Trust me I'm a Business Coach!

Recently a colleague and I visited a client, it was our third or fourth meeting and we were making good progress in tackling a particular technical issue. This appointment was going pretty much as previous ones had, until I asked him to consider some of the wider implications of the question we were dealing with. He stopped and thought a moment, then decided he was willing to discuss the more fundamental business issues with us. The office door was closed and off we went. Growing trust had enabled us to move our relationship onto a higher and deeper level. We spent the afternoon discussing his vision for the future and some of the key issues that would need to be addressed. After some time discussing a more factual area, he now felt he could trust us.

It was striking because it was such a definite change of gear in the relationship, In my experience, this is one of those things that varies enormously, some people are very open from the start, while with others the relationship develops more gradually.

A colleague at OI has suggested there are three stages in the process of building trust; first the contracting – e.g. the nuts and bolts of what we will be doing in the relationship, in our case providing business advice. Secondly we have to establish a level of competence and then finally there is the relationship dimension; how are we going to get on at a personal level. In the case in point, simply explaining how we could work together had been necessary, but really did not build much trust. It took a number of meetings to establish our credibility or competence and establish some rapport. Secondly, we had also assisted him in a number of different ways, and so I think he could see we genuinely wanted to help.

This whole issue of meeting with new clients and building up a level of trust has been a regular topic of discussion at work and it got me wondering what a biblical perspective might add. A key point is that it is God alone who is really and utterly trustworthy, while people are much less reliable; a sobering thought. On the other hand, I guess when we find someone who can be trusted we see something of God in them. Being able to have faith in someone does feel good and I wonder if part of it is getting closer to God. Proverbs seems to suggest it is “Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters.” Proverbs 25:13.

Secondly, it is clear that we are all in positions of trust; that we have our God given talents and abilities and hold these in trust and will be held accountable for what we have done with them in due course. The parable of the Shrewd Manager in Luke is clear about this and Paul says the same to Timothy. No pressure then peeps. Happy New Year Everyone.