Coaching practices for The Trust Triangle When Starting Out
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For The Trust Triangle When Starting Out, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- With new people I try to fast-forward to being close
- I won’t hand anyone real responsibility until they’ve completely proven themselves first
- I keep everything at work behind a polished, guarded front
- I’m competent and I deliver, but people still hold me at arm’s length
- I keep waiting for my manager to notice me and hand me more trust, and it’s not happening
Practices that may help
- 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 - 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. - 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 - 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. - 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 - 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 - 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 - Demonstrate care through visible acts in the other person’s interest
Show that your interests and theirs are genuinely aligned — not only when it’s convenient.
The Trust Triangle - 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 - Give away the answer even when it costs you
When the right answer reduces your value or authority, give it anyway — that act is the trust signal.
The Trust Equation, Made Practical
Related concerns
- The Trust Equation As A Caregiver
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 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.
- Competence Trust Building
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
- Extend Trust First
Trust others first, in bounded ways, before they have earned every dimension — it is how trust is built.
Extend trust deliberately to invite it
- Self Orientation Trust
Self-orientation is the denominator: a small increase in it wipes out gains in all three numerator variables.
Audit and reduce your self-orientation
- The Trust Equation At Work
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.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.