TRUST IS A DECLARATION!

Trust is a social construct which is defined as “reliance on the integrity, strength, and ability of person to do what is expected”.  In sociology and psychology the degree of trust is a measure of belief in the authenticity, fairness and good will of the other. According to psychologists basic trust occurs during the first two years of life, and failure leads towards an orientation of insecurity and mistrust.

Trust in ontological terms is a declaration and a positive assessment about sincerity, competence, and reliability in some domain of action. Thus, if we want to risk trust we should increase our capacity for well grounded assessment.

The root of the word assessment is from the Latin “assidere” which means “to sit beside”. Assessment is grounded when the personal opinion of the person who is making the assessment is evidence-based and provides the standards against which the evidence is compared. The ungrounded assessment is when we bring up some opinion based on no evidence or valid criteria. Assessments are an inescapable and important part of our lives, and we become more effective in life by making more grounded assessments. We should also realize that assessments are just assessments and not “the truth”.

All human actions take place out of some mood or emotion. Moods are pervasive and are basically in the background. They shape our emotions and the way we act or speak.

Assessment is usually done in one of the following moods:

Naive: innocent, childlike

 Distrustful: staying away, lonely

 Skeptical: prove it over and over, mood of business

Prudent: wise and judicial: power of leaders reside here

True leaders are prudent and have the capacity to make grounded assessments. They are aware that ungrounded assessment does not serve the purpose, and being trustworthy based on valid criteria is the only sure way to maintain a trust level.

#trust, #grounded assessment, #moods, #declaration