Can I Trust You?

The Silent Question Everyone is Asking

Trust Shapes Every Decision, Partnership, and Opportunity

Every day in business, whether in boardrooms, sales meetings, or casual hallway conversations, people are subconsciously asking one critical question: Can I trust you?

• Leaders ask it when delegating crucial responsibilities.

• Clients weigh it before signing contracts.

• Teams depend on it when embarking on ambitious projects.

A resounding yes opens doors, accelerates deals and empowers teams with clarity and confidence. When the answer is uncertain or no, hesitation, resistance, and slowdowns follow.

The power of trust cannot be overstated. It determines how quickly decisions are made, how effectively teams collaborate, and how much influence a leader has. A high Trust Credit Score™ ensures that you are seen as reliable, credible, and someone worth following.

Conversely, a low score erodes confidence, stalls cooperation, and stifles growth.

The System of Trust That Measures What Matters

The Trust Credit Score™ Concept

The Trust Credit Score™ evaluates how individuals, teams, and organizations are perceived in terms of trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity. Like your financial score, your trust score is built on behavior, consistency, and performance—and it directly impacts everything from project momentum to personal influence and profitability.

I’ve lived this firsthand. In my twenties, I built a massive Trust Credit Score™ as a traveling evangelist—preaching across 47 states. But a personal decision caused it all to collapse. I lost trust with my church, my organization, and my family. Rebuilding wasn’t fast. But through consistent, intentional behavior—the very principles in this book—I earned it back. Today, I stand as proof: trust, once lost, can be rebuilt.

The Speed of Cooperation™

High trust enables what I call the Speed of Cooperation™. It’s the velocity at which decisions are made and results are delivered when trust is high. There’s less friction, faster problem- solving, and greater innovation. Sales teams close more deals, leaders delegate confidently, and teams move as one.

In low-trust environments, the opposite happens. Silos emerge, communication falters, and fear slows down everything. In sales, a lack of trust extends cycles, increases objections, and kills referrals. The result? Missed revenue, wasted time, and lost influence.

The Financial Impact of Trust

Trust isn’t just a leadership value—it’s a financial strategy. Companies with high-trust cultures see faster execution, higher employee retention, stronger customer loyalty, and lower operational costs. Meanwhile, low trust slows everything down. Decisions get second-guessed. Internal friction creates inefficiencies. Sales conversion suffers.

Consider this: a team that consistently misses deadlines due to broken trust may lose a key client, creating cascading losses in morale and revenue. On the other hand, teams that move with trust outperform their competition by turning clarity into velocity.

Behavior, Conversations, and the Five Focus Areas that Build Trust

Behavior Rebuilds Trust

At the heart of the Trust Credit Score™ is this truth: behavior is louder than words. Promises made but not kept, inconsistencies, and lack of transparency break trust. But small, consistent actions—delivering on what you said, being visible, being reliable—rebuild it.

The process is practical. You don’t need to be perfect, just consistent. Start with what you can control. Show up. Follow through. Communicate clearly. These actions increase your Trust Credit Score™ and create a ripple effect through your team, culture, and client relationships.

Courageous Conversations: Getting Back into Character

One of the most effective tools in restoring trust is what I call a Courageous Conversation. Inspired by Disney’s “casting call” culture, this concept reframes feedback not as criticism, but as a call to return to your role. When someone is “out of character”—missing deadlines, breaking promises, or acting inconsistently—it’s time for a reset.

Rather than shame or punish, these conversations offer a path forward: “Here’s who we hired you to be. Let’s talk about how you can step back into that.” It’s about alignment and accountability. I used this same approach with my own daughters after my divorce—showing up, keeping promises, and rebuilding trust, one small act at a time.

The Five Signals of Trust

To elevate your Trust Credit Score™, evaluate yourself and your organization across these five areas:

1. Appearance and Body Language

(55% of communication is nonverbal. Do you appear open, confident, and aligned?)

2. Motives and Intentions

(Are your goals transparent and trusted—or self-serving and unclear?)

3. Core Values and Integrity

(Do your actions match your values, especially under pressure?)

4. Skillset

(Do you have the competence and continuous improvement mindset?)

5. Track Record

(Do you follow through? Can others count on your results?)

Each signal is an opportunity to course-correct, rebuild, or reinforce. By understanding where breakdowns occur, you can rebuild credibility and accelerate influence—one behavior at a time.

Conclusion: Trust is the Accelerator

The Trust Credit Score™ System gives leaders, teams, and organizations a concrete path to build, assess, and restore trust. It’s not abstract—it’s behavioral. It’s not just a concept—it’s a measurable system. With it, you can speed up decision-making, deepen loyalty, and unlock your full leadership potential.

Whether you’re rebuilding broken trust or taking your influence to the next level, this book will guide you—step by step—to the answer every person in business is silently asking: Can I trust you?