Genuineness, trust and integrity
Like many people in the UK with an interest in healthy living, I was saddened to hear of Michael Mosley’s death last weekend. He was one of those people who come across as totally genuine – and therefore trustworthy.
At a time when public trust in politicians is staggeringly low, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv223kzq6r9o
seeing someone on TV being enthusiastic, and presenting information based on scientific research, felt like a breath of fresh air.
I remember being equally sad when I heard of the death of Geoff Hamilton, a former presenter of Gardener’s World. He was another person who gave advice – and his opinions – straight, unfiltered by whether he thought they would boost his popularity ratings. Geoff championed organic gardening when it was still viewed as an option for cranks.
Both Geoff and Michael Mosley had a ‘can-do’ approach, and encouraged the viewer to ‘give it a try’. That sort of encouragement reflected their belief that individuals can create change. Daring to believe that you can change some things about your life is the fundamental basis of empowerment.
I was reflecting on what qualities create trust. I’ve already named being Genuine (authentic, honest, truthful, sincere, congruent – choose the synonym you feel most comfortable with). It was one of the first questions we set to students beginning a course in counselling, back when I was a lecturer:
Why should the client trust you? They’re about to share personal, and potentially embarrassing, information – what needs to be in place to give them a feeling of safety?
All the professional bodies – British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, British Psychological Society – stress Confidentiality as a vital ingredient in being trustworthy. Other aspects they name are Reliability (which includes punctuality) and Respect for the other person.
These add up to the quality of Integrity. Integrity includes being able to acknowledge when you’ve made a mistake, apologise for the consequences, and take the actions necessary to remedy the mistake. Seeing our public organisations - the Post Office, those involved in the infected blood scandal, Government ministers and civil servants – denying their mistakes, and trying to shift responsibility for them, fills many people, including me, with disgust and distrust.
‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’
I first heard this line from Proverbs 29:18-19 at primary school, and it stayed with me. Most of our current politicians seem set on giving us slogans and soundbites, rather than speaking what they believe to be the truth. But I would so welcome hearing a politician speaking with the respect and integrity that characterised Michael Mosley and Geoff Hamilton.
All human relationships have trust as their foundation. My philosophical preference is to trust people until they prove themselves untrustworthy. Cynicism does not feed the heart, the soul or one’s enjoyment in life. Yes, there will always be those out to take advantage of the trusters – confidence tricksters they were called, before we came up with the term ‘scammers’. I won’t give my bank details to someone who phones or emails me about of the blue. I’ll ask to see the service history when I’m buying a car. I’ll exercise appropriate caution in financial transactions – and I’d love to be given the evidence to start believing that those in positions of power operate from a basis of integrity and vision.
Sadly I think the revealed preferences of the British electorate is not for politicians with personal trustworthiness. We say that's what we want, but when the ballot box rolls around people seem to prefer someone who says the easy right-sounding thing even if their personal record indicates no indication they'll follow through those words with relevant actions.