Trust has to be planted and grown. It is a seed planted through a personal relationship. It needs to grow roots and be nurtured through light and water to produce fruit. Trust must be watered by honesty, warmed and fed through the light of integrity, and rooted in consistency. Strong roots and branches provide shade and shelter in the stormy weather of doubt.

It would be great if there were a way to measure trust. You can calculate the number of people who know or connect with you. You can measure likes by the number of people who interact with your social posts or open your emails. However, trust can only be seen when a transaction happens.

There are five stages to go from like to trust: Connection, Caution, Consistency, Courage, and Commitment.

No tool, system, or software program can automate trust. You may think that sending emails, keeping people in the loop, and sending them direct messages may help, and they do. But the only way to maintain and nurture trust is through human-to-human interaction.