While disciplining a youth about their error in judgement, in their frustration, they shouted..
“Why can’t you just trust me!?”
My response: “To what measure should I trust you? Twenty percent? Fifty percent? One hundred percent?”
All too often our youth get upset at the fact that we parents, teachers and mentors don’t simply “trust” them.
My thoughts on Trust:
Trust is based on one’s character of trustworthiness. Trustworthiness is having the ability to demonstrate dependability and reliability. Trustworthiness is the glue that holds relationships and teams together.
There is a great scene in one of my favorite movies, White Squall. This movie is based on a true story of a sail boat, The Albatross, that sank in 1961. The Albatross was a school on the sea for troubled youth.
After several weeks at sea, with the guidance of their “Skipper”, the youth built enough trust among each other to accomplish incredible skills as a team. In one of my favorite scenes one of the youth was told that he was the “glue” that kept everyone together. He had earned a high level of trust and dependability because of his actions.
It is in one’s actions that one displays qualities that would be deemed trustworthy and dependable. For example:
– Their thoughts, words and actions are aligned with predictable integrity.
– They follow through on all commitments.
– They are courageous and don’t neglect their responsibilities or challenging assignments.
– They don’t run or hide during a crisis but instead step up to help out or even lead.
– They are willing to work hard to get the job done and are not afraid to ask the right questions.
– They are loyal and supportive of the team and know that nothing will ever get accomplished at the highest level without the team.
Trust is one of the skills that we teach in our Leadership Mastery program at Dinoto Karate Center.
Have you ever had a conversation with your youth about developing and building trust?
Until next time, have a great day.
~ Peter Liciaga
