Children look at life as seemingly never-ending. As we get older, the realities of mortality become more evident to us. Eventually we all leave the physical world to become part of the spiritual world. In our final few moments of life, the thing that will matter most is the relationships of love and trust we have experienced in our lifetime.
Material goods will not mean much at that time, but the way we have impacted other people will be great comfort in our final moments.
Our personal lives are all about relationships, but what about our professional lives?
In organizations, if there is low trust, you will find apathy and poor performance. Conversely, if leaders have managed to foster a culture of high trust, you will find engagement and enthusiasm. Trust becomes the lubricant that allows everything to work as we hope. Relationships matter just as much in our professional life as they do in our personal life.
Since we have the power to foster higher trust by being authentic and making it safe for others, we have our destiny in our own hands as long as we pay attention to this critical element in our lives. It is happening in our brains every second of every day.
One of my favorite quotes is “The amount of success and happiness you will achieve in life is a direct function of what is going on between your ears.” Since we ultimately have the power to control our thoughts, we have the power to achieve a happy and productive life.
It is up to each of us to conduct our lives to optimize the level of trust we can generate with other people. That is the most powerful way of creating a life well lived.
Bonus video
Here is a brief video on The Power of Trust
Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust. He is the author of four books: 1.The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals (2003), 2. Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online (2006), 3. Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind (2009), and 4. Trust in Transition: Navigating Organizational Change (2014). In addition, he has authored over 1000 articles and videos on various topics in leadership and trust. Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations