One way to earning trust is giving it: Stephen Covey

Trust is so important and significant and yet most people tend to ignore it and neglect it, said Stephen M. R. Covey, co-founder of CoveyLink and the FranklinCovey Global Speed of Trust Practice.

During a guest appearance on Al Arabiya morning show, Covey says one way to earn trust is to give trust.

"One of the best ways to earn trust for yourself is to give trust. Because if we don't give trust, people don't receive it and they don’t return it. One reason why in many organizations the employees don't trust their management is because the management doesn’t' trust the employees," said Covey.

"And the employees reciprocate the distrust right back. You see trust is reciprocal. When we give it people return it. When we withhold it. They withhold it. So I say those two things, be trust worthy, be credible. Second, extends trust," he added.

In situations where someone is not trustworthy, Covey said a person has to be “very careful.”

However, he said that people will be inspired if you bring back the trust in them.

“The only way to gain that trust is through your behavior through what you do. Not just what you say but what you do that you are earning and deserving that trust and you can behave yourself back into trust. That’s the key."

Covey says the CoveyLink and the FranklinCovey aim on building trust with employees and their organization to build trusting relationships.

"When there is high trust they outperform the market by about three times," said Covey.

"When people are talking and gossiping behind each other’s back, it’s really dilutes the trust in the culture. Because everyone is worried you are doing it. So the best way to counter act that is to speak about people as if they were present," he added.

Covey said Americans have trust in the candidates of the U.S. elections because of their policies rather than the individual.

"I believe that both candidates are trustworthy, but I feel more aligned to the policies in the vision in such and such candidate. So it’s possible you can trust both but feel aligned to the policies of one," said Covey.