When we speak of the spiritual aspect of our being, we are talking about what we believe; that is, what we put our faith in. We have faith in many things. But what is faith? And how does that affect my business?
Faith is a response to something that someone has said. This can come in the form of verbal communication, written communication, or even implied communication, such as sitting in a chair. The implied communication is that whoever built that chair, made it sturdy enough for someone to sit in it. Our level of response determines our level of faith in what was said. But in order to respond at all, there are three things that we need to have. These are knowledge, belief, and, trust. All of these need to be present and on the positive side of the spectrum. The strength of your faith is measured by the amount of each of the three parts.
Knowledge
At the foundational level of faith, you must have knowledge. If you do not know at least something about the object of your faith, you cannot have faith in that object. Consider chairs. We all have knowledge of what chairs are and what their function is. You can sit on them, stand on them to change a light bulb, or to keep rodents from running up your pant leg.
As for businesses, if you are going enter into a contract with another organization, you must first get sufficient knowledge of that organization, or you could end up in hot water. The same goes for hiring and even firing employees. Good knowledge is key first step.
Belief
The next ingredient to faith is belief. You can know something quite well, but if you do not believe it, that cancels faith. Back to the chair. You know that chairs in general are designed for safely sitting on. However, if you see that one of the legs is wobbly or even has a significant crack in it, you would lose faith in that chair as you would no longer believe that it would hold you.
This also carries over into business relationships. Gaining sufficient knowledge leads to your level of belief that a relationship with that company is a good idea. If you find that they have great financials, and appear to have good growth and stability, your belief that the same will occur with your dealings will be higher; your faith in that company can be good.
This also goes for employees, leaders, and managers. Your knowledge affects your belief in them, and gives you increased faith in your hiring or firing.
Knowledge and belief are necessary for faith, but the third part is what puts faith into action.
Trust
It does not matter how much you know, or how much you believe in anything, if you do not trust, you will not act. You can know something better than anyone else, and you can have an extraordinarily strong belief, but trust puts all of it into motion. We see these many times with phobias. You may be afraid of heights, and there is a narrow wooden bridge separating you from one side of a deep ravine and the other side. You know this bridge has been there for many years. You have seen people walk back and forth on that bridge and passionately believe it will not only hold your weight, but also that of your equipment. But as you look at that bridge, and the certain death that would occur if you fell, your trust goes to zero, and you do not move.
In business dealings, trust is paramount. Knowledge and belief can only take you so far, but if trust is not there, neither is the contract.
I know that what I have explained so far is of you as a businessperson, or interested reader, in how you might understand your faith in others, however, this article goes much deeper. The question now is, can others have faith in you? For that to happen, you need to be knowable, which means you need to be relatable. This requires openness and some vulnerability. If you are a very closed or private person, garnering faith from others will be difficult. You need to be a person that is very believable. A reputation of honesty and integrity is hard to obtain and so easy to lose. Telling the truth, even when it can damage your business is far better than lying and damaging your believability. And this leads to being someone others can trust. This goes beyond honesty and integrity and is earned by being there when you are needed. Rolling up your sleeves and being willing to get dirty with the rest of the people. If you would like to learn more about faith, and how to build winning relationships, contact CO-Inspire through the GET STARTED NOW link. Fill out the information and indicate you would like a no-obligation phone call. We look forward to hearing from you.