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We've learned that everyone needs a starting point.
To get the most out of this book, we invite you to take the REINA INDIVIDUAL TRUST ASSESSMENT. It's a quick, powerful way to see where you currently stand with trust in your relationships—how you build it, and where there are opportunities to grow. Think of it as your personal starting point for deeper insight and lasting change. Just head to the following link to begin: reinatrustbuilding.com/ITS-book
Your journey to deeper trust and stronger relationships starts here.
Dennis Reina, PhD
Michelle Reina, PhD
Stowe, Vermont, USA
September 2025
INTRODUCTION
The Trust Advantage: How to Earn It and Keep It
Our trust building journey began more than thirty-five years ago.
While we were working with organizations to implement strategic initiatives, leaders frequently turned to us to help them understand why their efforts to lead change, develop teams, foster collaboration, and engender engagement were failing to produce results. Through many discussions, we discovered that trust—and its breakdown--was at the heart of these challenges—challenges that continue to confront organizations around the world today.
Throughout these decades, our personal and professional journey into trust building has been shaped by significant trials, tribulations, and triumphs. Together, we've faced four bouts of cancer, the loss of loved ones, and life-threatening medical crises. We've made sacrifices to pursue doctorates, raise a family, build a consulting firm, and write books—all while navigating the highs of business success and the setbacks of betrayals by those we trusted and, in some cases, loved.
These experiences taught us that trust fuels energy, confidence, and growth, while its absence depletes and destabilizes relationships, teams, and organizations.
We have come to understand that trust cannot be explored without acknowledging the hurt, disappointment, and breaches that come with the territory of relationships and of life itself. This understanding makes rebuilding trust not an option but an essential part of the process for individuals, teams, and organizations to grow stronger through the challenges trust presents.
THE TRUST BUILDING MINDSET
Imagine stepping into a meeting where everyone is operating within the shared belief that "anything is possible." You can feel the energy, the can-do attitude, the shared drive to create and collaborate.
This 'is' the power of trust building when it's present.
Trust elevates energy, inspires confidence, nourishes the spirit, and opens the doors of innovation. The totality of this collective field of energy encourages people to dream bigger, take smarter risks, and sense that together, they're on the edge of something extraordinary.
But when trust is missing, doubt creeps in, suddenly—out of seemingly nowhere—suspicion sets in, communication breaks down, and even the simplest of tasks feels heavy. People shut down, retreat into silos, and start questioning each other—and themselves. This stark contrast makes one thing clear: trust is the bridge between the business need for results and the human need for connection.
So, where does trust begin?
Trust begins with you. It starts with your capacity for trust—your readiness and willingness to trust yourself and others. This inner capacity influences your thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs. It colors your outlook—how open you are to new ideas, how willing you are to risk connection, how bravely you step into the unknown.
When you trust yourself, you're more willing to lean into life's gray areas—to move beyond rigid black-and-white thinking and embrace complexity with curiosity. You become more open to diverse perspectives, to differences, to dialogue.
Self-trust is what enables you to extend grace. To take a breath before judging. To believe in the potential of others, even when certainty isn't guaranteed. It's not about trusting unquestioningly. It's about trusting consciously rooted in awareness, aligned with your values, and fueled by the courage to grow.
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