The Value of Trust
“If you trust, you will be disappointed occasionally, but if you mistrust, you will be miserable all the time.” Abraham Lincoln
I remember hearing this quote when I was first starting my sales career at US West New Vector Group. We had a very motivational sales manager named Luke Lukrofka talking about the value of trust in sales. It ran totally contrary to the “Buyers are Liars” that you will hear from sales people or industries.
In my career, the value of trust has applied to more than just sales. It has applied to investing in people and companies, hiring staff, choosing partners and vendors.
I’m an optimist. I believe in people. I’m an entrepreneur.
But people will let you down. They will lie to you.
I’m not talking about making mistakes, or missing expectations. As an investor, I’m used to risk and losses. In fact, I don’t know if I have a risk averse bone in my body (much to my wife’s chagrin). I’ve had successes and failures. But in the failures, one must take responsibility, own it and move on. Not everyone will understand a failure and, yes, they will be disappointed.
Even so, I’ll continue to trust people. President Lincoln was right,and there’s no reason to be miserable all the time.