I suspect you or someone you know has, at one time or another, played the many “Trust” games that are out there.  You know:

Blindfold someone and lead them through a maze.

Fold your hands across your chest, then fall backwards trusting the person behind not to let you fall.

“Jump.  I won’t let you fall,” dad says to his son or daughter.  So they jump, totally trusting dad to catch them.

There are more.  But you get the point.  Trust is a vital part of our day.  I like this quote by Walter Anderson:

We’re never so vulnerable than when we trust someone-but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy.

Jon “Stretched” Stolpe and I are blogging about Love Works by Joel Manby.  Our topic today is on Trust (bet you didn’t know).  🙂  Check Jon’s post out here.  I have been a pastor for almost 40 years.  I would like to say I have been a leader that long, but that would be stretching the definition of a leader.  I “played at” leadership.  I even pretended to be one.   But while those are true, there is also something else is true.  I have a “fix-it” personality that lends itself to thinking everyone can be made right.  (Tragically, I had too much arrogance to realize I needed to fix myself before I could help fix others).  But be that as it may, something Joel wrote struck me: “Some people are not trustworthy, true. But to become a great leader, one needs to assume the best about each person.”

Now…because I tend to be a fix-it person, I also tend to be a very lousy listener.  I am trying hard to be a better one.  But one of the banes of my existence is the desire to interrupt-to finish sentences (so they know I know); to “fix them” with my “pontifical” thoughts; or to make myself feel look significant.   Go figure then why Joel’s words rocked me big time: “Interrupting is a sign of distrust.”  Say what?   I get Joel’s thoughts now.  I wouldn’t have given one rip before.  A leader who is always interrupting is usually trying to justify his behavior.  *head hung low in guilt*

This lack of trust hits hard in another area also:  Delegation.  Gulp!  No one can do it better than me!!  Double gulp!! Lo, and behold, I found out a good leader doesn’t make decisions in a vacuum.  People want to be involved in them, especially when it directly affects them in some way.  I eventually learned delegation was not passing along things I didn’t want to do, but asking for people with expertise or giftedness to fulfill their passion/ability.  Trust was letting go and not caring who got the credit. (That was hard for me).

This chapter would actually take more than one post so I would recommend you purchase the book.  🙂  How does trust play into your job? Daily life?  Meanwhile, make sure you check Jon’s post.