CHAPTER ONE
Trust Begins with You

Alex was head of a beverage manufacturing plant that was the lowest producer of thirteen plants nationwide.

By focusing entirely on bottom-line results, Alex had missed the biggest obstacle standing in the way of his organization reaching peak performance: a failure to build trusting relationships with his people. Although Alex cared a great deal about his employees, they didn't know it. He focused on the numbers and neglected to ask them what they needed to be successful in their jobs. They didn't think he cared about them, their issues, or their concerns. As a result, trust, morale, and production were at an all-time low.

Once Alex learned how to earn the trust of his employees and helped his employees learn how to build trusting relationships with one another, productivity soared. Within two years, the plant went from being the lowest to highest producer out of all thirteen plants. Alex and his team went on to win his organization's most coveted award, the Manufacturing Excellence of the Year Award.

We're all challenged in our efforts to connect with our colleagues, bosses, and employees—especially when we feel that we can't trust them or they don't trust us. You hold this book in your hands because your gut is telling you that in order to bring your work, relationships, and organization to the next level, you need to learn how to give trust, get it, and be equipped to repair it when it's been broken. You want trust. You need trust. You deserve trust.

The good news is, trust begins with you: with your attitudes, your intentions, and your behaviors within your relationships. This is good news because you're in control of these things, and this book will allow you to start working on them right away. You will gain a proven, practical, and comprehensive framework for understanding the behaviors you can practice to build and sustain trust. We're going to help you pinpoint the actions that test trust, and we're going to reveal the steps you can take to rebuild trust when it's been damaged or broken.

You don't need to wait on your boss, colleagues, or employees to lead the charge in building trust. You can take steps and reap the rewards of trustworthy relationships right now. Building trust (or repairing broken trust) takes energy, dedication, and self-awareness. But when you give your best efforts and diligence to the process, you'll benefit from increased energy, commitment, and confidence in your workplace relationships. We guarantee it.