What does it mean, to trust?
If you trust another person, group, or organisation, it means you can be confident that a person - or group or organisation - will follow through on what they’ve said they’ll do, that you can rely on them for something, that they are as able as they say they are, that they will communicate honestly and openly, and that they will treat what you share with them with respect.
We all trust people, organisations, and systems - all the time. If we didn’t our lives would fall apart. Trust is an inherent part of being human, and of how our societies function. But of course, relationships are complicated, and trust can be broken: people don’t do what they’ve promised, companies don’t protect our data, political parties don’t follow through on election promises…
Trust is also inherent to movement building. Movements are a big network of interwoven relationships between different individuals, groups, and organisations. They might have some rough shared goals or a common cause, and it is often the degree that they are able to work together that determines how successful they will be. One way of measuring the strength of these relationships is the degree to which the actors involved trust each other.
Trust frames a lot of the decisions we will make about how we will collaborate with others - the more we trust others, the more we will rely on others to make good judgement calls, to follow through on what they’ve said they will. The more we trust another individual, group, or organisation the more we are likely to risk, perhaps leading to more creative, vibrant collaborations and collective action. Looked at this way, trust might be one of our movements most precious commodities.
But despite how important it is, we rarely actually talk about trust, or how important it is. Maybe it makes us feel a bit uncomfortable to consider “are we trusted?” or “Do we trust that group?” Until there is a breakdown of trust, it is something we might take for granted.
What does trust look like in movements?
There are lots of ways that groups trust each other, often framed around the degree to which groups are willing to share. For example, movements might trust each with:
Resources: Sharing funds, equipment or even people (e.g. by supporting one another with projects or events where extra bodies are needed)
Information and contacts: Movements might demonstrate trust by passing important information, linking up individuals, or accessing decision-makers or others in positions of power.
Plans and strategies: This might mean bringing another group “into the fold” about what you are planning in the future,asking their advice, or making sure that your planned events (or other plans, such as fundraising) don’t clash, or are mutually beneficial.
With our vulnerabilities: This is a bit subtler! But when individuals - or even groups - share what is difficult, or what threats they face, they are inherently trusting others not to use those vulnerabilities against them.
Can you think of any other ways that movements exhibit trust?
Building trust
As we’ve already explored, building trust within movements is key to taking effective action together. Often, building trust is about communicating to others that we respect and value them, that we honour their skills, knowledge and experience, and that we hope to deepen and broaden our relationship. While building trust is something that will occur naturally over time, there are things we can do to encourage and enable trusting relationships.
Spend time together: Building trust is ultimately about building good relationships, and often these take time and energy. Actively choosing to spend time with others, whether its in “formal” spaces like meetings or events, or in more informal social spaces, is how we learn more about others and deepen relationships.
Generosity with time and resources: Sharing what we have with others is a way of exhibiting our trust in them. By doing so, we communicate to others that we are confident they will treat what we have shared respectfully. If you have something - time, energy, a resource - that you know others could use, offer it without being asked. Sometimes a little can go a long way!
Communicate actively and honestly: Trust is often built around our ability to communicate openly and honestly. By being truthful and open we demonstrate to others that we trust them with what we are sharing, that they will handle the ideas, information, emotions with respect and care. Trust is reciprocal - when we exhibit trust in others, they are more likely to trust us in return.
Follow-through on commitments: this one is essential. Many of us will have experiences of people in our personal lives who say (or even promise) they will do something but don’t. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons and unforeseen circumstances, but when this happens repeatedly it feeds distrust. We start to wonder why we are putting energy into a relationship, and we have misgivings about the individual, their motivations, and the degree to which they value us.
Take (calculated!) risks: Trusting others is inherently risky. Ultimately, we can never truly know if others will break the trust that we have put in them. However, if we don’t sometimes take risks, trust that others will follow through on commitments, handle things we share respectfully, communicate honestly, and all the other elements that make up a trusting relationship, then we will always remain distant from others. Sometimes, we will need to lean into trust, risking a part of ourselves, hoping that our trust in others is well founded.
If our movements are grounded in trust, then we should be actively cultivating and nurturing it - within our interpersonal relationships, our own groups and organisations, and between our own groups and others.
Consider:
To what degree do you trust others? What gives you confidence in them?
How much trust do you think there is between individuals in your own organisation? What is this built around? How could you increase it?
Who do you think trusts you, or your organisation? Why is this?
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