Core value · Truth family
Trust
Relying on others and being relied on
Also covers Credibility
What does trust mean as a core value?
Trust as a core value means being someone others can rely on without checking, and extending that same good faith to them, so relationships and teams can move quickly.
Trust runs in two directions for you, and both matter. You want to be someone people can rely on without checking, and you want to be able to rely on others in the same way. Relationships and teams feel right when trust is high and exhausting when it’s low. You extend credit to people early, notice keenly when it’s broken, and take your own credibility seriously. For you, trust is what lets everything else move quickly.
What does trust look like in practice?
- You hand a new colleague real responsibility in their first month.
- You don’t read your teenager’s messages, even when you’re tempted.
- You go back to someone who has lost faith in you and talk it through.
- You keep a confidence even when sharing it would make a better story.
- You tell people plainly when something has damaged your trust in them.
When is trust overplayed?
Trust given too freely can leave you exposed: to the colleague who takes credit, the supplier who cuts corners, the friend who borrows and forgets. When that happens, you may swing the other way and find it hard to trust anyone. You can also expect more trust from others than you’ve yet earned. Healthy trust starts with good faith, grows with evidence, and can be rebuilt after a breach when both people put in the work. One way to keep it in proportion is to agree a small early check-in with someone new, so trust grows on something solid.
Often confused with
Trust vs Reliability
Reliability is doing what you said you would. Trust is the wider relationship that reliability helps build, and it runs in both directions.
Trust vs Loyalty
Loyalty is standing by someone. Trust is believing they’ll act well when you’re not watching, which you can have without any loyalty at all.
Trust vs Honesty
Honesty is telling the truth. Trust is what people give you when they believe you will, and what you offer them in return.
Questions to sit with
- Who do you trust more than they’ve earned, and who less?
- What would a close colleague say damages their trust in you?
- When did someone last break your trust, and what have you done with that experience since?
More values in Truth
Honesty, openness and being who you say you are.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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