In summer 2015, I sold pest control door-to-door in Houston, TX for 11 hours daily. The day-to-day was grueling but the experience was worth it. Reflecting back on it, every door I knocked was a little case study of how trust works.

For example, I remember one woman who after hearing the pitch said - “I like you and I want to sign up” - before she gave me her credit card though, she made me wait 10 minutes while she researched the company I was selling for. She signed up.

Contrast this to another guy who opened his door and immediately said “No!” But before he shut the door I said “I’ll do the first one for free.” Two minutes later he gave me his credit card.

Trust (or the lack thereof) is fascinating.

What is trust?

• Trust is really just a bet: a set of positive expectations about how someone will behave, paired with your willingness to test that bet.

• And its not just one bet—it's a dozen different bets you make every day. You might trust someone's competence but not their loyalty. Their honesty but not their courage. Their intentions but not their backbone.

• It’s more complicated that the binary we often fall into (e.g., I trust them vs. I don’t trust them).

So what should you do?

• When you say you’re going to do something—follow through and do that thing. Consistency compounds.

• When someone opens up about something (places a bet on you), don’t betray it. Treat it like it matters by listening, keeping it private, and not making it about you.

• If you're a manager/team lead, create a common language using shared frameworks. Simple checklists, norms, or decision rules help everyone align faster. Clear is effective.

• If you’re an organizational leader, don’t just measure trust looking backwards. Add lead measures—like the frequency and quality of 1:1s happening throughout the org. Proactively build trust rather than just react to surveys.

Thank you for subscribing and reading. I hope you have a great week!

Warmly,

Scott