The Great Trust Recession (and what it asks of us)
- lpachence
- May 11
- 4 min read
I’ve heard this phrase in the entrepreneurial ether many times recently, and it resonates deeply in my bones:
We’re in a Great Trust Recession.
In a recent conversation with a dear friend and coaching colleague, we kept circling back to common themes in the Coaching World: people are more hesitant than ever, more discerning, and more guarded. There’s a quiet question underneath so many interactions right now.
Who can I trust, truly?
You can feel it in the way people enter conversations, or how carefully they share, or how tightly they hold onto their time, energy, or money. There’s a level of skepticism that didn’t used to be this pronounced. And I don’t believe it’s because people don’t want connection (in fact, just the opposite!), but because we’re all trying to protect ourselves.
And in a moment like this, my inner knowing arises fiercely:
Coaching mastery is no longer optional. It’s essential.
Because what people are looking for right now isn’t more information or louder voices or better marketing or the shortest shortcut to using AI the right way. It’s something far more human.
They want to feel seen.
Heard. Respected. Supported as a unique, valued individual.
At its core, masterful coaching and MCC-level presence is an act of attention; full, undivided, deeply attuned attention. In a world where attention is fragmented, distracted, and constantly pulled in a hundred directions, that kind of presence is rare.
And because it’s rare, real, and deeply desired, it builds trust.
“Being Heard is so close to Being Loved that for the average person, they are indistinguishable.” -David Augsburger
That steady, consistent, quiet presence is the output for building trust over time, accumulating strength conversation by conversation.
And while feeling seen, heard and valued is one of a human’s basic needs (Hello Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs!), it’s also a BRILLIANT business strategy that I’ve seen demonstrated in ways that still surprise me.
Imagine meeting someone you’ve had one or maybe two conversations with, who has never hired you, but because you’ve served so deeply, irrevocably, invaluably, they remember you for YEARS. And perhaps, they refer people your way. Not because of a funnel or a framework, but because they remember how they felt in that conversation.
Serve someone so deeply in one conversation that they remember you for the rest of their lives. And the only way you can do this is through a foundation of trust.
Your impact can lead your income.But only if the impact is real, felt, and built on trust.
And trust (especially coaching trust) isn’t built by accident. In fact, it’s built on THREE skills:
Trusting your Self
Trusting your Client
Trusting the process/universe/spirit
Trust includes BOTH a hard skill set, and a soft skill set built through presence, diligent practice, ethics, self-integrity, and a willingness to release your own agenda and meet the person in front of you. It’s built through conversations that are not about proving your value, but about helping someone connect to what they value.
It’s also built through something less glamorous, but equally important:
Consistency.
Doing what you say you’ll do (thoughts, words, and actions aligned).Following up.Being organized.Having systems that support your integrity.
There’s a level of what I’ve been calling “business hygiene” that matters here. Not because it’s exciting, but because it creates reliability. And reliability builds trust just as much as a powerful conversation does.
This is the part that often gets overlooked when it comes to Trust and Safety; People either focus on the inner work, presence, listening, questioning OR the external systems, CRMs, calendars, contracts, follow-up. But mastery lives in the integration of both/and.
It’s BOTH how you show up AND how you follow through.
And… the path to that kind of mastery is not usually comfortable.
It stretches you. It challenges your patterns. It asks you to sit in uncertainty, to receive feedback, to let go of the ways you’ve been “doing it” and step into something deeper. There are moments where it would be easier to pull back, to stay where it’s safe and familiar.
But that stretch is the work. As the coaching industry teaches, the work is in the gap between where you are, and the messy middle to where you want to be.
And in a time where trust feels scarce, our capacity to be in the Messy Middle with composure matters more than ever.
Imagine leading your life, and your business, from that place of trusting your Self, Others, and the Process:
Where you’re not trying to convince anyone of anything.
Where your conversations are rich, honest, and grounded.
Where people leave feeling clearer, more connected, more themselves.
Where you’re deeply connected with your passion, vision, and values as a coach
Where you’re stretching and being in the not-knowing with new faith
That’s the kind of work that builds not just a business, but a reputation. A body of impact. A network of people who trust you, not because of what you say, but because of how you show up.
So if there’s one thing I’d invite you to consider right now, it’s this:
In a world where trust is declining, how are you building it?
Not through strategy, but through the quality of your presence, your conversations, and your follow-through.
Because that’s the work that lasts.
With love and mastery,
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