A case for trust over boundaries in work relationships. The speaker gives clients and staff his personal cell phone number, arguing that accessibility beats gatekeeping and creates better outcomes for everyone.
Trust is so much better than boundaries. I talked to a lot of people who are concerned about the relationship with their employers and that they need to put down boundaries that aren't to be contacted between certain hours. And people who are trying to make new products and who really like the idea of making a SaaS or what have you, because they don't have to have direct communication with customers and they're able to put up this boundary between them and their clients. The problem with that is that's all predicated on distrust that if you give them more, they will take more. And that's going to be zero-sum because it's all about your time. In contrast, I find there's so much more value if you can be trusted, if there is character between the two parties. I will give out my cell phone number to my clients, to my employees, and trust that if there's something wrong on their end, that they will call me. I want them to call me. That's going to be a better experience for them and going to be creating better returns on the trust we created. How can we do that better for each other?
