Trust, But Verify

by Elizabeth Zielinski, CMM, CMP

This title quote is most often attributed to Ronald Reagan, when in fact Reagan was quoting Vladimir Lenin, who said “Doveryay, no proveryay.”  But what does it mean?  It means that trust without accountability is blind faith, and accountability without trust defeats the purpose of a true partnership.

Often, third party companies are quick to describe themselves as “an extension of staff.” By that, they mean that they are augmenting your own goals and objectives seamlessly enough that they could be considered one of your own. But those who have hired third parties also know that even the best companies still have goals and objectives of their own, aside from the client’s. This is neither good nor bad, it’s just a fact of life.

It’s possible that those separate goals and objectives can work in opposition to your own interests. An egregious example of that might be a commissionable agent who doesn’t negotiate for the lowest room rates because a lower rate means a lower commission.  I’m not saying this happens a lot – we all know that negotiating a contract can’t be reduced to room rates – it’s simply the easiest way to demonstrate my point.

Don’t hesitate to ask tough questions of your external partners about anything that might concern you, even if by doing so you might imply that you are questioning ethics and skills. Ask directly to them, but also ask other suppliers to the relationship, your industry peers, and knowledgeable mentors and leaders.  Sometimes the most interesting facts arise.

This might sound like a cynical way to manage a relationship, but in my opinion it’s not. If you never ask the questions, you also don’t hear the good answers and you won’t know how trustworthy they are. You may always wonder, or you may be left with attributing your trust to subjective feelings (which also have a role, but a different one). In other words:  if you don't test the glue, you don't know how strong a joint it makes. That way, as the relationship progresses and grows, and that third party is thrust into a serious matter where they truly do need to act as an extension of your staff, you’ll know you can trust that because of this experience of verifying that they were trustworthy in matters leading up to that point... and by doing so, you will have done your job.

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