Working Wounded: Where's the Trust?

Jan. 3, 2007 — -- Please don't tell my boss, but I did more than my share of matinees this week. Among the movies I saw were "Casino Royale," "The Departed" and "The Good Shepherd." Different as these three movies are, they all seem to center on the same point -- that you can't trust anyone. Ever.

It's clear that Hollywood is picking up on our general discomfort and disillusionment. And they're running with it at a dead sprint.

So what does this have to do with us working stiffs? I'm going to propose a radical strategy. Something that is probably going to suggest to you that I'm either naive or crazy -- most likely I'm both.

My suggestion is that we all need to start trusting people. Just writing that sentence guarantees that I'm going to get a flood of e-mails from people who disagree. The e-mails will outline, in graphic detail, stories of abuse, cruelty and general nastiness -- explaining how people used to trust others at work but have learned the hard way that they can't. And they'll tell me that it's crazy to either forgive or forget.

I understand how hard it is to do what I'm suggesting, to trust again. And pardon me for going all "Oprah" on you, but if we allow ourselves to get painted into this cynical corner, we end up being the very enemy we decry. Because to others it will appear that we are isolated and only looking out for ourselves.

I've been burned many times during my career … big-time burned. And as I'm writing this, many of the past burns are coming back to me. But I've decided that I'm going to try to rise above those situations, because I don't want that to define who I am or how I approach my life.

And this new idea doesn't apply only to people who have already earned our trust or who haven't yet violated our trust. We should try to reach out to people who we aren't sure about, and while we're at it, to people who've burned us in the past. Offer them a hand of friendship. Give them a second chance to prove themselves worthy.

Sure some will disappoint you. Maybe even a majority. But think about the people who will come through in a way that you would never have expected them to. Think about how that will inspire you and introduce new possibilities in your career and in your life.