A few weeks ago, I wrote about one aspect of The Trust Creation Process. It’s a five-step model describing how trust gets created in conversations: Engage, Listen, Frame, Envision, Commit (“ELFEC” for short). The Trust Creation Process was first introduced by Charlie Green and his co-authors in The Trusted Advisor.
If you’ve been with us for a few weeks, you’ve probably noticed a theme: personal risk-taking. This week’s tip highlights a special kind of risk-taking.
Imagine a long-term personal relationship, like a marriage, where difficult conversations are absent. It’s likely not a sustainable relationship. Concerns pile up over time, and if left unspoken, the relationship can’t benefit from the shared experience of intimacy that comes from working through them.
While trust is important to every professional relationship, in the troubled world of financial advice it’s never mattered more. It really doesn’t matter how well a portfolio performs, if your client doubts your sincerity or questions your true intentions the relationship is doomed.
Most of us probably agree in theory with the principle of transparency—being honest, open, and candid. It is easy to say, “Honesty is the best policy!” Dig a little deeper and it is not so clear.