You can be significantly more effective while building your network, teams, and partnerships if you establish trust first. There are four variables that comprise trustworthiness — credibility, reliability, intimacy, and self-orientation—only
One way to establish trust more quickly is by establishing reliability. However, this actually takes time to establish. By definition, reliability requires consistency over time to demonstrate. Luckily, you can accelerate this process if you know how to do it correctly.
Make lots of small promises.
One aspect of reliability means to do what you say you’ll do (and when you’ll do it). So create opportunities for yourself to prove this by making lots of small promises. For example if you meet someone and say you’ll follow up with them, send something or help connect them to someone else. Make the promise clear and give a deadline of when you’ll do it by. Then set the intention and make sure you deliver. You can do this within your work setting too, for example, there’s no need to wait until the end of a six-month project to prove you can be counted on. You can start from day 1 by making lots of small promises, then following through on each one. “I’ll set up the meeting with our partners for Thursday.“
Be on time
If your appointment with Ashley is at 10:00am, let your actions convey that one way you keep your word through punctuality. Then go the extra mile to make sure you’re fully prepared. Whether you’re meeting in person or via an online platform, arrive/login with plenty of time to review your notes, get your mindset and intentions in order, and take a couple of deep breaths. In other words, take an extra few minutes to be fully present.
Use their own words
Did you know reliability is rooted in a feeling of familiarity? People experience others as being more reliable when they feel connected to them and when they feel familiar. You can make this feeling stronger by using others’ jargon, instead of your own. This is a great way to create that feeling in your very first encounter. If you say “public offering” and Michael says “IPO,” go with IPO. Be aware not to do this too often though or you risk losing your own authenticity which is critical to establishing trust.