“Sunday Negotiation Insight”
“Without recognition and/or action, hope can be to trust, what want is to success … a wish.” –Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert
“Trust & Hope – Two Peas In A Pod”
To what degree do you trust someone? Is their demeanor the deciding factor? If so, are you placing too much emphasis on hope; I hope she’ll do right.
The degree of trust that you extend to someone usually consist of factors such as, what have they done to earn your trust, how reliable do you perceive them to be, and to what degree do they correct wrong actions when such are committed?
There’s one factor that most people don’t consider when assessing to what degree they can trust someone. That factor is hope.
Hope can serve as the tripwire that allows trust to be extended or retracted. I hope I can trust him. I hope she changes. I hope he doesn’t do that again. The subliminal thought that’s really occurring in your mind is, I’ll wait a little longer then maybe I should to see what the outcome is. That could be your death knell. Hope might also be your savior, which means by hoping and waiting, things may turn out to be okay. That makes hope more of a partner to trust than some people may realize. Thus hope should be recognized for the influence it has on your degree of trust.
So, in the future, mentally assess the degree of hope you’re placing upon trusting someone simply because you desire an outcome. Trust is powerful but only to the degree you use its power to empower you. When you raise your awareness of hope and the impact it has on trust, you’ll become more impactful … and everything will be right with the world.
What does this have to do with negotiations?
Negotiations efforts and outcome rely on trust, and trust hinges on hope; I hope I can trust that he’ll follow-through; I hope I’m getting the best deal.
Really understand the relationship between trust and hope and the role that hope plays in your assessment of trust. Don’t haphazardly dismiss hope with a wave of the hand while stating, “I’m not going to worry about trusting him; I just hope things turn out okay.” If you do, you do so at your potential peril and that could be the cause of your demise.
Remember, you’re always negotiating.