trust in business- Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

Aug

09

Towards a Board Mindset for Corporate Sustainability

No commentsArticles written by expertsAugust 9th, 2014

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World published the first in a planned series of award-winning books. TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

This ninth essay in our series brings advice from Professor David Grayson CBE, Director the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Cranfield School of Management, UK. Professor Grayson was named a 2014 Top Thought Leader in Trustworthy Business.

Towards a Board Mindset for Corporate Sustainability

To restore trust, boards must discharge their responsibility for the company’s Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts (Corporate Responsibility). For many companies and boards, however, there is still a critical mind-set shift that has to occur. Specifically, the shift from the idea of boards as mentors or monitors, stewards or auditors, to mentors and monitors, stewards and auditors. And a second shift from the idea of corporate responsibility as being about risk mitigation to the recognition that to be truly embedded, it has to become both risk mitigation and opportunity maximization: not minimizing negative Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts, but also maximizing the positive impacts.

The board sustainability mindset, therefore, can be defined as:

A collectively held view that long-term value-creation requires the company to embrace the risks and opportunities of sustainable development; and that the board are simultaneously mentors and monitors, stewards and auditors of the management in their commitment to corporate responsibility and sustainability.

Corporate responsibility and sustainability leadership and stewardship currently tends to come from the chairman or CEO or another board member, rather than yet being a collective mind-set of the board as a whole. Boards need to assess whether they have a Sustainability Mindset and, if not, identify how to create one perhaps through board away-days, scenarios presentations, creating a board sustainability advisory panel, and board recruitment, training and Continuous Professional Development, and appraisals. (Taken from Towards a Board Mindset for Corporate Sustainability, Jan 2013.)

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

And for those who want to catch up on the series, a quick reference on what’s been covered so far this month:

August 1: There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees explains why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

August 2: Kill the Evening Before Dinner and take a small group of front line employees to dinner instead.

August 3: In Head of Business- Hope for the World we introduce the Winston “V” Model.

August 4: Reputation vs. Trust and why leaders should care more about the latter.

August 5: C-Suite Must Speak With a V.O.I.C.E. of Trust, a new communications model.

August 6: It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way You Do It) discusses an organization’s core values and traits.

August 7: Superficial CEOs and Their Boards talks about the fiduciary responsibility of board members.

August 8: Headline: Be the Leaders Others Will Follow we learn about consistency between actions and words.

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

.

Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, corporate responsibility, CSR, David Grayson, leadership, sustainability, trust, trust across america, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset

Aug

08

Headline: Be the Leader Others Will Follow

1 CommentArticles written by expertsAugust 8th, 2014

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World published the first in a planned series of award-winning books. TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

This eighth essay in our series brings pearls of wisdom from Davis Young, a public relations counselor and author of Trust is the Tiebreaker. In collaboration with client Revco Drug Stores, he received the best of Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America for the single finest program of the year nationally.

Headline: Be the Leader Others Will Follow

Leaders of organizations are role models – either good or bad.

If they cut corners, their people will cut corners.

If they wink at bad practices, their managers will wink, too.

If they verbally abuse colleagues, others will follow their lead.

If they focus only on today and ignore tomorrow, associates will do the same.

If they think public relations is some sort of game to “spin” information, they will encourage others to be less than truthful.

If they do any or all of these things, they will detract from respect and therefore their ability to lead.

Make sure your personal brand stands for something. To do that, ask yourself these questions. Here’s a short list to start.

Do I always make decisions based on what’s best for the company?

Am I consistent and even-handed?

Am I clear and direct in interactions with associates?

Am I fair-minded?

Do I hold myself to the same high standards I set for others?

Do I listen well?

Would I rather be liked or respected?

Am I a good role model?

Personal brand building starts with the right answers to those questions. If you really want to lead, take those questions seriously.When leaders pay attention to their personal brands, organizations have a much better chance to flourish. Trust in leadership builds when actions are consistent with words.

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

And for those who want to catch up on the series, a quick reference on what’s been covered so far this month:

August 1: There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees explains why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

August 2: Kill the Evening Before Dinner and take a small group of front line employees to dinner instead.

August 3: In Head of Business- Hope for the World we introduce the Winston “V” Model.

August 4: Reputation vs. Trust and why leaders should care more about the latter.

August 5: C-Suite Must Speak With a V.O.I.C.E. of Trust, a new communications model

August 6: It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way You Do It) discusses an organization’s core values and traits

August 7: Superficial CEOs and Their Boards talks about the fiduciary responsibility of board members.

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

.

Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, corporate reputation, davis young, leadership, organizational trust, reputation, trust, trust across america, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset

Aug

06

It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way You Do It)

No commentsArticles written by expertsAugust 6th, 2014

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World published the first in a planned series of award-winning books. TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

The sixth essay in our series brings us the wisdom of Alan Williams, Managing Director of SERVICEBRAND GLOBAL, who coaches service sector organizations, internationally and in the UK, to deliver inspiring service for competitive advantage. Alan created the 31Practices concept and approach and is co-author of the book THE 31 PRACTICES: release the power of your organisation’s VALUES every day. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, a Board member of the British Quality Foundation and a Steering Group member of the recently formed UK Values Alliance.

“It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It)” [1]

Core values are traits or qualities representing deeply held beliefs. In an organization, values (explicit or implicit) define what it stands for and how it is seen and experienced by stakeholders (customers, employees, service partners, suppliers and communities).

The tone is set by every employee. People notice how leaders of an organisation behave. Yet, wherever you are, you have influence on those around you. The organization is only as good as each of the component parts.

The power of living values is described by David MacLeod, Chair of the UK Government-sponsored Employee Engagement Task Force in the UK: “All organizations have some values on the wall. What we found was that when those values were different from what colleagues and bosses do, that brings distrust. When they align, then it creates trust.”[2]

The transparency brought by the internet and social media will arguably bring the importance of values into even sharper focus than ever before. Organizations are no longer what they say they are but what others say they are.

[1]Probably best known for the version by The Fun Boy Three and Bananarama 1982 but in fact, the original version is a calypso song written by jazz musicians Melvin “Sy” Oliver and James “Trummy” Young. It was first recorded in 1939 by Jimmie Lunceford, Harry James, and Ella Fitzgerald.

[2] Laura Chamberlain (2012). Four key enablers to employee engagement, Personnel Today, 27^th January 2012.

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

And for those who want to catch up on the series, a quick reference on what’s been covered so far this month:

August 1: There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees explains why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

August 2: Kill the Evening Before Dinner and take a small group of front line employees to dinner instead.

August 3: In Head of Business- Hope for the World we introduce the Winston “V” Model.

August 4: Reputation vs. Trust and why leaders should care more about the latter.

August 5: C-Suite Must Speak With a V.O.I.C.E. of Trust, a new communications model

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

.

Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Allan Williams, Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, core values, corporate reputation, organizational trust, reputation, trust, trust across america, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset, trustworthy behavior

Aug

05

C-Suite Must Speak With a V.O.I.C.E. of Trust

No commentsArticles written by expertsAugust 5th, 2014

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World published the first in a planned series of award-winning books. TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

A quick reference on what’s been covered so far this month:

August 1: There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees explains why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

August 2: Kill the Evening Before Dinner and take a small group of front line employees to dinner instead.

August 3: In Head of Business- Hope for the World we introduce the Winston “V” Model.

August 4: Reputation vs. Trust and why leaders should care more about the latter.

The fifth essay in our series brings us the wisdom of Bernie Nagle Principal at Altrupreneur who has toiled in the fields of “Employee Engagement” for over 35 years, as a senior Operations Executive at Fortune 500 companies, Consultant, Author, Speaker and Business Owner. His perspective is informed by thousands of hours of facilitation and hands-on leadership of teams from the shop floor to the boardroom, dealing with strategic improvisation, creative problem solving, process improvement and conflict resolution.

C-Suite Leaders Must Learn to Speak with a V.O.I C.E. of Trust

“I cannot hear what you say, because your actions scream “INSINCERITY” so loudly”

The currency of leadership is credibility! Collins & Porras told us so in their 1994 book, “Built to Last”. Draw the ‘credibility’ account down too low and you risk losing your team, and quite possibly your job. So how does one maintain a strong ‘credibility’ current-ratio? The answer is simple…use your V.O.I.C.E. and learn how become an Altrupreneur.

Values: Know what you believe and allow those beliefs to inform every interaction. Kouzes and Posner advise us: “To be credible as a leader, you must first clarify your own values, the standards by which you choose to live your life.”

Optimism: To inspire engagement leaders must take the long view, remain fixed on the vision and strive persistently toward the goal – despite the upheaval and tumult along the way. Daily mood swings do not inspire trust.

Integrity: The word, ‘integrity’, signifies wholeness; an absence of duality; a “what- you-see-is-who-I-am” persona. At its most basic, Integrity is alignment between beliefs, words, and actions. Be who you say you are.

Courage: Take reasoned risks in pursuit of team objectives. Take risks with people; allow them to try, and pick them up when they fail – help them fail forward.

Enthusiasm: Passion is contagious; regrettably, so are ambivalence, doubt, and detachment. Enthusiasm conveys a deeply held belief in the validity of the endeavor. It tells the team, “I believe in what we’re doing”. They will too!

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

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Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Altrupreneur, Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, Bernie Nagle, integrity, leadership, trust, trust across america, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset, trustworthy behavior, values

Aug

04

Reputation vs. Trust

2 CommentsArticles written by expertsAugust 4th, 2014

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World published the first in a planned series of award-winning books. TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

A quick reference on what’s been covered so far this month:

August 1: There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees explains why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

August 2: Kill the Evening Before Dinner and take a small group of front line employees to dinner instead.

August 3: In Head of Business- Hope for the World we are introduced to the Winston “V” Model.

The fourth essay in our series is from James E. Lukaszewski (loo-ka-SHEV-skee), widely known as America’s Crisis Guru. He is a speaker, author (12 books and hundreds of articles and monographs), lecturer and ethicist (co-chair of the PRSA Board of Ethics and Professional Standards). His latest book is Lukaszewski on Crisis Communication, What Your CEO Needs to Know About Reputation and Crisis Management. Jim has been named a 2014 Top Thought Leader in Trustworthy Business by Trust Across America-Trust Around the World. His website is www.e911.com

Reputation vs. Trust

I’ve always thought that the whole notion of reputation was more a Public Relations construct than a management concern. Leaders care about trust.

During my nearly 40 years in reputation, leadership and organizational recovery I can’t recall a serious discussion of reputation in a management circumstance by those running the business until just before they were about to lose or see their reputation seriously damaged. Public Relations advisors rather than business operators raised the issues.

Trust is a powerful management term. I define trust as the absence of fear. I interpret fear to mean the absence of trust. Trust is a management word; trust is a powerful cultural word. Trust is a word that has its counterparts in virtually every culture on the planet; and trust is understood clearly and immediately by just about everybody. Generally it’s mom who taught us about trust, so we remember.

Chief Executives of troubled organizations don’t lose their jobs because there’s a reputation problem. They lose their jobs because there is a trust problem, a failure to provide the assurance that prevents the fear of serious adverse circumstances. If we’re talking seriously about our relationship with constituents, stakeholders, employees, the public, anyone who has a stake in our organization for whatever reason, we’re talking about trust.

Reputation? We’ll need to call the PR department for the latest definition.

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

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Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, corporate reputation, crisis, integrity, James Lukaszewski, leadership, reputation, trust, trust across america, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset

Aug

03

The HEAD of Business- Hope for the World

No commentsArticles written by expertsAugust 3rd, 2014

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World published the first in a planned series of award-winning books. TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

A quick reference on what’s been covered so far this month:

August 1: There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees explains why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

August 2: Kill the Evening Before Dinner and take a small group of front line employees to dinner instead.

The third essay in our series is from a speech delivered by Pär Larshans, the Chief Sustainability Officer at Max Hamburger Restaurants, a Swedish, family owned fast-food company, that employees many workers with disabilities. He speaks regularly on leadership, sustainability and human rights and also lectures on behalf of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Swedish Institute. He is a member of the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts (ATBE) and has been named a 2014 Top Thought Leader in Trustworthy Business by Trust Across America-Trust Around the World.

The HEAD of business (H)- hope for the world

Introducing The Winston “V” model

We use the letter “V” to represent the demographic model in developed countries. Fewer children are born and we live longer, leading to ageing populations with fewer employees. This provides us with an opportunity, though, inspired by Winston Churchill

During WWII, the British relied on Churchill with his famous victory V-sign. However, he suffered from depressions and possible bipolar disorder. Today, there are many like Winston who don’t fit in. These people are not seen as hirable (outside the V).

Turn Winston’s “V” on its side to the right. That’s the second problem: lack of fossil fuels and other environmental (E) problems. Available natural resources are declining, consumption increasing. As in the social system, it affects every country, every business.

Now turn Winston’s “V” upside down. This gives you an overview of an organizational chart (O). The most important is that the head (H) can identify the problems and lead, inspire and empower the organization to use the lack of resources as a power boost. The way to do that is to focus on the company’s CORE VALUES, empowering every employee to understand future societal challenges so that actions towards full sustainability (S) are taken. Line Managers are key here.

Then point Winston’s “V” left. That’s the action part, the sphere of transparency (T), imitating a megaphone or speaker. Creating leaders that become self-aware (c) in this “V” is number one.

These form (E)(T)(H)(O)(S). Ethos is essential in order to succeed in creating a change in behavior by storytelling.

Watch the speech at this link.

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

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Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts, Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, corporate reputation, culture, leadership, Max Hamburger, organizational trust, Par Larshans, reputation, Sweden, trust, trust across america, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset, trustworthy behavior

Aug

02

Kill the Evening Before Dinner

No commentsArticles written by expertsAugust 2nd, 2014

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World published the first in a planned series of award-winning books. TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

Yesterday’s post…. There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees discussed why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

The second essay in our series was written by Robert Galford, Managing Partner of the Center for Leading Organizations and a Leadership Fellow in Executive Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. He is the co-author of The Trusted Advisor, The Trusted Leader, and Your Leadership Legacy. He is on the Faculty of the National Association of Corporate Directors, and is Chair of the Compensation and Governance Committee on the Board of Directors of Forrester Research. He is also a member of the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts (ATBE) and has been named a 2014 Top Thought Leader in Trustworthy Business by Trust Across America-Trust Around the World.

Kill the Evening Before Dinner

My friend Ken Daly, the CEO of the National Association of Corporate Directors, speaks frequently and passionately about the “asymmetry of information” as one of the biggest issues facing those of us in Board and executive roles. Think about it: where do we get our information on how well the organization is doing, or what it’s doing, or what it’s really like to work there? How much of our information do we get first-hand, compared to how much we receive in reports, summaries, or PowerPoint presentations? How do we, as senior executives and/or directors (especially those of us who serve as independent, outside directors) ensure that our judgments are well founded, based on complete pictures, and rooted in realities we personally understand?

Here are three proven things one can do as part of the effort against asymmetry, which, by any other name, is integral to the effort to build trust:

Kill the “evening-before” executive team or board dinner. Instead, take a small group of front-line or mid-level employees to dinner in an informal setting, without the presence of other corporate executives. People are forthcoming, thoughtful, and engaging (to say nothing of appreciative).
Sign up for those “Google Alerts” or other independent news alerts to keep abreast of what others are saying or hearing or reading about the organization.
See the entity through the eyes of a new employee, be it via sitting quietly through a live new-employee orientation or its online equivalent.

Many more ideas at What Better Director’s Do.

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

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Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, Board of Directors, C-Suite, leadership, organizational trust, robert galford, trust, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset

Aug

01

There is a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees

No commentsArticles written by expertsAugust 1st, 2014

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World published the first in a planned series of award-winning books. TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

We begin our series with advice from David A. Shore, PhD, a former associate dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, and the founding director of Harvard’s Trust Initiative; and his colleague Jona Raasch, CEO, The Governance Institute (TGI), a division of NRC, a member based organization with 1000+ healthcare organization membership.

There is a Reason Why We Call Them “Trustees”

To a large extent, the long-term success of an organization depends on a trusting relationship between the board and executive management. On the one hand, boards must allow management teams enough flexibility to run day-to-day operations, while at the same time, ensuring appropriate oversight. When boards stray into operations and away from policy it is often for two main reasons: 1) they pursue what is most familiar to them, and 2) they lose trust in the CEO. Sadly, this loss of trust occurs more frequently than one might expect.

While oversight is central to everything boards do, here in lies the rub and the potential trust buster. Boards engage in oversight by monitoring decisions and actions to ensure they conform to policy and produce intended results. A board’s responsibility is oversight, and yet board members are infrequently on-site. We know that trust is built around the twin towers of competence and conscience. A competent executive management team is an expectation of all boards. Therefore, you build very little trust just by being competent. When it comes to building trust, conscience is where the equity lies. Conscience is how you behave when no one is looking. By virtue of their role as “absentee landlords,” board members are rarely “looking.” For a detailed analysis of board member meeting and committee activity in one industry, see: The Governance Institute’s 2013 Biennial Survey of Hospital and Health Systems.

I hope you have enjoyed this first sneak peak into the trust treasures contained in our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

.

Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, Board of Directors, C-Suite, David A. Shore, Jona Raasch, leadership, organizational trust, trust, trust across america, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset

Jul

31

August is Transparency Month

No commentsArticles written by expertsJuly 31st, 2014

August is “Transparency” Month

according to Trust Across America’s

2014 Calendar

Merriam Webster defines “transparent” as visibility or accessibility of information, especially with business practices. A leader who thinks he or she can still hide behind a veil of secrecy need only spend a few minutes on social media reading what stakeholders are saying.

During the 52 weeks of 2014 you can build trust in your organization by thinking about, discussing and following the advice of the experts. Below are weekly reflections on trust for August 2014.

Week 1: It’s useful to think of trust and its payoffs on a continuum. Elsie Maio, Humanity Inc.

Week 2: Trust is the acceptance of risk, and thus gives the ability to foresee, acknowledge and understand that no one is perfect. Stephen Marsh, PhD, UOIT, Canada

Week 3: Long-term trust trumps short-term profits and public relations gimmicks. Timothy J. McClimon, American Express Foundation

Week 4: Self-organized teams (SOTs) require and reinforce trust. Deb Mills-Scofield, Innovanomics

Please share your comments and suggestions! Email: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

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Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, Deb-Mills Scofield, leadership, organizational trust, transparency, trust, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset

Jul

29

The Games Employees Play When Leaders Bust Trust

2 CommentsArticles written by expertsJuly 29th, 2014

When leaders bust trust, employees play games. I don’t mean board games or a tennis match. I mean the games employees play at work.

In my first job out of college, my boss was simply intolerable. In retrospect, I can’t blame him for being the way he was. He was placed in a leadership role, but was never meant to be a leader. He was insecure, abusive and lazy. He was also a liar. I frequently reminded him that if he didn’t lie, he never had to remember what he said. He chose not to listen. He assumed that all he had to do to be a good leader was to pay his employees well, and the other “stuff” would work itself out. But it didn’t.

“Game playing” became the office norm. These were some of the favorites:

Calling in sick on Fridays and often on Mondays
Every last minute of the hour-long lunch break was taken, and often more
The water cooler was the most popular spot in the office
Friday couldn’t come fast enough
9AM turned into 9:30 and 4:30 became the new 5PM
Minimal effort was exerted
Many of us treated our clients the same way we were treated
People quit without notice
Hours were spent on personal phone calls
Throwing other employees under the bus was all too common

Through observation, I once calculated that the average employee spent less than 3 hours each day actually working.

Any of the above sound familiar?

This week leadership expert Tom Peters asked the following:

Do you absolutely understand and act upon the fact that the first-line boss is the…KEY LEADERSHIP ROLE…in the organization?

Employees take their cues from their leader. We certainly did. If you want to avoid game playing in your organization, act like a trustworthy leader simply by being a VIP role model (values, integrity, promises kept.)

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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

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Have a question? Feel free to contact me: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, barbara kimmel, employee engagement, leadership, trust, trust across america, trust in business, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company's Most Valuable Asset

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The Games Employees Play When Leaders Bust Trust

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