Brenda Smith: Trust in Partnerships
Building relationships is building trust and building culture.
Current director of High Desert Partnership, a nonprofit organization in Harney County, Oregon that seeks to find common ground through collaboration.
"Dec. 13 marks my turning 100 years young. I’ve learned much over that time, but looking back, I’m struck that there is one lesson I learned early and then relearned over and over: Trust is the coin of the realm. When trust was in the room, whatever room that was — the family room, the schoolroom, the locker room, the office room, the government room or the military room — good things happened. When trust was not in the room, good things did not happen. Everything else is details." George P. Shultz.
This quote appeared in an opinion column from Mr. Shultz last week and the reason I gave it my time to read was the topic: trust. In my daily scrolling through the news it's very uncommon to come across an article about trust. Even more rarely do you come across a column from someone who has clocked 100 years on this planet. So I decided to pay extra attention to Mr. Shultz’s words. As Executive Director for High Desert Partnership (HDP), an organization where trust and relationships are the foundation of our work, I felt a sense of validation reading his column.
For HDP's work supporting collaboration, trust is what moves projects forward. Though it’s central to our work, we don't talk about it much. Instead, trust is something we just do. Not that trust comes easily; we make the choice to trust one relationship at a time. It's patient work and so hard to monetize, but as Mr. Shultz said, "good things happened" when trust was in the room—that’s a fact that I’ve witnessed on countless occasions. In particular, I’ve seen that where trust goes, collaboration can follow. Trust creates the space to let our guards down and find new ways to work together.
2020 has been such a difficult year and yes, the conditions we're living through have made trust and collaboration difficult. When it comes to collaborating, there are the good times and the tough times. Ensuring that collaboration can take place at all times requires continuously making investments in the trust bucket, especially during the tough times.
A lot of folks may think HDP as the “meeting” organization—as if all we do is make calls and folks show up. But our work is much more meaningful and intensive. Yes, we hold meetings, but behind every meeting is the tireless work of forging trusting relationships with the attendees. And, those connections are forged before the meeting takes place. By building those connections and trusting one person at a time, we’re able to host meetings that matter and help strengthen the fabric of our community. Building relationships is building trust and building culture.
Mr. Shultz’s column elevated the simple and complicated act of trust for me. Personally and professionally, I've experienced the greatness that can happen when trust is in the room and I've experienced the pain when trust is broken. I'm leaning into there being more greatness to come, I'm leaning into trust and the opportunities it can open in our little corner of southeast Oregon. I’m thankful for spaces, like this one, where new relationships can form and trust can begin to take place.
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