While trust is a self-proclaimed as well as exhibited standard of staying true, it takes trustworthiness to take it to the next level and get the approval for the declared yardstick. Acceptance or authorization by others might not be the in-thing.....one of the last thought in the minds of people nowadays. But, trust is abstract and can only be established by staying trustworthy over time. These aspects struck my mind after I heard of two incidents from my friends, where trust has been defeated before qualifying to be trustworthiness.
(Please do not read between the lines. Trust me, these certainly did not happen to me or anyone in my family. I will neither support such things nor silently gulp in such insults!!!).
When an Associate is absorbed into a company, the employer trusts him to abide by the confidentiality clause. Notwithstanding, if the new employee uses the records and reports of the company to perpetuate his personal interests in just a matter of few months of joining, the trust is broken. For the company, the associate is just a middle or low-level employee and one of the many others on that particular rung of organizational ladder. So, the actual victim might not be able to realize the loss instantly, but his immediate colleagues can certainly sense it. Their sources are umpteen......that too in this world of networking, social media and round-the-clock communication, nothing can remain a secret. The cat is out of the bag once the bag appears bulky!! Users not only provide word-of-mouth publicity but also spy on your activity!! I am surprised when I came to know that none of them would reveal the wrong-doing as such things are common nowadays and are the trade secrets behind some of the start-ups by the graduates and post-graduates from prestigious institutes with a work experience of a couple of years. Yet, I am sure, none of the colleagues would certainly vouch the employee to be trustworthy nor entrust him with important information. Through such insensitive ways, the person has also put the reputation of the esteemed institution and the trustworthiness of its produce at stake!!
The second incident is this......When the groom demonstrates the value of trust in his conduct, the bride's parents feel confident and give away their daughter. However, succumbing to the pressures of routine duties and purely out of male ego, the husband slaps his wife over a petty fight, the issue might just appear superficial or a reaction in the heat of the moment. The trust of the wife and her parents are broken forever and the trustworthiness of the man is at stake. Though as parents, the groom's side might be understanding the son's condition and might bat an eyelid at his act, their boy no more stands in the trustworthy category!! Standing in his support in such an instance proves their failure to perceive the underlying aspects of character that are intertwined with the bond of marriage!!
'TRUST' is not just a five-letter word that would fit into the triple-word score at the corner of Scrabble. It is also not a medallion that you swagger of!! It is a multi-ton responsibility to be shouldered always, in all the aspects and every phase of thinking as well as behavior in order to gain the trustworthiness of people, not only those whom you value, but also those who are knowingly or unknowingly part of our lives!! Trust is subliminal and deeper concept, that needs to be promoted to trustworthiness in order to add value to the term eventually. Neither the endorsements by parents nor the mention of big universities in the resume can stand the test of time. Trustworthiness build authenticity over the self-proclamations and also the testimonies of trust that we boast of!!
