Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

What can we learn about building trust from the world’s greatest leaders, teachers, writers and philosophers?

JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

We recently highlighted the greatest quotes on building trust from:

•  John Wooden
•  John C. Maxwell
•  Zig Ziglar
•  Mahtma Gandhi
•  Dr. Seuss
•  George Bernard Shaw

This week, in honor of our Memorial Day heroes,  we turn our attention to the words (and worlds) of our military leaders.  This article pulls together twenty of their most inspiring quotes. Regardless of your role in life- a parent, teacher, business, religious or military leader, the following quotes contain many messages about character, competence and consistency, the key ingredients for building trust.

1. “I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.” Ulysses F. Grant
2. “I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.”  Robert E. Lee
3. “Character as we used to say when I was in elementary school, is what you are. Reputation is what others think you are. The reason that some fail to climb the ladder of success, or of leadership if you want to call it that, is that there is no difference between reputation and character. The two do not always coincide. A man may be considered to have sterling character. Opportunity might come to that man; but if he has the reputation for something he is not, he may fail that opportunity. I think character is the foundation of successful leadership.” General Lucian K. Truscott
4. “The people when rightly and fully trusted will return the trust.” Abraham Lincoln
5. “A good battle plan that you act on today can be better than a perfect one tomorrow.” General George S. Patton
6. “Dependability, integrity, the characteristic of never knowingly doing anything wrong, that you would never cheat anyone, that you would give everybody a fair deal. Character is sort of an all inclusive thing. If a man has character everyone has confidence in him. Soldiers must have confidence in their leader.” General Omar N. Bradley
7. “Great leaders clarify expectations, roles, and responsibilities. They take action when issues arise, rewarding results, not activity. ” General John E. Michel 
8. “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. “I would place character as the absolutely number one requirement in leadership. By character, I mean primarily integrity. A man whose superiors and, even more important, whose subordinates can depend upon that leader taking action based on honesty and judgment. If he does not base his action on honor, he is worthless as a leader.” General J. Lawton Collins
10. “Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those few be well-tried before you give them your confidence.”  George Washington
11. “I would put character way up on the list. If you want to select an officer for your command you want one who is confident of his abilities, who is loyal and who has good character. It is the man of good character that I am going to seek out. There are a lot of good people who know the ‘smart’ way of getting things done, but they also ride roughshod over people that they are supposed to be working with. I don’t want that.” General Mark Clark
12. “Leadership is the art of inspiring people to enthusiastically take action toward the achievement of uncommon goals.” Col John R. Boyd, USAF
13. “There are many qualities that go into a man of sterling character. I don’t know how to break it down. A man of high character has integrity, he is honest, he is reliable, he is straightforward in dealing with people. He is loyal to his family, his friends, his superiors.” General William H. Simpson
14. “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”  General George S. Patton
15. “The moral is to the physical as three to one.” Napoleon Bonaparte
16.  “No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.” Theodore Roosevelt
17. “History shows that weakness is provocative.”  Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
18. “I get accused all the time of using the word integrity when I mean character and character when I mean integrity. I think character is everything in leadership. It is what we try to build in all our young officers. It means the truth to me. That’s the only way I can put it. To stand up and tell the truth and not be in the gray areas.” General Jacob Devers
19. “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” Douglas McArthur
20. “Experts often possess more data than judgment.” Colin Powell

My favorites are #7, #9 and #15. How about yours? 

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

What can we learn about building trust from the world’s greatest leaders, teachers, writers and philosophers?

JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

We recently highlighted the greatest quotes on building trust from:

•  John Wooden
•  John C. Maxwell
•  Zig Ziglar
•  Mahtma Gandhi
•  Dr. Seuss

This week we turn our attention to George Bernard Shaw an Irish playwright and founder of the London School of Economics. Did you know that he received both a Nobel Prize in Literature and an Academy Award?  This article pulls together twenty of his most inspiring quotes. Regardless of your role in life- a parent, teacher, business or religious leader, George Bernard Shaw has many messages about character, competence and consistency, the key ingredients for building trust.

1. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
2. “The liar’s punishment is, not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.”
3. “Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.”
4. “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
5. “The most tragic thing in the world is a man of genius who is not a man of honor.”
6. “Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.”
7. “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”
8. “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”
9. “After all, the wrong road always leads somewhere.”
10. “Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.”
11.  “Doing what needs to be done may not make you happy, but it will make you great.”
12. “Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.”
13. “When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.”
14. “A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.”
15. “Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery – it’s the sincerest form of learning.”
16. “We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.”
17. “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”
18. “But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.”
19. “The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”
20. “My way of joking is to tell the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.”

My favorites are #3, #8 and #19. How about yours? 

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Did you know that information overload has lowered our attention span to only eight seconds?

Even “Top 10” lists, a favorite of social media enthusiasts just a few years ago, have now been condensed to “Top 6’s or 5’s” or moved totally away from the written word to short and catchy “feel good” phrases, posters or video sound bytes. Bookstores certainly aren’t thriving, nor are newspapers or magazines. It’s hard to read an article in 8 seconds, let alone a book.

If you want to grab someone’s attention you better be able to do it quickly, or so the PR and marketing folks will tell you. But they just might be wrong, and those “gurus” who choose these “race to the bottom” marketing tactics fuel the chronic low- trust epidemic, instead of playing a much needed role in the solution.

Trust is built in incremental steps and high trust relationships certainly require more than 8 seconds to establish. Short “to do” lists or catchy phrases, just don’t cut it. But ironically, there ARE 6 essential steps we can all take to build the first foundational layer in the “trust construction” process and they CAN be completed in under 8 seconds.

Trash Your Ego: Leave your ego at the door when you meet someone for the first time or attend a meeting. If others think you perceive yourself as better than they are, you might as well not show up at all.

Make Eye Contact: Eye contact is a sign of honesty and reliability. There is a reason why dishonest people are said to have “shifty eyes.”

Shake Like You Mean It: A strong handshake signals confidence in yourself and your abilities, essential components of trust.

Cell Phones be Gone: How often do you check your phone during a meeting? It’s a lack of respect, and more importantly, a clear indication that you are not listening. It takes two to build trust so don’t be distracted.

Smile With Warmth: William Arthur Ward is credited with saying “A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” And kindness and warmth build trust, as do sincere compliments.

Tell the Truth: Remember, once you lie and get caught, nothing you EVER say will be accepted as the truth.

Gotta run, I’ve gone over the 8 second limit!

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Yes, Hillary Clinton is “Dogged by Trust Issues” according to several recent polls including this one reported in Investor’s Daily. Hillary even has her own long-term personal “trustworthiness” graph as published in the Washington Post, and she has called for a restoration of trust among Americans.

Trust, trust and more trust. One would be hard pressed not to agree that “trust” is a central theme in this presidential contestant’s campaign. But should it be?

Emphatically NO! Not in Hillary’s campaign, nor in any other politician’s.

At a minimum starting point, trust requires:

• Character, competence and consistency. Many politicians, including Hillary, possess the competence component. It’s the other two that are usually lacking.
• Trust is built over time and in incremental steps. It’s not a campaign platform nor a short-term PR strategy.
• Finally, there is the question of whether one can separate professional trustworthiness from personal. The answer is a simple “No.” Either one is “holistically” trustworthy or they are not.

Given these foundational prerequisites for trust, there is not a single politician that should ever utter the word “trust”, let alone call for its restoration or use it to get elected.

But the most important reason for politicians to drop the word trust is found in our two-party system where the “trust” prerequisite for presidential candidates does not even exist. Democrats and Republicans alike will vote for who they view as the “best” candidate, regardless of how trustworthy they are, or claim to be. “Best” is defined not by level of trust, but rather by how the voter thinks the candidate will benefit him/her the most, or how big a cut of the pie will come the voter’s way.

So my advice to Hillary and all her opponents would be to drop the word “trust” from all future speeches, articles and campaign platforms and focus on being politicians, what they actually “do” quite well. Be honest about who you are. Leave the word “trust” to those who have a genuine interest and “pure” motive to improve it for the long-term betterment of society.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

What can we learn about building trust from the world’s greatest leaders, teachers and philosophers? JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

We recently highlighted:

•  John Wooden’s greatest quotes on building trust
•  John Maxwell’s greatest quotes on building trust and
•  Zig Ziglar’s greatest quotes on building trust.

This week we turn our attention to Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest Indian spiritual leaders of all time, and a believer in justice. This article pulls together twenty of his most inspiring quotes. Regardless of your role in life- a parent, teacher, business or religious leader, Mahatma Gandhi has a message about character, competency and consistency, the key ingredients for building trust.

1. “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”
2. “Truth never damages a cause that is just.”
3. “The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does becomes tainted.”
4. “Action expresses priorities.”
5. “Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.”
6. “It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one’s acts.”
7. “Manliness consists not in bluff, bravado or loneliness. It consists in daring to do the right thing and facing consequences whether it is in matters social, political or other. It consists in deeds not words.”
8. “Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.”
9. “I cannot conceive of a greater loss than the loss of one’s self-respect.”
10. “Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”
11. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
12. “The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”
13. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
14. “There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.”
15. “A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”
16. “Speak only if it improves upon the silence.”
17. “It is easier to build a boy than to mend a man.”
18. “Truth is one, paths are many.”
19. “Fearlessness is the first requisite of spirituality. Cowards can never be moral.”
20. “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”

My favorites are #5, #6 and #14. How about yours? 

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Welcome!

Our monthly roundup is the latest collaborative undertaking of our Trust Alliance, selected blog posts on a variety of organizational trust topics. The subjects are as diverse as the expertise of our members!

By reviewing these posts, you will have a better appreciation for the importance of embracing trust as an organizational imperative.

Let’s get started!

You think you can’t ruin your reputation in 140 characters? Think again. David Penglase explains just how easy it is (all the way from Australia!)

Duke’s Coach K is one of my trust heroes and Randy Conley not only agrees but shares the secrets to trustworthy leadership.

While many will argue that trust should always be extended, Nan Russell provides three reasons why trust is not always the best practice. Agreed!

Have you ever considered how trust acts as a lubricant? Bob Whipple shows us six ways.

It was a close race for the most popular post of “yours truly” this month, but the winner was America’s “Top 10” Most Trustworthy Public Companies announced in the Spring issue of TRUST! Magazine.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

We recently assembled twenty of John Wooden’s greatest quotes on building trust, followed by John Maxwell’s. Now we turn our attention to Zig Ziglar, an American author, salesman and motivational speaker who passed away in 2012. To many, Ziglar remains “America’s most influential and beloved encourager and believer that everyone could have, do and be more.” 

This article pulls together twenty of his most inspiring quotes. Regardless of your role in life- a parent, teacher, business or religious leader, Zig Ziglar has a message about character, competency and consistency, the key ingredients for building trust.

• “The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.”
• “Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there”
• “If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you.”
• “It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action and discipline that enabled us to follow through.”
• “Don’t count the things you do, do the things that count.”

• “You cannot consistently perform in a manner which is inconsistent with the way you see yourself.”
• “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”
• “A narrow mind and a fat head invariably come on the same person.”
• “The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.”
• “If you don’t plan your time, someone else will help you waste it.”

• “If you pay that price daily by planning and preparing and working to become the right kind of person, then you can legitimately expect to have all that life has to offer.”
• “Men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared, but only men of character are trusted.”
• “A goal properly set is halfway reached.”
• “People who accomplish great things work toward their objectives every day.”
• “Send out a cheerful, positive greeting, and most of the time you will get back a cheerful, positive greeting.”

• “The depth of your spirit will determine the height of your success.”
• “Ask yourself a question: Is my attitude worth catching?”
• “Value and purpose are about understanding the specific benefits you will help people receive if they receive what you have for them.”
• “If you have the character to hang in there when its tough, you will develop or acquire every other characteristic necessary to WIN in the game of life.”
• “With integrity, you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. With integrity, you will do the right thing, so you will have no guilt.”

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.

The Spring issue of TRUST! Magazine, celebrating trustworthy organizations,  is now available. It’s free by signing up at this link.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Collaboration fosters better decision-making, and by working together, groups can achieve extraordinary outcomes.

On a personal level, collaboration:

• Improves communication skills
• Stimulates critical thinking
• Enhances self esteem
• Builds confidence
• Motivates individuals to take risks
• Builds self-control
• Allows for evaluation of personal values and goals
• Builds empathy
• Teaches to listen with respect
• Develops conflict resolution skills
• Shifts the focus from the “short term” to the “long term”

As a group, collaboration:

• Increases productivity
• Speeds up decision-making
• Encourages creativity
• Simplifies workflows
• Pools skills and resources
• Fosters diversity
• Increases profitability
• Brings balance to decision-making
• Encourages win/win situations
• And most importantly, builds trust

High trust organizations embrace collaboration which leads to high productivity and profitability.

The next time someone asks you to collaborate, perhaps your first response won’t be “What’s in it for me?”

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.

The Spring issue of TRUST! Magazine, celebrating trustworthy organizations,  is now available. It’s free by signing up at this link.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

We recently assembled twenty of John Wooden’s greatest quotes on trust. Now we turn our attention to John C. Maxwell whose philosophy is simple: “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”

His life’s passion is in developing leaders at all levels. Along the way he’s written over 70 books and spoken to millions of people about what it takes to become a great leader.

This article pulls together twenty of his most inspiring quotes. Regardless of your role in life- a parent, teacher, business or religious leader, John C. Maxwell has a message about character, competency and consistency, the key ingredients for building trust.

1. “Talent is a gift, but character is a choice.”
2. If a good reputation is like gold, then having integrity is like owning the mine.
3. “Your success stops where your character stops. You can never rise above the limitations of your character.”
4. “Image is what people think we are; integrity is what we really are.”
5. “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”
6. “Being in power is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”
7. “Actions are remembered long after words are forgotten.”
8. “To collaborative team members, completing one another is more important than competing with one another.”
9. “Growth inside fuels growth outside.”
10. “If you don’t change the direction you are going, then you’re likely to end up where you’re heading…”
11. “Success is… knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.”
12. “A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others.”
13. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
14. “People tend to become what the most important people in their lives think they will become.”
15. “People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
16. “LISTEN twice as much as you speak.”
17. “If you wouldn’t follow yourself, why should anyone else?”
18. “A Chinese proverb says, “Those who drink the water must remember those who dug the well.” Gratitude is one of the most attractive of all personal attributes;”
19. “He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.”
20. “There are no short cuts to any place worth going.”

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.

The Spring issue of TRUST! Magazine, celebrating trustworthy organizations,  is now available. It’s free by signing up at this link.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

“We all know the next crisis will come….but in the meantime it’s business as usual.”

Those were the exact words spoken by the Chief Communications Officer of a well-known financial services company at a recent conference I attended on trust.

Other than an enlightened handful, most companies continue to ignore the business case for trust and its inherent strategic advantages:

• Fewer crises and the ability to recover more rapidly as a result of having “banked” trust
• Faster decision making
• Higher employee engagement
• Greater innovation (high trust fuels high innovation, not the other way around)
• Increased long-term profitability

But instead, let’s continue to watch trust decline across all major institutions, talk about it from time to time, and choose never to implement long-term trust-building strategies. After all, it’s “business as usual” until the next crisis as evidenced by our current collective mentality:

• Disengaged boards with minimal diversity
• Short-term profit maximization at all costs
• Decreasing CEO tenure and increasing compensation packages tied to quarterly earnings
• Siloized decision making
• Increased regulation and larger legal and compliance departments
• High employee turnover
• Using CSR or sustainability “programs” as corporate window dressing
• Taking trust for granted or passing it off to the communications folks like a hot potato.

But as a reminder, industry is not destiny and “hats off” to those companies and organizations that have chosen a different path. We applaud you for your efforts. You can read about them and the updated business case for trust in the Spring issue of TRUST! Magazine published this week by registering on our signup link.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. 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 annual 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.