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.

Trust typically gets created between people, and usually in conversations. The Trust Creation Process, brought to us by the authors of The Trusted Advisor, is a five-step model describing how this works best: Engage, Listen, Frame, Envision, Commit—or “ELFEC” for short.

This is our last tip (for now) in a three-part series on the subject of intimacy—a word that businesspeople don’t usually associate with professionalism.

We’re continuing our conversation about intimacy, a deliberately provocative word to use in business.

At first blush, intimacy is a strange word to use in a business context. “What, I’m supposed to be intimate with my clients?”