Stephen P Robbins, in his work on Organizational Behavior – Contemporary Issues in Leadership, identified 5 key dimensions of trust-
- Integrity – Honesty and truthfulness are at the heart of trustworthiness and all other dimensions are insignificant without it.
- Competence – This includes the technical and interpersonal knowledge and skills a person may have. Walking the talk is a must for trustworthiness.
- Consistency – This relates to an individual’s reliability, predictability, and good judgment in handling situations. `Do as I say not as I do’ will definitely not work here in developing trust.
- Loyalty — This is the willingness to save face for another person and advocate for their success; trusting a person is not going to take advantage of us or leave us disappointed when we are vulnerable.
- Openness — This relies on the person to give you the full truth. This is often the most difficult because sometimes the sensitive nature of the `full’ truth and perception of truth don’t always match between people, hence why integrity is critical.
