I’m sure we’re similar in that we have more things to do in a day than there are hours in a day. You probably also struggle as I do to be really present from moment-to-moment—especially in your interactions with others—even though you know that’s an important part of walking the trusted advisor talk. We’re different, though, because you’re not a “spokesperson” for trusted advisorship, and therefore not hypocritical when you fail. And fail I did recently, in a very visible way.

Like you, I get a lot of unsolicited email inviting me to do business with strangers. Those messages are almost always immediately deleted or saved in the “How Not to Engage a Stranger”/“How Not to Ask for a Meeting” folder. (I really do have said folder.)

I brought a little improv comedy into a Trust-Based Business Development class I was leading last week, by way of simple warm-up games and exercises that I learned from expert Shawn Westfall. I was reminded of the power of humor to connect people, to defuse tension, and to create overall feelings of goodwill. Then I remembered a study that indicates humor also makes you more credible. That sounds like another trust paradox to me.

You may recall the retrospective from a few months ago on three extraordinary women (a new broadcaster, pop diva, and my mom) and what they can teach us about trust-building. Now it’s the men’s turn:

Charlie and I wrote about specific ways to accelerate trust-building in The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook, and excerpted a list of 15 favorites. The last on the list, about which I’ve never before written here, might just be the most powerful.