Trustworthiness Quotient

Trustworthiness defined and measured

My definition is:

"Trustworthiness is keeping one's word and being worthy of others' confidence: sound in principles, full of integrity, reliable and dependable"

My measurement is the Trustworthiness Quotient™, a method for monitoring personal progress to Trustworthiness.

Why measure trustworthiness?

I think should we should all do this from time to time, to:

make concepts tangible that are otherwise intangible
provide a methodology that enables you to construct a "Trustworthy Pathway"
enable you to benchmark your trustworthiness against that of others
measure your own progress along the pathway

The Trustworthiness Quotient

In their excellent book "The Trusted Adviser" Maister, Green & Galford, described the trust equation, in which they stated what they felt were the four key ingredients of trust. I am indebted to them for this concept but would like to offer an expanded but different approach - "The Trustworthiness Quotient" (TTQ). Simply stated, TTQ says that trustworthiness is comprised of several elements:

Dependability
Have you consistently demonstrated the ability to deliver on commitments during advisory interactions?
Integrity
Have you displayed personal as well as business ethics and commitment to mutual success to the client?
Credibility
Have individual competence, process and methodologies for success been proven over time?
Empathy
Have you demonstrated 'buy in' for the client's personal and business vision that involves true partnership?

These are dependent upon the degree to which you demonstrate, with each interaction:

Self-Interest
To what extent do you appear interested only in your success?
InConsistency
Does how you operate appear incongruent to the client?

The Trusworthiness Quotient is therefore:

Trustworthiness

D + I + C + E
-------------
SI + IC

Next article: Dependability