The speed of trust

How fast can you build trust with others?

I’ve learned that one of the best ways to build trust quickly is quite surprising – be afraid together! When you are afraid together – of persecution, embarrassment, or failure – deeper trust can be forged quickly. The fact that you could be swept up into disaster together sharpens your focus on trust. You have to depend on each other!

A friend and I had worked closely for several years. At times we sank together and at other times we celebrated successes. He took on a huge challenge that no one had ever done before. He asked for my counsel about starting a new project outside of sports. It was a shock. Why did I agree to help him succeed? I said ‘yes’ because we had built such a deep level of trust. I could trust that the Holy Spirit was directing his steps.

At another time, I believed the Holy Spirit led me to champion a project that was contrary to what a core of my team thought was best. This created a lot of tension for the team. Would this divide us and spoil our extraordinary friendships? Yes, it could. But I proceeded based on two reasons. As I prayed and prayed, I was fully confident that the project would have significant global benefits.

More importantly, after many years of walking side by side, I believed we had developed deep trust in one another; enough trust to get us through this challenging time. In fact, the difficult time further deepened our trust.

Scripture to ponder –2 Corinthians 8:22

In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you.

Key Lesson: Move forward at the speed of trust. When there is greater trust on the team, more can be imagined and achieved.