Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

Barbara: Tony, tell us a bit about your background, qualifications and expertise. Please provide the title of any books you have written.

Tony: As the president of Integrity Dividend LLC, I teach people, teams and organizations how to boost their bottom line through integrity. I speak, train and consult. I have been a professor of leadership and management at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration since 1993, when I earned my doctorate from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Organizational Behavior. Before that, I worked as a psychiatric counselor and as a sales and sales management training consultant. I have published over 30 articles and book chapters for scholars and managers, and most recently published a book for managers based on 13 years of research – titled, The Integrity Dividend: Leading by the Power of Your Word (Jossey Bass, 2008). Link to The Integrity Dividend

I have trained executives and managers in negotiation and leadership since 1991.

Barbara: Trust Across America’s mission is to rebuild trustworthy behavior in North America, starting with public companies. How would you generally define trustworthy behavior?

Tony: In the broadest sense, I would think about ability, benevolence, and integrity, as per Mayer et al.’s (1995) classic article. My own work, however, focuses in on the aspect of integrity which is word-action alignment: consistently fulfilling promises and demonstrating by actions the same values one talks about. How good is your word? Is it impeccable? This one element is really hard to achieve, and it has huge, measurable impact on effectiveness. There are other things that are important, but perhaps nothing else works without this one ingredient.

Barbara: Are trustworthy behavior and integrity synonymous?

Tony: It depends how precisely you want to speak about the ideas. By some definitions, yes. By my definition, I would say that integrity (or more specifically, “behavioral integrity”) is a necessary element of trustworthiness, which is a broader notion.

Barbara: Can you provide some examples of public companies that are doing this well?

Tony: Johnson and Johnson comes to mind, for how well they managed the Tylenol scare. Marriott seems to be a company that consistently delivers on its brand promise. I once returned something to LL Bean under really bizarre circumstances, but they honored their money-back satisfaction guarantee even when they had every opportunity not to – the dress was delivered okay, but then my dog chewed on the package and then it got run over by a truck when a bee flew into the cab… The operator laughed at the story, but there was never any question about whether they would honor their guarantee.

Barbara: Why are high trust organizations more efficient?

Tony: Three main reasons – first, they engage their employees’ hearts better, which means their employees try harder and go the extra mile. Second, people understand each others’ intent and requests better, because they do not need to second-guess each other. Third, they can focus their attention on getting the job done, rather than jockeying for political advantage.

Barbara: Is the “trust” climate in corporate America improving or worsening? What actions will turn things around?

Tony: There are forces working in both directions, but mostly it is worsening. The economic struggles and the prevalence of layoffs tend to pit people against each other, and they raise fear levels, which are antithetical to trust. Bigger wealth disparities between the C-suite and the line workers reduce trust, and the recent corporate scandals do not help either. On the positive side, more and more people are recognizing the importance of trust – as witnessed by this blog!

Barbara: Any final thoughts?

Tony: For any who heard my radio show/podcast, I want to acknowledge a broken promise: The promise-keeping guy phoned in 15 minutes late, which broke my commitment to Barbara and Jordan. As a result, I have damaged my own credibility with all of you. I can rebuild credibility by making and keeping a series of promises… but it will take several to bring me back even to a starting place of neutrality, and a few more to build trust. This experience shows how important it is to deliver on your word, and it also shows (by the Kimmel’s grace) the slow and necessary process of rebuilding. Acknowledge the break, fix the damage, and then make very sure it does not happen again…and keep working at it. It is a process we all need to master, as it is necessary for managing trust. Aren’t you glad I arranged this demonstration?

Note from Barbara: As fate would have it, Jordan Kimmel was scheduled to appear as a guest on another radio show later that same day. He forgot all about the commitment and called in late. As I told Tony, all mistakes are being blamed on the tropical weather we are experiencing this summer in the Northeast! Tony, we forgive you and look forward to getting to know you better.

Barbara: Please provide contact information for readers.
integritydividend.com
tony.simons@integritydividend.com
607-342-1091

Do you have any questions for Tony about trust and integrity? Leave them here and he will respond quickly.

Today I received a “Dear Barbara” email from the Marketing Manager of a company I have never heard of. The first sentence read “I know you have been anxiously waiting to see the full program for the (Blah Blah Blah University and Conference) and it’s finally here!

Nicole whoever you are, next time you think it’s okay to address me by my first name, and tell me that I have been anxiously awaiting your email when I have never heard of you or your company, remember that I have the power to put all future spam from your organization on “block”. That’s one great feature of the internet.

And may I humbly suggest that before your next email promotion, study the definitions of the words trust, authenticity and integrity.

Last weekend I blogged about a recent fender bender and the trustworthy behavior that was exhibited by all parties up to that point.

www.trustacrossamerica.com/blog/?p=172 Read First Blog

It’s now five days later and I am waiting for the insurance adjuster to examine the car. I have learned a few life lessons about auto insurance that I would like to pass along.

1. Auto insurers want to pay you the least possible, even if you had no fault or blame in the accident (as was the case here). One of the ways they do this (without necessarily telling you) is by slipping after market or reconditioned parts on your automobile. Don’t settle for this. It’s not trustworthy behavior.

2. Right now this accident is a third party claim, meaning that the guilty party’s insurance company is trying to settle directly with me instead of the claim being processed through my insurer. At first this sounds like a good idea. But here is the catch. Should I get “fed up” with how this third party insurer does business, and alternatively choose to put the claim through my own company, I must wait for my insurer to reclaim my deductible from the other party’s insurance company. And from what I’ve been told by my insurer, there is NO TIME LIMIT for repayment. In fact, I could wait for the $500.00 for years. Remember, the other party in this accident assumed full responsibility. Where is the consumer law that limits the amount of time one must wait to recover a deductible? Doesn’t seem like trustworthy behavior to me.

3. Finally, I’m going to let you in on a little secret that your insurance company hopes you never learn. It’s a two word term called “diminished value”. Diminished value is essentially the difference between what your automobile was worth before the accident and what it is worth after repairs. You know that online CARFAX report that shows up when you go to trade in or sell your car? Well, that little fender bender that was not my fault, may have devalued my low mileage, expensive SUV up to 20%, even if it is repaired back to its original state. Can a consumer collect for diminished value? Well, it depends where you live and who you ask. Am I eligible to collect? What do you think? Where’s the trust? Where’s the love?

Barbara: Tell us a bit about your background, qualifications and expertise. If you have written a book, please provide the title.

Jeffrey: For many years, I was an editor at Inc. magazine when it was still based in Boston. When I was executive editor, I noticed that a curious thing occurred with the letters we received from readers. Whenever we would run a story that highlighted how an entrepreneur had cut some corners or played fast and loose with the truth to get ahead, we would get letters from readers who objected to us featuring such behavior on our pages. We’d run some of those letters and then in the next issue we’d get letters from other readers who took those who had a problem with the practices we features to task and claimed it was how you had to behave to succeed and grow a company. We found something fascinating there and that led to my writing of several features that focused on ethical issues company owners faced.

Shortly after several of these features ran, I was offered a year-long fellowship at the Center for the Study of Values in Public Life at Harvard University. I had done my graduate work at Harvard Divinity School years earlier. I spent the year of my fellowship there running a seminar on ethical decision-making in business (largely attended by business and divinity students) and completing my book, The Good, the Bad, and Your Business: Choosing Right When Ethical Dilemmas Pull You Apart. As I began the fellowship in September 1998, I also started writing a monthly business ethics column called “The Right Thing” for The New York Times. A collection of those columns appeared in book form as The Right Thing: Conscience, Profit and Personal Responsibility in Today’s Business. I have also written about a dozen other books on writing, marketing, banking, and other topics. In 2004, “The Right Thing” column became a weekly column syndicated by The New York Times Syndicate.

Barbara: Trust Across America’s mission is to rebuild trustworthy behavior in America, starting with public companies. Is ethical behavior a component of trustworthy behavior, or are they essentially the same?

Jeffrey: Trustworthy behavior can be one critical component of ethical decision making in business. But ethical decision making encompasses a broad range of elements that result in a final decision. Ethical decision making explores how someone walks through a tough decision. Trustworthiness can be an important character trait and certainly one that should be valued in business. But it in itself does not guarantee that someone will do the necessary work of making an ethical decision.

Barbara: Is the “trust” climate in corporate America improving or worsening? What actions will turn things around?

Jeffrey: Hard to say. There is a great deal of skepticism about honest behavior in business that heated up during many of the business scandals of 2002. The recent issues of safety with Toyota and oil spills with BP have not helped restore the public’s trust. The vast majority of business owners may indeed be trustworthy. But a handful of high profile cases of bad behavior can wreak havoc on public perception. When things go wrong, business leaders need to address issues head on if they expect to turn the situation around. They must come clean and make right what has gone wrong. Given that by the time things go wrong few can agree on what will make things right, this is no easy task.

Barbara: It seems that ethical corporate behavior has frequently taken second place to short term stockholder returns. Do you see companies shifting towards long termism and greater emphasis on all stakeholders?

Jeffrey: Such a shift will only be possible if stockholders don’t demand short-term rewards. Given the impatience of the markets, it’s hard to see how this will turn around fast. But boards should take the lead here and do what’s in the long-term interest of the company and all of its stakeholders…even if they know they might take a short-term hit.

Barbara: Please provide contact information.
The email for the column is rightthing@nytimes.com. My personal email is jseglin@post.harvard.edu.
Jeffrey L. Seglin
www.jeffreyseglin.com
jseglin@post.harvard.edu
rightthing@nytimes.com
617.824.8240 (Emerson)

Do you have any questions about this interview? Please don’t hesitate to ask.

Yesterday afternoon I was driving my kids to the dentist and got “rear-ended”. And while any accident is unfortunate, there were several components of trustworthy behavior (accountability, integrity, reputation, leadership, efficiency) exhibited during the critical minutes that followed the accident. And the best news is that nobody went to the hospital.

1. Within 30 seconds of the crash, a “Good Samaritan” (might have been a town public works employee) walked to the scene to ensure that we were all okay and see if he could help. I believe he was parked across the street.

2. The 911 operator had a police officer on the scene within 2 minutes.

3. The person who caused the accident did not try to bend the facts with me or the police. She was honest and took full responsibility. Kudos to a 23 year old who was willing to own up to her mistake.

4. The police officer was professional in his handling of the paper work and in taking time to explain what he was doing and providing post accident directions.

5. We were back on our way to the dentist within 20 minutes.

6. I was in contact with both insurance companies within 6 hours, and was assured that there would be no out of pocket costs on my part.

While nobody wants to be in a car accident, yesterday my faith in human nature got a very large boost. Trustworthy personal and professional behavior was exhibited by all parties involved. A very good outcome to a bad experience.

Now, if I could just figure out a way to bypass the wisdom teeth extraction!

This email exchange could be the “Poster Child” for how not to “do” customer service. Names have been deleted to protect the offender.

Me: Today I opened a box of (Name of Company) 12 Taco Shells. Much to my surprise, there were only 10 shells in the box. The UPC code is XXXXX XXXXXX. It seems like you have a quality control problem. My address is _____________ if you would like to send me the $2.39 that I paid for 12 taco shells.

The Company’s Response: Subject: RE: Taco shells

To ensure that our staff conducts itself in a manner that reflects the high regard that we have for our customers, we’ve notified the proper department of your complaint.

If you send the receipt or the proof of purchase with the attached Refund Request form, we will reimburse you for the objectionable product. In the meantime, I’m sending the enclosed coupons because we value your goodwill and would like to give you the opportunity to try our products again. If you have questions or comments in the future, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We appreciate your time in bringing your concern to our attention and apologize for this problem.

Sincerely,

(Name of Company)
Customer Service Department

Me: Dear (Name of Company): There were no coupons attached to your email, only a refund form.

May I also suggest the following:

1.Change the word “complaint” to “inquiry”.
2.Change the word “objectionable” to “product in question”.
3.Do not make it difficult for customers who take the time to write to you to obtain coupons or refunds. A UPC code should be satisfactory.
4.Have an actual “person” sign your email responses.
5.Remember that without customers, you have no business 

This week Brian Moriarty spent some bringing me up to date about the work of the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics and its role in fostering trustworthy behavior in corporate America. Please take the time to read this insightful and thought provoking interview.

Read Full Interview