Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

For Immediate Release:

Barbara Kimmel, CEO & Cofounder
Trust Across America – Trust Around the World
barbara@trustacrossamerica.com
Twitter: @BarbaraKimmel
Trust Across America 2016 Top Thought Leaders Announced

CHESTER, NEW JERSEY, January 25, 2016. Trust Across America-Trust Around the World (TAA-TAW), global leaders in organizational trust honors its 2016 Top Thought Leaders. The awards program, now in its 6^th year, celebrates professionals who are transforming the way organizations do business.

While there are a growing number of global “top” lists and awards, no others address trust, perhaps because the word itself presents a definitional challenge. For seven+ years TAA-TAW has been working with a team of cross-functional professionals to study, define and quantify organizational trust and trustworthiness.

According to Barbara Kimmel, CEO and Cofounder, “The release of this year’s list coincides with the beginning of the 4^th year of the formation of our Trust Alliance, a growing group of global professionals committed to learning about and advancing the cause of organizational trust.

Many of this year’s honorees are well-known CEOs, authors and leadership advisors, while others are quietly working behind the scenes as teachers and researchers. We acknowledge and reward all their efforts in elevating societal trust. This year TAA-TAW is presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to seven professionals who have maintained Top Thought Leader status for five years, and their names are being permanently memorialized. i They inspire organizations to look more closely at their higher purpose…to create greater value for, and trust from all of their stakeholders, and understand trust is a “hard currency” with real returns.

The 2016 Lifetime Honorees can be accessed at this link, while complete details including our methodology, judges, award winners, articles and additional trust resources can be found in the Winter 2016 issue of TRUST! Magazine, sent free of charge to our Trust Alliance members.

Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™ www.trustacrossamerica.com is a program of Next Decade, Inc., an award-winning research and communications firm that has been unraveling and simplifying complex subjects for over 20 years. TAA-TAW helps organizations build trust through an abundance of resources and ever expanding tools including award-winning books, a quarterly magazine, an annual poster, workshops, consulting, speaking and media expertise. It also provides a framework called FACTS(R) for organizations to improve trustworthy practices, and showcases individuals and organizations exhibiting high levels of trust and integrity.

Trust is a holistic subject encompassing leadership, teamwork, crisis management, reputation management, risk, compliance, corporate responsibility and a host of interrelated components.

TRUST! Magazine’s 1st Anniversary issue brings together some of the best and the brightest service providers who are  working to advance the global cause of organizational trust.

Read more about the work they are doing at this link, the FREE fall issue of TRUST! Magazine.

If you are interested in advancing trust in your organization, I hope you choose to avail yourselves of these resources.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, CEO & Cofounder Trust Across America-Trust Around the World

Access magazine here

Who is less trustworthy? Politicians or big business?

Trust Across America Names Most Trustworthy Public Companies 

Trust Across America- Trust Around the World (TAA-TAW) global leaders in organizational trust, this week announced the results of a five-year study of over 2000 US based public companies, naming Texas Instruments (TI) as the Most Trustworthy Public Company for the period 2010-2014. Barbara Kimmel, Executive Director states: “We are pleased to see TI top this list.  The company has a history of trustworthy behavior as evidenced by the following long-term corporate vision:

“One of TI’s greatest strengths is its values and ethics. We had some early leaders who set those values as the standard for how they lived their lives. And it is important that TI grew that way. It’s something that we don’t want to lose. At the same time, we must move more rapidly. But we don’t want to confuse that with the fact that we’re ethical and we’re moral. We’re very responsible, and we live up to what we say.”

– Tom Engibous
Former chairman, president and chief executive officer, Texas Instruments – 1997

Kimmel cautions that no company is perfect. While the ongoing short-term, quarterly earnings focus is disappointing, we are encouraged by mounting evidence that long-term profitability is enhanced in organizations choosing to lead with trust. It should also be noted that while the average tenure of a Fortune 500 CEO has fallen to 4.6 years, those in our “Top 10” average 8.4 years.

To create this index, TAA-TAW began with a universe of over 3000 publicly-traded North American companies, evaluating more than 2000 to identify those receiving the highest 5-year ranking on five equally weighted quantitative indicators of trustworthiness that comprise the proprietary FACTS® Framework: Financial stability, conservative Accounting, Corporate integrity, Transparency and Sustainability.  Companies are not nominated, nor do they participate in this analysis in any manner.  The model independently identifies those with the highest scores in all five FACTS® indicators. A final screen scans news for unacceptable trust violations that might include fines, inappropriate CEO conduct, accounting irregularities, avoidable security breaches, etc.

The framework initially conceived and developed in 2008, is “the most holistic and comprehensive trust “health” checkup for public companies,” according to its founders. “It’s all about corporate culture and leadership, said Barbara Kimmel. If Boards and CEOs remain unwilling to place trust at the top of their daily agenda, they are missing out on a tremendous competitive advantage.

America’s “Top 10” Most Trustworthy Companies is shown below in rank order. Congratulations to these outstanding companies.

1. Texas Instruments
2. Intel
3. Nike
4. Hormel Foods
5. Lexmark
6. Southwest Airlines
7. Accenture
8. Whirlpool
9. Staples
10. Disney

Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™ provides the most comprehensive tools and resources for organizations to transition to high trust through a global collaborative network. More information about our honorees and their best practices can be accessed via the free spring 2015 issue of TRUST! Magazine by registering on our signup link.

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For more information on this topic, or to schedule an interview with Barbara Kimmel, please email barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Trust Across America Names Most Trustworthy Public Companies 

and North American Trust Award Honorees 2014

Trust Across America- Trust Around the World (TAA-TAW) global leaders in organizational trust, today announced the results of a five-year study of over 2000 US based public companies, naming Texas Instruments (TI) as the Most Trustworthy Public Company for the period 2010-2014. Barbara Kimmel, Executive Director states: “We are pleased to see TI top this list.  The company has a history of trustworthy behavior as evidenced by the following long-term corporate vision:

“One of TI’s greatest strengths is its values and ethics. We had some early leaders who set those values as the standard for how they lived their lives. And it is important that TI grew that way. It’s something that we don’t want to lose. At the same time, we must move more rapidly. But we don’t want to confuse that with the fact that we’re ethical and we’re moral. We’re very responsible, and we live up to what we say.”

– Tom Engibous
Former chairman, president and chief executive officer, Texas Instruments – 1997

Kimmel cautions that no company is perfect. While the ongoing short-term, quarterly earnings focus is disappointing, we are encouraged by mounting evidence that long-term profitability is enhanced in organizations choosing to lead with trust. It should also be noted that while the average tenure of a Fortune 500 CEO has fallen to 4.6 years, those in our “Top 10” average 8.4 years.

To create this index, TAA-TAW began with a universe of over 3000 publicly-traded North American companies, evaluating more than 2000 to identify those receiving the highest 5-year ranking on five equally weighted quantitative indicators of trustworthiness that comprise the proprietary FACTS® Framework: Financial stability, conservative Accounting, Corporate integrity, Transparency and Sustainability.  Companies are not nominated, nor do they participate in this analysis in any manner.  The model independently identifies those with the highest scores in all five FACTS® indicators. A final screen scans news for unacceptable trust violations that might include fines, inappropriate CEO conduct, accounting irregularities, avoidable security breaches, etc.

The framework initially conceived and developed in 2008, is “the most holistic and comprehensive trust “health” checkup for public companies,” according to its founders. “It’s all about corporate culture and leadership, stated Barbara Kimmel. If Boards and CEOs remain unwilling to place trust at the top of their daily agenda, they are missing out on a tremendous competitive advantage.

This year Trust Across America is also awarding twelve special organizational honors named in recognition of many of our 2015 Top Thought Leaders in Trust Lifetime Achievement Award winners. Via nomination, these special awards recognize a cultural commitment to trust as an organizational strategy.

Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™ helps organizations by collaborating with global leaders to provide all the tools and resources required to transition to high trust. More information about all our honorees and their best practices can be accessed via the free spring 2015 issue of TRUST! Magazine by registering on our signup link.

###

For more information on this topic, or to schedule an interview with Barbara Kimmel, please email barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Trust Across America-Trust Around the World (TAA-TAW), global leaders in organizational trust honors its 2015 Top Thought Leaders in Trust. The awards program, now in its 5^th year, celebrates professionals who are transforming the way organizations do business. This year’s honorees include Patricia Aburdene, Dan Ariely, Ken Blanchard, Doug Conant, Tim Cook, Stephen M.R. Covey, Richard Edelman, Bill George, Seth Godin, Adam Grant, Marillyn Hewson, Rich Karlgaard, Brad Katsuyama, Jim Kouzes, Bill McDermott, Robert A. McDonald, Indra Nooyi, Joel Peterson, Howard Schultz and many others.

While there are a growing number of global “top” lists and awards, no others address trust, perhaps because the word itself presents a definitional challenge. For six+ years TAA-TAW has been working with a team of experts to study, define and quantify organizational trust and trustworthiness.

According to Barbara Kimmel, Executive Director, “The release of this year’s list coincides with the completion of our “official” Campaign for Trust™, an initial two-year collaborative program to build organizational trust tools, now being extended into 2015.As our understanding of trust deepens, so does our pool of exceptional award candidates. Many of this year’s honorees are well-known CEOs, authors and leadership advisors, while others are quietly working behind the scenes as teachers and researchers. We acknowledge and reward all their efforts in elevating societal trust.

This year TAA-TAW is presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to fifteen colleagues who have maintained Top Thought Leader status consecutively for five years, and their names are being permanently memorialized. We congratulate all of our honorees whose work is shining a spotlight on the importance of trust and providing a roadmap for others to follow. They inspire organizations to look more closely at their higher purpose…to create greater value for, and trust from all of their stakeholders, and understand trust to be a “hard currency” that can leverage real business gains.”

The 2015 Lifetime Honorees can be accessed at this link, while complete details including our methodology, judges, award winners, articles and additional trust resources can be found in the winter issue of TRUST! Magazine, sent free of charge upon registration.

Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™www.trustacrossamerica.com is a program of Next Decade, Inc., an award-winning communications firm that has been unraveling and simplifying complex subjects for over 20 years. TAA-TAW helps organizations build trust through its abundance of resources. It also provides a framework for organizations to improve trustworthy practices, and showcases individuals and organizations exhibiting high levels of trust and integrity. Contact: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com for more info.

According to newly released data from the 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer the world has witnessed “an alarming evaporation of trust across all institutions, reaching the lows of the Great Recession in 2009. Trust in government, business, media and NGOs in the general population is below 50 percent in two-thirds of countries, including the U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan. Informed public respondents are nearly as distrustful, registering trust levels below 50 percent in half of the countries surveyed.”

“There has been a startling decrease in trust across all institutions driven by the unpredictable and unimaginable events of 2014,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO, Edelman

Many global experts claim that “trust” is the issue of the decade and they may be right. Our society continues to be plagued by breaches of trust in business, government, academia, medicine, sports and the media, to name just a few.  But behind every trust violation is an individual or a team that has allowed it to occur. There is no doubt that low trust comes with hard costs to society and its citizens.

Is There a Silver Lining? Yes indeed. Many thought leaders are placing trust on their daily docket and teaching others through their actions and words.  On January 26 via TRUST! Magazine winter issue, Trust Across America – Trust Around the World will be releasing its 5^th annual Top Thought Leaders in Trust, recognizing approximately 100 global trust researchers, consultants, writers and/or business leaders. Today we announce 15 honorees that have been continuously recognized by our program for their thought leadership over the past five years, and are receiving our Lifetime Achievement Award.

Please join us in congratulating the following outstanding individuals:

Patricia Aburdene

Hank Boerner

Stephen M.R. Covey

Jed Emerson

Leslie Gaines Ross

Robert Galford

Mary Gentile

Bill George

Charles H. Green

Jim Kouzes

Linda Locke

Edward Marshall

Jeffrey Seglin

Frank Sonnenberg

Robert Whipple

Well done ladies and gentlemen!

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She is also the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and the Executive Editor of TRUST! Magazine. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

Our 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Our TRUSTGiving 2014 weeklong trust awareness campaign is coming to a close. Members of our  Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts have written guest blog posts this past week to help our readers navigate the complexities of trust and discuss what giving trust means to them.

This post will be the last of the series.

Imagine if people didn’t use drugs. The “Say no to drugs” campaign would become obsolete. If nobody smoked, there would be no need for scare tactic TV commercials on the dangers of cigarettes. Similarly, if everyone could be trusted, trust would not be considered the issue of the decade, as many believe.

We can end the trust crisis in short order by collectively choosing to shut down the people who are fueling it. 

Imagine if we refused to support:

• Those who cheat and lie
• Those who don’t keep their word
• Those whose talk is never backed up by action
• Those who show no loyalty
• Those who hang with the “wrong” crowd
• Those who ALWAYS put their own needs first
• Those who make side door deals behind others backs
• Those whose intentions aren’t quite what they claim
• Those who say one thing but do something different
• Those who confuse collaboration with self promotion

When your heart or your gut tells you that someone is doing the wrong thing, listen carefully and just say “No.”

As I wrote at the beginning of #TRUSTGiving2014, let’s get back to basics. Don’t “settle” for relationships that fall short in trust.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She is also the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and the Executive Editor of TRUST! Magazine. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

Welcome to TRUSTGiving 2014, our first annual weeklong trust awareness campaign.  Join the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts as our members help our readers navigate the complexities of trust. We will be blogging (several times a day) and posting on Twitter #TrustGiving2014.

The headlines speak for themselves…

• Trust in business is down
• Washington can’t be trusted
• The NFL has trust issues.

….or do they? 

Have you ever paused to consider that businesses, Washington and the NFL are all run by people?  Institutions are only as trustworthy as those who lead them. In reality, we don’t have a crisis of trust. We have too many “low trust” leaders.

Trust is built on three pillars: Character, competence & consistency. If the first of these pillars comes naturally, the second two are easy to construct. How do you measure character? Michael Josephson has built his “Character Counts” program on 6 pillars. Notice the first is trustworthiness.

If you lead an organization and the headlines are continuously working against you, take a few minutes to consider the following:

• Do you cheat or deceive others?
• Are you reliable? (consistency)
• Do you keep your word?
• Do you have courage to do the right thing?
• Do you have a good reputation? (competence)
• Are you loyal?
• Do you stand by your family, friends and country?

You may have noticed that competence and consistency are attributes of good character. If organizations were run by people who could answer “Yes” to all these questions, or even took the time to consider them, the headlines would read differently.

Being trustworthy is not rocket science. It’s simply a choice. Make it yours.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She is also the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and the Executive Editor of TRUST! Magazine. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

Welcome to TRUSTGiving 2014, our first annual weeklong trust awareness campaign.  Join the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts as our members help our readers navigate the complexities of trust. We will be blogging (several times a day) and posting on Twitter #TrustGiving2014.

Andy Rosenbloom shares a human story about trust and business success.

The Business of Being Human 

Why do so many businesses struggle with the concept of trust as a business strategy?

Trust is a human emotion – not a business activity.  Too many companies are content to work towards their goals of increasing revenue, stock value, and market share without taking into consideration the people they affect and how those people’s opinions shape the company’s profitability.   

When human emotions like empathy, generosity or trust make their way into business, the outcome can be surprising.

I expect to be given good pizza when I visit my favorite corner pizzeria.  I give the restaurant $2.50 and they give me a slice.  That’s not trust, it’s merely a transaction.

Trust in a pizzeria is earned when the owner of the business steps out of the “zone” of the business transaction to demonstrate his or her own sense of humanity.  Greeting the customer by name, offering a free taste of a specialty slice, or remembering a frequent order go a long way towards building trust.  

And how does this trust make it’s way back towards the business goals described above?  In the same way that we humans get excited to introduce our trusted and beloved friends and family to others, the businesses that we trust are the one’s we love to talk about.  

I make frequent recommendations to my friends to visit the restaurant which offered to serve me a free meal when I told them that I lost a $300 gift certificate.  On the restaurant’s part, it was a terrible business decision.  But the owner of the eatery knew better than to make that call from the standpoint of business alone.  She put her trust in me that my story of the lost gift card was true and we shared a moment of humanity that I will never stop talking about.   

Andy Rosenbloom is a food marketing specialist who consults with K-12 foodservice programs across the country.  He is dedicated to honesty, trust and transparency and rewards trustworthy businesses with his loyalty and referrals. Follow him on Twitter @andyrosenbloom

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She is also the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and the Executive Editor of TRUST! Magazine. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

Copyright 2014, Next Decade, Inc.