Benefit of the Doubt

Collaborative relationships are at the core of building a startup business. This is value creation at its finest – and navigating the relational dimensions can make the difference between success and failure. Good relationships unleash the power of the benefit of the doubt.

Strong relationships with your team, partners, investors, service providers, regulators, and so on are the foundation of creating an organization that can realize all the business potential. What is striking is that not everyone understands the critical elements of relationship-building that yield value in the form of:

• Friends in other organizations who will reach out and let you know when something is going awry before it is past the point of no return so that you can act to solve the problem.
  
  
• Board members and regulators who will appropriately ask all the tough questions to force you to prove that you have completed the work in the right way and will, over time, learn to trust the effectiveness and reliability of your processes and judgment.
  
  
• Colleagues who will know they can rely on the quality of your work and will go the extra mile to collaboratively achieve success.
  
  
• Investors who make a bet that what you are building will achieve success and who come to recognize that you treat them with respect so they are inspired to continue to support you.
  
  
• Partners who realize that both sides can lean in to create the kind of win-win relationships that generate a virtuous cycle of positive forward progress together.
  

In important relationships like these, the underlying lubricant that creates these value levers is a foundation of trust so that both sides are willing to give one another the benefit of the doubt.

What is the Benefit of the Doubt?

The benefit of the doubt is a powerful relationship dynamic that occurs when one side assumes good intentions on the other side. When there are miscommunications or surprises, the benefit of the doubt creates conditions for reaching out and clarifying rather than lashing back defensively from a position of feeling like the other side has hostile intent.  This is the difference between moving toward one another to resolve confusion or differences versus pushing away from each other and creating division. The benefit of the doubt resulting from trust enables faster decision-making, prudent risk-taking, and mutual benefit.

How to Nurture Trust-based Relationships

Here are some of the ways you can build up trust-based relationships and create the conditions for the benefit of the doubt to emerge, both individually and as an organization with the right culture:

• Build authentic relationships, including investing time in getting to know other people and understanding their goals and needs
• Be honest
• Be transparent
• Be cooperative
• Act with the highest integrity
• Be clear and consistent in your position
• Seek win-win solutions
• Communicate openly
• Seek to understand others’ needs
• Give generously
• Be reliable
• Deliver what you promised

Caution Flag: Not Everyone Can Be Trusted

Before I conclude, I do want to warn that not everyone will be a good trust-partner.  Review that list of ideals that you are trying to achieve and look for others who reciprocate. If someone is abusive instead and breaks the rules, then be cautious and withhold your full trust while you explore whether a trust-based relationship is even possible. I have had people come into my life who did not and possibly could not earn and give trust. It is better to take gradual steps and build up trust over time rather than just jump in completely and get burned in the process. You will likely find that not everyone is worthy of trust and yet you still may have to deal with them. Look for when you can realize the multiplicative power of trust while maintaining awareness of relationships where it may not be possible and a different approach is required.

Concluding Thought 

When you can, build up a wellspring of trust and confidence in one another, give the benefit of the doubt, and be someone who earns reciprocation through the quality of your personal and organizational character.