Finding Trust by Becoming Trustworthy

A venture capitalist once told me, “It’s better to invest in a company with a ‘C’ level idea and an ‘A’ team than a company with an ‘A’ idea and a ‘C’ team.”  After watching Nerds 2.0 and seeing how Robert Metcalfe was backstabbed by Microsoft in the 3Com deal, I began to think, “It’s better to team up with a ‘C’ team that you can trust than an ‘A’ that you can’t.” How can we find individuals that we can trust in our professional lives?  As I ponder this question, a bit of sage dating advice from my single years comes to mind: “finding a marriage partner isn’t about merely finding the right person, it’s about becoming the right person.” A similar approach can be applied to developing trust.  It’s not about merely finding the people you can trust; it’s about becoming a trustworthy individual yourself.