Trust takes a long time to create, but merely seconds to lose. This is true both as a company and as an employee. I was thinking about a post I wrote about a year ago on my management style and how sometimes I am mistakingly thought to not notice things since I’m not in too many details. I do notice, but I try not to lead companies or people on that level. This way of working, however, assumes that I have trust in that things are moving in the right direction and that people are genuinely doing their best.

When I lose trust in something or someone, I think it is therefore a bigger deal than for many others. Since I rely so heavily on this single point – for better or worse – I find it very hard to keep going without it. And since trust can’t be rebuilt in the same period of time that it got lost, this is hard to fix.

I’m not suggesting that this is an optimal way of running companies or managing people but it is the way that comes naturally to me. In fact, I’m not sure it really matters how one does these things. There are articles in every business magazine that gives opposing advice on a regular basis. What can be done though, is it to make sure that the people around you know what is important to you. So that there are fewer surprises when you act on what you think is right.