Cultivating Trust
There are some relationships, business and personal, where you immediately feel a connection and a general sense of trust. It takes time, effort, and consistency, however, to develop a level of loyalty that endures in the face of doubt.
I had a client of many years with whom I had some pretty frank discussions. After years of working together, we were able to be open and completely respectful when either of us had concerns about the direction any of our projects was heading.
At one point I took a stand with one of his suppliers and refused to work with her on a project because of the disrespectful way she had treated and spoken to him. I had concerns about his interests being properly respected and told him so. I offered to bow out of the project, so he could continue to work with her boss, but he decided to remove her from the project and retain both her boss and me.
Toward the end of the project this woman’s boss — who had apparently been quite offended — accused me of some unprofessional behaviour. When my client called to get my response to what had been alleged, it was so preposterous to me I simply advised that if he believed what he’d been told, I felt it was in his best interest to fire me.
He did not.
I look back now and laugh at my audacity. I didn’t even try to defend myself or address the accusations. After years of cultivating a reputation of honesty and openness, we simply didn’t need to get into it. He either knew I was on his team or he didn’t.
That level of trust wasn’t built in a day. It took time, mutual respect, and consistency. Our business relationship lasted for many years after that event and we made it through additional bumps in the road with open, frank conversations, right to the end.
It was a valuable lesson to me about the strength of cultivating business relationship on a day-to-day basis, and not taking them for granted.
Leave a Comment
