The path to trust is through a transformative response to the expectations of others. One can fulfil them better than expected, or in a different way. Where indifference was expected, a certain outgoing quality can convince, provided it is not overdone. Where careful, reserved remarks are the norm, one can win out by being cautiously incautious. Even superiors, who are accustomed to be treated respectfully and by a restraint of criticism from their underlings, rarely appear put off by a carefree and brisk approach to business, as long as the approach is not overdone and does not degenerate either into pointlessness or into presumptuous familiarity. The tactical rule for such strategies of trust lies in recognizing functionally equivalent possibilities and in paying attention to their boundaries. To acquire personal trust means withdrawing standardized expectations, as it were, from one's partner, and replacing them with those that only he, as a distinctive personality, with a unique style, can guarantee to fulfil.

XREF: Relates to social capital and network theory ideas about how trust is built through differentiated, personalized exchanges rather than conformity. SEED: Could develop an essay on the boundary between strategic trust-building and impression management or brown-nosing.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 241