Trust vs. Confidence

In an earlier blog post, we waxed poetic on the topic of trust. In this post, I want to cover what I believe is often confused between trust and confidence.

If I trust you to catch me when I fall, I still might question how well you hold on to me, or if my size can knock you over. In this case, I might know you will be there to the best of your abilities, but after sizing you up, I might not believe (or have confidence that) you can hold me.

I was having a conversation with my business partner about this topic as we continue to develop content for workshops. It was a big discussion and an easy debate, because there is a clearly understood difference. And yet… we don’t seem to make that distinction in our daily lives. In fact, I hear “I don’t trust so and so” when they are explaining why they are documenting the meetings to ensure they have covered their bases (and asses).

Having confidence in a person can depend on how curious they are.

How capable of admitting what they don’t know.

How well they articulate the collective vision and follow through.

How well they orchestrate the solution, by involving the most qualified parties.

How truly self-aware they are to recognize when their ambition clouds the goal and benefit to others.

There is no question that the two can be interdependent, so why bother differentiating the two? By acknowledging that they are different, we can work on each layer individually.  For instance, I may need to build confidence in my partner’s ability to develop a butterfly workshop, by reading her plan and hearing how well she articulates her vision. I trust in her follow through, but I need more information to have confidence in the quality of her research, if she is not a schooled lepidopterist.

One can lead to the other, and I’m not sure order matters.

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