn’t trust their team leader to respect them, they won’t come forward if something goes wrong. Similarly, if a leader can’t trust their team members to follow through on projects, the work will fall on a few individuals or the leader themselves.
- Once trust is lost, it can be hard to regain it, regardless of whether the person losing it is in a leadership position or not.
How to Recover From Broken Trust
- Communication: If you have lost trust in someone in the workplace, communicate this with them as clearly and compassionately as possible. As Nye says in the episode, “Speak with love.” Understand your problem, and be upfront about it without condescension or negativity.
- Accountability: If you have broken someone’s trust, take responsibility. Take the time to listen and understand how the other person is feeling. Apologize and plan how to improve - then follow through on that plan.
- Nye and our host Linda Yates greatly emphasize leading with the heart. When time is taken to truly listen, understand, and change, trust can be rebuilt, even when it takes a long time.
Learning to Trust YOURSELF Again
- If you’ve been the one to make a mistake or mess up, it can be hard to believe in yourself and can cause more stress than is helpful.
- Nye’s advice is to use the “5 Why’s” to assess the root cause of the problem. She gives the following example: If you’re chronically late to work, ask yourself why you’re late. If it’s because the meeting wasn’t on your calendar, ask why it wasn’t on the calendar. Why? Maybe the calendar is not set up in a way that is easy to use. Knowing this, you can seek out a new calendar to try. Once you reach the root cause, you can turn it into action.
- Practice trusting your instincts. Listen to your gut - it is often right. Ask yourself how you feel about a stressful situation, and really listen to yourself.
- Finally, take a step back. Zoom out. Listen to others as well, and see how they’re responding to you. Self-reflection is a huge part of self-improvement, and Nye attributes this skill to help her grow and develop her interpersonal communication skills to where they are today.
Trust in the workplace helps create a strong bond among the team. Without healthy communication and the knowledge that fellow teammates will follow through, a team will always suffer and lose its ability to work cohesively. If that trust is broken, accountability and active listening can create a safe environment to rebuild trust.
“Trust is the foundation of any relationship you may have. If you don’t have trust in your relationship, then you don’t have anything” - Cheryl Nye
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If this episode connected with you, reach out to Linda and let her know. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios. Check out other podcasts by TSE Studios, including this episode’s sponsor, The Sales Evangelist, helping new and struggling sellers close more deals and achieve their sales goals. Subscribe to the IntHERrupt Podcast so you won’t miss a single show. Find us on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, and Stitcher. Audio created by Ryan Rasmussen Productions.