“Know” implies you are out there investing time getting to know people and letting them get to know you. It means people want to get to know you because you are not being pushy. To accomplish this you must make the effort to sincerely get to know people first. Learn to ask questions and minimize talking about yourself.
“Like” follows directly behind “know” in that you are friendly, fun and/or interesting in conversation. Being “likable” is certainly in the eye of the beholder but there are plenty of resources if you want to improve your “likability”. Start with Dale Carnegie and you’ll be in great hands. Check out “The Platinum Rule” to take it to the next level.
“Trust” is the foundation. I like this simple statement (“like, know and trust”) but I find it more helpful to replace the word “trust” with the phrase “judge to be trustworthy”. Continued…
In Steven Covey’s masterpiece The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People he defines trustworthiness such that it includes both competence (the ability to do what needs to be done) and the person’s character (whether he or she will follow through).
This definition brings discipline into the equation. Two key disciplines are; 1) Only tell people you will do things if you are absolutely sure you will do them and, 2) Have a system for recording and following up on things you say you will do. It’s this last one that separates the good networkers from the great ones.
Social Networking (online networking) brings many nuances to this conversation and “credibility” seems to have become a hot topic on the web. I encourage you to do some reading on the topic. There is a series of presentations starting on November 11th on this topic being done in our area by some very credible folks. Check into the “Credibility Conversation” for more details.
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