Rebuilding your community

6 steps

• Acknowledge
• Admit
• Apologize
• AccountableAmend
• Amend
• Forgive

Avoid the “ostrich technique”

Acknowledge- that trust has been broken, that there is a problem. Don’t use the “ostrich technique” of burying your head in the sand and hoping the situation will resolve itself because it won’t. The longer you wait to address the situation, the more people will perceive your weakness as wickedness.

Admit - It’s one thing to acknowledge that there is a problem, it’s a whole other thing for a person to admit it. Our ego and false pride are usually what prevent us from admitting our mistakes. Find a way to help them have courage, humble, and own up to their actions. This will benefit everyone during their journey rebuilding trust.

Apologize- for what happened. A sincere apology involves admitting your mistake, accepting responsibility, asking for forgiveness, and taking steps to make amends to the offended party. Explaining the reasons why something happened is fine, but don’t make excuses by trying to shift the blame to something or someone other than yourself.

Accountable behavior will be the ultimate determinant of your success. You can apologize until the cows come home and promise not to break trust again, but if your actions don’t align with your words, trust will never be restored. Build accountability measures into your trust-building plan to lessen the chance you’ll repeat the trust-busting behavior.

Amend the situation by taking corrective action to repair any damage that has been done, and create an action plan for how you’ll improve in the future. Your attempts at rebuilding trust will be stalled unless you take this critical step to demonstrate noticeable changes in behavior.

Forgive - Know that friends, family and loved ones will make mistakes. Offering someone a second chance shows that you are willing to work on the relationship. It may also help to create an action plan to change the behavior that led to broken trust. The plan should set realistic expectations.

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