Coaching practices for Competence Trust Building
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Competence Trust Building, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- When I’m handed something past what I actually know, I nod and act like I’ve got it rather than admit the gap, then scramble in secret to cover
- I’m competent and I deliver, but people still hold me at arm’s length
- I won’t hand anyone real responsibility until they’ve completely proven themselves first
- When I want people to take me seriously I tend to lead with my résumé and how much I know, and I can feel it land as bragging
- With new people I try to fast-forward to being close
Practices that may help
- Be transparent about your competence limits
Name what you can do, what you can’t, and what you’ll need to learn — before you are found out.
The Trust Triangle - Audit and reduce your self-orientation
Self-orientation is the denominator: a small increase in it wipes out gains in all three numerator variables.
The Trust Equation, Made Practical - Extend trust deliberately to invite it
Trust others first, in bounded ways, before they have earned every dimension — it is how trust is built.
The Trust Triangle - Signal credibility without claiming it
Let your knowledge show through questions and specifics, not through declarations of expertise.
The Trust Equation, Made Practical - Earn the right to deepen the relationship in stages
Trust compounds over time — start with technical credibility and expand into intimacy as it is earned.
The Trust Equation, Made Practical - Lower your guard to raise the intimacy score
Sharing something real about yourself makes others feel safer sharing something real with you.
The Trust Equation, Made Practical - The Trust Equation, Made Practical
The Trust Equation (Maister, Green, and Galford) holds that trustworthiness = (credibility + reliability + intimacy) ÷ self-orientation. The model is a practitioner framework rather than a rigorously tested theory, but it usefully names the levers — especially self-orientation, which is the single biggest trust-killer most leaders overlook. - The Trust Triangle
Charles Feltman’s Trust Triangle (from The Thin Book of Trust) identifies four distinct assessments that together constitute trust: sincerity (I mean what I say), reliability (I do what I say), competence (I have the ability to do what I say), and care (I have your interests at heart). Trust breaks down when any one of these assessments fails — and repairing trust requires identifying which assessment was damaged. - Invest in the relationship before you need it
Build relational credit through reliability and initiative, not charm or performance alone.
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), Made Practical - Use powerless communication to build trust
Ask questions and admit uncertainty rather than projecting confidence — it builds credibility with givers.
Give and Take: The Giver Advantage
Related concerns
- Trust And Competence
Name what you can do, what you can’t, and what you’ll need to learn — before you are found out.
Be transparent about your competence limits
- Credibility And Trust
Let your knowledge show through questions and specifics, not through declarations of expertise.
Signal credibility without claiming it
- The Trust Triangle In A New Job
Charles Feltman’s Trust Triangle (from The Thin Book of Trust) identifies four distinct assessments that together constitute trust: sincerity (I mean what I say), reliability (I do what I say), competence (I have the ability to do what I say), and care (I have your interests at heart). Trust breaks down when any one of these assessments fails — and repairing trust requires identifying which assessment was damaged.
- Expertise Sharing Trust Building
Sharing something real about yourself makes others feel safer sharing something real with you.
Lower your guard to raise the intimacy score
- How To Build Trust At Work
Sharing something real about yourself makes others feel safer sharing something real with you.
- How To Build Trust In The Workplace
Trust others first, in bounded ways, before they have earned every dimension — it is how trust is built.
Extend trust deliberately to invite it
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