Putting Trust to Work
The project had gone well, and all had enjoyed the relationship, but had not tried to maintain client relationship after the project was over. A year later, the client, called and said, with a touch of hurt in the tone of voice, “How come you never called? I thought we had a good relationship, and I could have used your help several times.”. Later the reason was explained, “I thought it was too risky”. It might have been perceived as presumptuous.
If the client needed they could have called. What a shame, for all involved !
The reasons are plenty, the word RISK, comes up.
What kind of things do people find ‘risky’?
Staking out a point of view, naming and claiming, reflective listening, observing an emotional fact, working the trust process rather than jumping to action. The very steps we recommend are those most commonly cited as being infeasible, because they are too risky.
This doesn’t mean we are right or wrong. It simply means that trust-enhancing steps do carry some connotation of risk. Risk isn’t antithetical to trust; risk is part and parcel or trust. So, when people say, “that won’t increase trust, it’s too risky,“ we say, “Taking a risk is precisely how you build trust.”
What we hear expressed as business risk turns out to be, on close examination, personal risk. We hear generally two kinds of risk-averse comments: Perceived risk to Credibility and Perceived risk to Intimacy.
The perceived risk about credibility is based on a misconception about what it means to be a professional. Too many Service professionals labor under several misapprehensions about professionalism. They believe that to be professional means:
- One must have the answers.
- One must be quite if you don’t know the answer and find another professional with the requisite expertise as quickly as possible.
- One keeps the total knowledge base somewhat under wraps.
- One must keep any gaps in your knowledge base hidden from the client.
REASONS FOR PERCEIVED RISK
| You Can't | Because the client wants | |
|---|---|---|
| Perceived risk to Credibility | ||
| Hypothesize | An Answer | |
| Say you don’t know | Confidence | |
| Focus on the problem statement | Expertise | |
| Perceived risk to Intimacy | ||
| Stay with listening too long before moving to action | Action | |
| Get too personal | A “professional” relationship | |
| Talk about emotions | Just the facts | |
| Go off-agenda | Progress | |
| Point out difficult situations | To not be embarrassed |
