A friend has started a new job. He has found the response from officials and political advisers frosty.
The reason is simple. The organisation he works for is not trusted. I was not surprised. I know very reasonable officials and politicians who don’t trust his organisation.
When you are in this place, it is not a good place. You are likely never going to get the law, policy or regulation you want.
It is common. Many interests in Brussels are ignored because they are not trusted. I think it is the second basic reason organisations don’t get what they want.
The benefits of trust
Trust is the basis of good policy and rule-making.
I was fortunate to see it early in my career when working for politicians and in the Commission. Based on mutual respect and trust, politicians from across the aisle would back someone, and EU Ambassadors would support a Commission position based on the trust that they had in the Director.
Trust is hard to win, hard to maintain, and easy to lose.
If you lose it, you are in the wilderness for several years.
How to gain it
Gaining it requires:
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Doing what you say you will do. Did you send the data/report after the meeting?
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Keeping your word.
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Not changing your mind depending on the political wind of the week.
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Your position and evidence are clear. If your amendments, briefings and position papers are unclear and confusing, you will be seen as trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes. If you hide the raw data, it gives the impression you have something to hide.
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Be civil and polite. Physical threats, intimidation, and rudeness may be seen as normal in some places (please let me know where so I can avoid them), but they don’t work.
I recommended that he perform an audit to find out ‘the original sin’, why his organisation is not trusted. From that, he can see if the cause of distrust is still in place or has gone.
If gone, following the 5 points above consistently, over 1-2 years, should help make amends.
If the cause is still in place, and the practices that led to trust being broken down are still widespread, my friend has several years of frustration being unable to change any law, policy, or regulation.