
The Importance of Trust in Mentoring Relationships
Obviously, there are many factors that contribute to the success of a mentoring relationship. However, trust may be the most powerful one. Covey goes so far as to say that trust can allow you to positively and significantly alter the trajectory of every future moment in your life (Covey, 2018). There are different types of trust that apply in mentorship. These can be addressed by considering three primary mentoring-trust questions:
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Can I trust that you are really invested in me?
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Can I trust you to safeguard the information that I share with you?
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Can I trust that your experience and knowledge will be beneficial to me?
Specifically related to mentoring, trust is largely influenced by the mentor's perception of four important dimensions: mentee ability, mentee benevolence, mentee integrity, and risk (Leck & Orser, 2013).
In a specific mentoring study done within academia, the interviews showed that of all the relationship dimensions that influence the development of trust in one's mentor, sharing of control and fair behavior appeared to be areas where mentees had the most positive perceptions and experiences. (Erdem & Aytemur, 2008). Trust appears to be of paramount importance to the success of mentoring in general and e‐mentoring in particular (Starwood, 2010). Almost universally, trust is seen as one of the key factors involved in whether mentoring can be successful, and it can be suggested that it is harder to build up trust within a formal mentoring relationship (Evans, 2018).

Making the Case for the Importance of Trust
Jim Burke, former chairman and CEO of Johnson and Johnson left nothing to doubt when he said, “You can’t have success without trust. The word trust embodies almost everything you can strive for that will help you to succeed. You tell me any human relationship that works without trust, whether it is a marriage or a friendship or a social interaction; in the long run, the same thing is true about business, especially businesses that deal with the public” (Covey, S.M.R. 2018 p 6). To Burke’s point, unless there is trust, success will be highly improbable.
Establishing and Nurturing Trust
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of ways to establish and nurture trust in the mentoring relationship. Four primary methods include – clarifying expectations, keeping commitments, showing loyalty, and investing in the relationship. These are explained in detail in the section below.
