January/February | Vol 10 Issue 1 © 2015 | www.coaching-at-work.

com

oaching professional
bodies are unanimous
in their agreement
that trust is essential
for an effective
coaching relationship. But what
exactly is trust? What is the coach’s
role in building it and what is the
client’s role?
How can we get a tighter grip on
this slippery concept so that we
improve the quality of trust in our
relationships?
Of the 11 core competencies in
the ICF coaching framework, one is
titled: Establishing trust and
intimacy with the client. Similarly, in
the Association for Coaching
competency framework, one of the
nine competencies applicable to
all coaches is: Establishing a trust-
based relationship with the client.
The EMCC refers to trust as part of
its Building the relationship
competence when it says an
effective coach “develops trust
through keeping commitments
and being non-judgemental with
the client”.
This is all well and good, but
have you ever had a client ask you
to define trust?
I found myself in this tricky
situation a number of years ago.
1was in the chemistry session with
a senior director of a technology
company talking about my
coaching ethics and the
importance of confidentiality.
I used a phrase I had used many
times before in this situation:
“It would be hard for me to keep my
reputation as a coach for more than
two weeks if people did not trust
me.” This astute client, however,
C O A C H IN Q T R U S T
quizzed me further, asking: “What
exactly do you mean by trust?”
Caught on the hop, I fumbled
my way through an awkward
explanation, using words such as
respect, honesty and openness.
I soon realised, however, that
these were ill-formed, casual
explanations for an important
concept. I pledged there and then
to get a better grip on trust.
Importance
This exploration of trust is a core
component of my doctoral
research. The deeper I have delved
into the trust jungle the murkier
the picture has become.
For, in the academic literature
on trust, there exists the same
universal acceptance of the
importance of trust in
relationships and yet much
disparity in what the word actually
means. Regarding its importance,
commentators have said:
• “(Trust is) essential for stable
social relationships” (Blau, 1964)
• “There is no single variable
which so thoroughly influences
interpersonal and group
behaviour as does trust”
(Golembiewski bMcConkie, 1975)
9 “When trust is destroyed,
societies falter and collapse”
(Bok,2011).
Definitions
Regarding its definition, these
have been many and varied over
the years, but the three most
commonly cited are:
• “Ajudgement of confident
reliance on a person, organisation
or system, when there is an
C o a c h in g a t W o r k 3 *
• • W e cannot compel anyone to trust
us since it is a choice only they can make
at a point in time and in a particular
context. How does this fit with die idea
that our job as coaches and leaders is to
build trust in our relationships?
element of risk and uncertainty”
(Hurley, 2006)
• “A psychological state that
comprises the intention to accept
vulnerability based upon positive
expectations of the intentions or
behaviour of another” (Rousseau,
Sitkin, Burt & Camerer, 1998)
• “The reliance by one person,
group or firm upon a voluntarily
accepted duty on the part of
another person, group or firm to
recognise and protect the rights
and interests of all others engaged
in a joint venture or economic
exchange” (Hosmer, 1995)
These definitions reveal three
characteristics of trust on which
most commentators agree.
First, there must be an element of
risk involved. Second, there are
confident, positive expectations
about the other party’s behaviour
and third, trust is partly a rational
computation of risks as well as a
moral duty or emotional
commitment that arises over time
through identification with a
particular social group. More
importantly, for coaches and
leaders, is the realisation that if
trust is a ‘psychological state’in
the mind of the other person,
this is not something we alone
can control.
Propensity to tru st
We cannot compel anyone to trust
us since it is a choice that only they
can make at a point in time and in
a particular context.
32 C oaching a t W o rk
How does this fit with the idea on us. For these people, trust is
that our job as coaches and given freely and only later
leaders is to build trust in our modified based on experience.
relationships? How can we build Contrast this with clients
something over which we have who gave us a hard time,
no control? questioning our motives and our
Thankfully, researchers in trust abilities until we had proven
have developed a way out of this ourselves. For these individuals
conundrum by identifying two trust is something to be earned
additional concepts, namely and, correspondingly, they have a
‘trustworthiness’ and ‘propensity low propensity to trust.
to trust’. The work of Mayer has Through this lens, ‘trust is in
been key in clarifying the concepts the eye of the beholder’ and there
of trust, trustworthiness and is little that we can do to influence
propensity to trust (Mayer, Davis & someone’s propensity to trust, as it
Schoorman, 1995). will typically have been built up
For Mayer, propensity to trust over many years of character­
and trustworthiness are pre­ defining experiences, cultural
requisites of trust, with the former biases and personality attributes.
a personality attribute of the However, do not despair!
trustor (the party who is doing the Though we cannot control
trusting) and the latter a whether someone trusts us, this
behavioural attribute of the does not mean that we are totally
trustee (the party who is to be powerless in relation to this
trusted). As coaches, we can relate outcome. Our trustworthiness can,
to the idea of someone’s over time, influence the degree to
propensity to trust when we think which someone will trust us - and
of clients who appeared to trust us this is a factor over which we are in
from the moment they first set eyes total control.
J a n u a r y /F e b r u a r y | V o t 1 0 Is s u e 1 © 2 0 1 5 | w w w .c o a c h in g -a t-w o r k .c o m
 CO ACH INQ T R U S T

hen we become trustworthy
then we become ‘worthy of the
trust of others’ or as Solomon and
Flores put it: “In the ideal case, one
trusts someone because he/she is
trustworthy, and one’s
trustworthiness inspires trust”
(Solomon &Flores, 2001).
Trustw orthy behaviour
Trustworthiness is a set of
behaviours that we can identify,
develop, measure, receive
feedback on and slowly
progress towards mastery.
Thus, if we are being pedantic,
all of our coaching competencies
ought to be re-worded because our
job is not to build trust in our
client relationships, but to
demonstrate trustworthy
behaviours to our clients.
This is a subtle shift, yet an
important one if we are to pin
down the boundary between the
responsibilities of coach and
client in the shared challenge of
building trust.
So now we know what our job is,
how do we do it well?
As you would expect, quite a
number of researchers have had a
go at defining the behaviours that
constitute trustworthiness and
testing these scientifically. One of
the most popular models
(Gabarro, 1978) breaks down
trustworthiness into the following
three components:
openness, reliability, consistency,
keeping promises and respect.
Yet the formula reveals that we
can have as much integrity as we
like, but if we are incompetent at
what we do or if we show no
benevolence in the relationship,
there is still a risk that we will not
be regarded as trustworthy.
The dimension o f‘ability’ reveals
to us the importance of our
coaching credentials and
qualifications, for it is these that
validate our ability in the eyes of
the client.
These professional standards
help us demonstrate
trustworthiness since they are
badges of our competence and,
over time, our coaches come to rely
on these in the same way that
doctors and accountants
demonstrate their trustworthiness
through their own professional
qualifications.
I know that, in pursuing my own
PCC credential with the ICF, this
idea that the credential would
demonstrate my trustworthiness
to my clients was a stronger
motivation to put myself through
this stringent process than was the
idea that it would necessarily
mean I would gain more business.
Benevolence
This leaves us to examine the final
component of trustworthiness:
benevolence. Benevolence is an
interesting word. For me, it is a
word that is closely related to
kindness. I have not seen either
word used in coaching
competencies or, for that matter,
in leadership competencies.
Benevolence suggests that we
will carry out acts beneficial to the
client over and above those
necessary to fulfil the professional
coaching contract. It implies that
we will give more and expect back
less and that we will do so through
a connection of the heart rather
than through some Machiavellian
process of currying favour via false
generosity.
Benevolence cannot be
calculated, it can only be
spontaneous. It is akin to when we
pass a homeless person in the
street who is asking for our help.
For an instant, our heart compels
us to give, but then our mind gets
in on the act, and the moment has
passed, leaving us with full pockets
yet a lingering feeling of regret.
Another means of considering
the idea of benevolence in
demonstrating trustworthiness is
to think of its opposite - cruelty.
If you were working for a boss who
was tremendously competent at
their job and had the utmost
integrity, yet in team meetings
they routinely belittled and
humiliated you in front of your
peers, would you describe them as
trustworthy? Probably not.

• trustworthiness =
integrity x ability x benevolence
It is interesting to reflect on this
simple formula with regards to our
coaching and coaching
competencies. Most coach
competencies tend to stress the
first aspect of trustworthiness, ie,
integrity. This is the competency
that we are referring to when we
use words such as honesty,
Learning points
• Everyone agrees trust is important yet we struggle to define what it is
• We cannot control trust in our coaching relationships
• We can control our own trustworthiness and this influences whether others will
come to trust us
• We demonstrate trustworthy behaviours when we show integrity, ability and
benevolence
• Of these three, benevolence is the characteristic that is often least developed in our
thinking and therefore in our coaching practice also.

January/February | Vol 10 Issue 1 © 2015 | www.coaching-at-work.com Coaching a t W o rk 3 3

 I coach a number of senior
leaders who plead with me: “I’m
honest, I try to do a good job and
yet still no-one seems to trust me.”
True to my challenging coaching
style, I come back with an equally
strenuous plea: “Attila the Hun
could say the same thing, but he
did not go down in history as a
trustworthy leader because most
folk thought he was a complete
and utter barbarian!”
So what does benevolence look
like in practice? I was on the
receiving end of a wonderful act of
benevolence recently that made
me realise the power of this
characteristic.
I was attending a meeting at the
offices of a global consumer
products company when,
suddenly, the door to the room
swung open. A lady marched into
the room carrying two large bags
and put one of them down beside
me, gave the other one to the other
guest at the meeting and then left
the room as abruptly as she
had arrived.
Though the meeting was
still ongoing, I sneaked a peek in
the bag and, to my delight, spied a
whole pile of chocolate
confectionery!Joy upon joy!
At the end of the meeting the
host explained that every guest to
the building receives the same bag
of chocolate. It was a brilliant act
of benevolence that made my day
and yet cost so little.
I regard that company as more
trustworthy since there is a strong
possibility they do the same for
staff, suppliers and customers.
S h a re t h e jo y
I’d like to leave you with a
challenge. How can you
demonstrate benevolence to your
clients in the coming days and
weeks? What is the random
moment of joy you can deliver to
34 C oaching a t W o rk
w If we are being pedantic, all of
our coaching competencies ought to
be re-worded because our job is not to
build trust in our client relationships,
but to demonstrate trustworthy
behaviours to our clients SSL
them equivalent to my bag of • John Blakey is researching at
chocolates? What can you give Aston Business School how CEOs
spontaneously, in the moment, build organisational trustworthiness.
that will make their day and He is co-authorwith Ian Day of
elevate your trustworthiness? Challenging Coaching and a
If you can do this, and combine PCC-credentialed coach with the ICE
it with the integrity and the • Contactjohn via:
ability I am sure you are already jo h n @ jo h n b la k e y .c o .u k or
focused on, you will be role­ download afree chapter of his book at:
modelling a mastery of w w w .c h a lle n g in g c o a c h in g .c o .u k
trustworthiness that will inspire • John’s next book Building
not just those you work with, but Tomorrow’s Executive Leaders:
all those you come into contact How Trust Transforms Leadership
with. In coaches we trust! ■ (Kogan Page) is due out in May 2016.
References
• PM Blau, Exchange and Power in Social Life, Transaction Publishers, 1964
• S Bok, Lying: M ora l Choice in Public and Private Life, Random House LLC, 2011
• j J Cjabarro, 'The development of trust, influence, and expectations', in Interpersonal
Behavior: C om m unication and U nderstanding in Relationships, P290, P303,1978
• R T Qoiembiewski & M McConkie, 'The centrality of interpersonal trust in group
processes' in Theories o fQ ro u p Processes, P131, P185,1975
• L T Hosmer, 'Trust: The connecting link between organizational theory and
philosophical ethics', in Academy o f M anagem ent Review, 20, PP379-403,1995
• R F Hurley, 'The decision to trust', in H arvard Business Review, 84, PP55-62,2006
• R C Mayer,] H Davis & F D Schoorman, 'An integrative model of organizational trust',
in Academ y o f M anagem ent Review, 20, PP709-734,1995
• DM Rousseau, S B Sitkin, R S Burt & C Camerer, 'Not so different after all: A cross­
discipline view of trust', in Academy o f M anagem ent Review, 23, PP393-404,1998
• R C Solomon & F Flores, Building Trust: In Business, Politics, Relationships an d Life,
Oxford University Press, 2001
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