You’ve likely heard all of these before in one way or another, but it’s always a helpful reminder to discuss them or think about them again.

Common Sense isn’t so Common

Everyone has their own perspective, and has learned different things based on their experiences. As a result, what we believe to be common sense is a culmination of our own beliefs and events that lead to our own way of reasoning various situations. It’s also dependent on the level of awareness an individual has at a given time in a particular circumstance.

What’s more important, when it comes to decision-making, is to make sure that you understand what a specific problem really is, take the time to deeply learn a variety of perspectives from key stakeholders in whatever type of relationship, and from there, form a consensus of what’s necessary to move forward.

Reliability is Key to Trust

Reliability is defined as the “the quality of being trustworthy or of performing consistently well.” To me, this also means that a person does what they say they will, when they say they will and is also responsive to other’s needs and in ongoing communications. However, it’s amazing how frequently I find that the majority of times, this isn’t the case. There may be excuses, or the thought that it’s not that important to carry out and actually do even the smallest commitments. Who really knows the situation!

I find that it’s helpful to dig in and ask a lot of questions when someone says they will do something, to make sure they actually understand what they’ve committed to and that you’re both on the same page.
This may mean writing things down and explicitly putting things into words, which is a key part of why there are contracts in place in the business world.

So, as a person or business, if you’re reliable and do what you say you’ll do, sadly you’ll already be ahead of most of your competition – this isn’t a baseline of how people or companies necessarily operate. Without it, there will not be the ability to trust that two parties are working towards the same overall goals.

Transparency Increases Trust and Accountability

Transparency in business means a level of honesty and openness, and leads to more trust and accountability. What it means to be transparent is to allow what you’re doing to be subject to scrutiny by another party.

This will help ensure that various parties are aligned and working towards the same goals, but also that they are aware of all the steps it’ll take to get there. As a result, there will be better cooperation, collaboration, and decision-making.

A True Partnership Leads to Success

All of these factors lead to what it means to truly have a partnership – one where there is a win-win for everyone involved, and one is not set out to gain more than other(s). Success should benefit the entire team, and not just an individual to again allow for better cooperation, collaboration, and decision-making.

In an agency and client relationship, a client will understand that the agency is running a business, and the agency will understand that they are working together with a client to meet their goals and succeed. There is also an element of chemistry required for a relationship to work well. 

Don’t Make Excuses – Fix the Problem

Everyone makes mistakes. This is a regular part of everyday life, and also a great way to learn. So while this may happen within any type of relationship, personal or otherwise, it doesn’t help to blame others, or go back and make excuses without taking accountability. 

Accept the problem, figure out what went wrong and then move forward together to solve the problem. You should then go back later, of course, to reflect on where things went off the rails in order to understand how to not make the same mistake again, but nothing will be gained if you don’t manage to move forward to a resolution.  Also keep in mind that it builds trust between two parties when someone takes accountability versus shifting away blame. 

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Although many of these lessons are perhaps obvious, hopefully it has been a good reminder for you, or at least leaves you with something to ponder. And on that note, please check out our recent blog posts covering useful Inbound Marketing tips.

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