The Pursuit of Excellence: The Uncommon Behaviors of the World's Most Productive Achievers

by Ryan Hawk

Jim said, “Bill, the truth is not all people are trustworthy. I’ve been burned. Haven’t you ever been burned?” Bill calmly replied, “Of course I’ve been burned. But I continue to have the opening bid of trust. Jim, it comes down to this. It’s upside and downside. I choose to believe there’s a much greater upside in trusting people and a much greater downside in not trusting people.” “For Bill,” Jim explained to me, “it was the great flywheel effect in that the best people engage with the best people. And the most trusting people engage with the most trusting people. And Bill’s view was, ‘If you have an opening bid of trust, the best people will be attracted to that, and it will serve as a magnet. It will bring those people to you, and it will also help them be more trustworthy. If you trust people, you’re going to change their behavior to be more trustworthy.