Before our friends left Australia on a four-month trip across South America, they gifted my Irish hubby with a book called The Social Animal. Maybe they think we are very social, perhaps it was all of those D&M (deep and meaningful in Aussie slang) conversations about Emotional Intelligence and its absence from the workplace over cheap jugs of draught beer at the local backpacker pub. Either or a combination of both spurred our friend to recommend the book to him, which I have taken the liberty of slowly chipping my way through (it is a 466-page volume full of D&M’s).
I recently came across this gem on page 186:
Trust is habitual reciprocity that becomes coated by emotion. It grows when two people begin volleys of communication and cooperation and slowly learn they can rely upon each other. Soon members of a trusting relationship become willing to not only cooperate with each other but sacrifice for each other.
Trust reduces friction and lowers transaction costs. People in companies filled with trust move flexibly and cohesively. People who live in trusting cultures form more community organizations. People in more trusting cultures have wider stock market-participation rates. People in trusting cultures find it easier to organize and operate large corporations. Trust creates wealth. Source: Brooks, D. (2011) The Social Animal. New York, United States: Random House.
Over time we have built some pretty solid friendships in Oz, with no shortage of helping hands when it came to life changes. But what strikes me most is the relationships people forge over the foundation of trust and its positive effects on business. As we get ready to tie up loose ends of our lives in Australia, but not cutting the ties completely, it reminds me of the value of good old-fashioned loyalty, commitment, consistency, reliability and trust. Wherever we venture to next it will be a constant in our values, a grounding factor for us to always fall back on. We are not seeking wealth, but ultimately we seek security. Build up trust in business and see what grows from there.
Notes From Another Land 