✨ OF TRUST, RECIPROCITY, BUILDING BRIDGES & THE IMPORTANCE OF A SIMPLE “THANK YOU” IN EMERGING COUNTRIES✨

✨ OF TRUST, RECIPROCITY, BUILDING BRIDGES & THE IMPORTANCE OF A SIMPLE “THANK YOU” IN EMERGING COUNTRIES✨



No question about it. As many have posited, trust is the linchpin to success in life and business. 

Indeed, studies have shown a direct correlation between the level of trust which exists in a society and its level of development. The higher the trust, the more developed the country. Thus, no surprise to find a complete lack of trust in closed societies with a rentist mentality, where people survive on the basis of crony capitalism and corruption. 

Trust in Emerging Countries Is Evolving

In societies transitioning to being more open and moving towards an open market of sorts, trust is an evolving concept. From the prevalent modus operandi of never putting one's "hands in the fire” for anyone (as they say in Mexico, “no meter las manos al fuego por nadie,” which means never even thinking about going out on the limb for anyone, for fear of being burned - quite possibly because one never knows what the other person might be up to when one is not with them...), and where trust has been restricted to a very closed inner circle of close friends, and where even among them, trust has tended to be quite situational, to showing a flicker of needing to believe in it to be successful in the new business arena. 

Much still remains to be done for the tiny sapling to grow strong roots. If emerging countries are to be successful in their transition, it is very important that trust take hold. People need to learn how to replace predatory behaviour with building bridges. A subset of building bridges is networking; but networking only really works if it is a win-win relationship for all involved. And without trust, win-win can be an elusive and illusory concept.

Communication is Key

So how do you build trust where none existed before? *Communication* is key. Among other things, trust is built on being informed and on transparency. On knowing others care about you and won’t betray you. On being able to depend on the word of others. On empowering others.

Another way to put it is that among the pillars that make trust work, are integrity, follow-through and reciprocity. All of which are achieved through communicating with one another.

Integrity is not only a pillar of trust, but is the sine qua non of a society based upon the rule of law. Follow-through means standing by one’s word. When one promises anyone that one will call them back, or promises to take a determined action, the person making the promise, should call the other person back and/or should do what he or she promised to do when he or she promised to do it. If something is urgent, or one can’t meet a promised deadline, one should TALK to, or communicate with the other person about it. A study made concerning complaints about lawyers, showed that their clients cared more about hearing from their lawyers vs. the actual problem. Nothing erodes trust faster, or makes it difficult to cultivate, than the lack of communication.

Sounds amazingly basic. But, to use Mexico as an example of an emerging country in transition, promises to follow-through are honored pretty much totally in the breach - to the point where one ends up never taking such promises seriously nor taking them into account. Which in turn goes to the heart of productivity: if you cannot count on someone to follow-through and everything is always in a state of limbo, pretty tough to get anything done at all, let alone efficiently. 

Without trust, it is almost impossible for entrepreneurship to take flight.

The Lack of Reciprocity Can Kill The Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs

Building bridges is also very much about trust - and while introducing people to one another - friends/colleagues of the bridge builder, but who do not know each other - to discover how they can do business together, can be immensely satisfying per se to the bridge builder, it is also about reciprocity. Reciprocity when possible is a way of passing the favor forward, as well as a way to show one’s appreciation for the favor of the bridge builder’s opening a new channel for business. At some point, the lack of reciprocity kills the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Predatory Behaviour Knocks You Off the List

When the persons being brought together never acknowledge the bridge builder, and, on the contrary, go about their business excluding the latter, the chances are excellent that the bridge builder will cross them off his or her list for future business opportunities. And that goes double if during the meeting, the bridge builder becomes the object of predatory behavior to knock him or her out as a potential competitor by one of the persons the bridge builder invited to the meeting. Very short-sighted conduct, but, alas, too prevalent in societies with a low trust quotient. 

The Better Protocol . . .

The proper protocol - at least in the United States - has been and is:

1. Include the Bridge Builder in the Conversation.- During the meeting, definitely do not exclude the bridge builder from the conversation. If there weren’t some common ground among all present, the bridge builder would not have organized the meeting to begin with;

2. Copy Bridge Builder on E-Mails.- As a matter of professional courtesy, copy the bridge builder on the first set of e-mails exchanged, so that he or she can see that the meeting had traction, and the invitees are happily starting to do business together. Indeed, from time to time it’s a nice gesture to give the bridge builder an update on how things are going;

3. Follow-Through with a Thank You.- After the original meeting, a simple follow-up e-mail to the bridge builder with a “thank you” from the invitees also goes a long way towards encouraging more bridge building, as well as simply showing the courtesy of appreciation for having been thought of to develop new business opportunities.

Always, Always Communicate

Whether in a developed country or an emerging economy, trust really is everything. And one should never forget that communication is king in building and maintaining that trust.

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