Without trust, there can be no meaningful connection between people. This is true in every part of our lives – as a partner, parent, colleague, leader, or friend.

Trust is critical in every aspect of our lives, yet we struggle with how to talk about it. When we say “I just don’t trust you” to someone, it rarely helps. It’s overwhelmingly painful to hear and it gives us no direction about what specifically needs to change.

In the The Anatomy of Trust class we’ll dig into what trust is, how it works, and how we can inventory and talk about each of the seven elements of trust in a meaningful and productive way.

We’ll also talk about trust at work, trust in teams, and self-trust.

Trust is a product of vulnerability that grows over time and requires work, attention, and full engagement. Trust isn’t the grand gesture that we think it is —it’s a growing collection of small choices that we make everyday.

 

STEP 1

INTRODUCTION (4 MINUTES)

STEP 2

THE ANATOMY OF TRUST: EXPLORING THE SEVEN ELEMENTS OF TRUST (23 MINUTES)

STEP 3

EXERCISES (5 MINUTES)

Time to put what we’re learning into practice!

STEP 4

THE MARBLE JAR EXERCISE

It’s time for us to start digging in. Let’s begin with the Marble Jar exercise.  Download the Marble Jar Exercise lesson file below and answer the questions.

 

STEP 5

BRAVING EXERCISES

Now that you’ve thought about how trust is built for you, we can begin to break down the topic of trust into very specific, observable behaviors that we can talk about. We use the acronym BRAVING to understand and discuss why trust may be an issue with others or ourselves.

Go to the the bottom of the page and download the lesson files for the three BRAVING exercises.

These will help you begin to clarify the BRAVING behaviors that are working and those that may be an issue in a variety of different relationships.

• BRAVING – Rumbling with Trust
• BRAVING – Rumbling with Trust in Organizations
• BRAVING – Rumbling with Self-Trust

And we added a final BRAVING exercise if you want to dig into trust in terms of your team or group dynamics.

• BRAVING – Rumbling with Trust in Teams and Groups

Trust is something we are all continually working on. Download the BRAVING poster and hang it where you’ll often see it as a reminder of the Anatomy of Trust.

LIVE Q&A

Below is a recording of the Live Q&A conducted on January 13th.