Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

 

Four years ago Trust Across America formed a Trust Alliance with the mission of uniting a group of global professionals whose work impacts organizational trust. The goal is to work collaboratively to advance thinking, research and programs among the membership that can then be made available to the public.

Our vetted membership is as diverse as the subject of trust itself and includes business leaders, consultants and academics from around the globe with specialties in leadership, culture, teamwork, compliance, ethics, CSR, HR, sales, reputation and crisis repair, communications, risk, data security, governance, sustainability and trust research.

What sort of programs has our Alliance developed?

1. Roundtable discussions with industry leaders on building trust
2. Publication of three books in our Trust Inc. series
3. A monthly collaborative column called Tuning in to Trust and Ethics 
4. Introductions between members resulting in speaking engagements, consulting opportunities and new business relationships
5. An annual trust poster
6. Publication of a collaborative digital magazine called TRUST!
7. Assembly of DIY Trust Boxes
8. A series of videos
9. Short papers on building trust in various industries and functional areas
10. A free downloadable booklet on building trust in communities

The following are a few of the many testimonials our Alliance members have written:

Since business, life, and leadership are all about relationships, and since healthy relationships are built on trust, what is more important than an Alliance to build trust? Bob Vanourek, former NYSE CEO and co-author “Triple Crown Leadership: Building Excellent, Ethical, and Enduring Organizations.

I mine the content from Trust Across America for inclusion in my periodic all-employee messages. Bruce Anderson, Chief Ethics Officer

The Alliance is laying the groundwork for a spirit of collaboration among trust experts around the world. The tools, resources, and collective knowledge coming together to advance the cause of trustworthy business are making a difference. Randy Conley, The Ken Blanchard Company

Would you like to join us and collaboratively help in advancing organizational trust? All of our members are vetted for suitability and willingness to work with others. Effective March 1, 2017 membership will be “by invitation” only.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO and Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Barbara also runs the world’s largest global Trust Alliance, is the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and a Managing Member at FACTS® Asset Management, a NJ registered investment advisor. In 2012 was named one of “25 Women who are Changing the World” by Good Business International. Barbara holds a BA in International Affairs and an MBA.

 

 

 

Is trust in business up or down? Apparently it depends who does the asking and who is asked.Is trust in business up or down? Apparently it depends who does the asking and who is asked. Click To Tweet

Price Waterhouse (PwC) is again “talking trust” in their 20th Global CEO Survey (2017). At this time last year, I wrote an article called PwC and the World Economic Forum Talk Trust summarizing their 2016 trust “agenda” that hit the mark on many critical issues.

What happened between now and then?

According to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer’s survey of global citizens, not only was there a sharp decline in trust in all four major institutions, but most people don’t find CEOs to be credible. Readers can learn more in this recent post on the FCPA Blog.

Turning to the 2017 PwC US Supplement, CEO’s worry least about access to affordable capital (10%) and most about overregulation (56%). “CEO concern” for lack of trust in business during the past year rose from 11% to 19%.  The Supplement does not define “lack of trust in business,” and even though the percentage almost doubled it remains relatively low on the list of CEO concerns. Considering the nuances of the use of the word “trust” one might ask what specific question did PwC pose to elicit this low concern response?

PwC’s survey further states that 78% of US CEOs agree that it’s harder for business to gain and keep trust. And only then does PwC add some clarification to what it means by “lack of trust in business.” According to the survey what CEOs are most concerned about when it boils down to trust is:

1. Breaches of data privacy and ethics
2. Cybersecurity
3. IT outages and disruptions

What can be concluded from these surveys? Do you see the same “disconnect” that I see?

According to Edelman, the public does not find CEOs to be credible, yet PwC concludes that CEOs perceive lack of trust in business as originating primarily from external sources. It’s not from any bad behavior on their part that could ultimately impact stakeholder trust in any of the following ways:

• Low trust in the brand by consumers
• Low trust in leadership by employees and vice versa
• Potential individual and institutional shareholders lacking enough trust to make investments
• Communities not trusting the company to be “good” corporate citizens
• CEOs not trusting in themselves to be ethical role models

Unfortunately, when it comes to building trust, most business leaders have yet to start connecting the dots. This represents not only a lost opportunity (read how high trust companies fare better), but endangers the long-term sustainability of the organization. Trust is not on CEO agendas, at least not in the way that will encourage and support organizational change and higher trust. Leaders face too many day-to-day decisions and too many fires that need extinguishing. Who has time left to consider why trust is low? Unfortunately, most CEOs don’t. And there’s a good chance that a year from now, they still won’t.

As I stated last year… leaders must:

• Take “ownership” for their lack of credibility and the resulting low trust in business.
• Voluntarily choose, along with their Boards, to adopt organizational trust (which extends far beyond sustainability, environmental awareness, corporate responsibility and “giving back”) as an intentional, proactive and holistic business strategy.
• Stop thinking “short-term.”
• Stop relying on their legal department and start doing what is right.
• Stop “talking trust” and start walking it.

I’m not sure what it will take to reverse this cycle of mistrust in business and leadership. It’s certainly not due to a lack of resources or tools. What are your thoughts on this Tale of Two Surveys?

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO and Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Now in its eighth year, the program’s proprietary FACTS® Framework ranks and measures the trustworthiness of over 1500 US public companies on five quantitative indicators of trust. Barbara also runs the world’s largest global Trust Alliance, is the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and a Managing Member at FACTS® Asset Management, a NJ registered investment advisor. In 2012 she was named one of “25 Women who are Changing the World” by Good Business International. Barbara holds a BA in International Affairs and an MBA.

 

 

 

Did you know that we co-manage and host one of the largest publicly available organizational trust bibliographies? Our 2016 bibliography is currently being updated. Do you have an entry that might qualify for inclusion? Our current bibliography can be accessed at this link: trustacrossamerica.com/trust-bibliography.shtml

To be considered, please send your entries to barbara@trustacrossamerica.com no later than February 15, 2017.

 

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO and Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Now in its eighth year, the program’s proprietary FACTS® Framework ranks and measures the trustworthiness of over 1500 US public companies on five quantitative indicators of trust. Barbara also runs the world’s largest global Trust Alliance, is the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and a Managing Member at FACTS® Asset Management, a NJ registered investment advisor. In 2012 she was named one of “25 Women who are Changing the World” by Good Business International. Barbara holds a BA in International Affairs and an MBA.

 

 

For Immediate Release:

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

Trust Across America Names 2017 Top Thought Leaders in Trust

CHESTER, NEW JERSEY, January 23, 2017. Trust Across America-Trust Around the World (TAA-TAW), global leaders in organizational trust honors its 2017 Top Thought Leaders Trust. The awards program, now in its 7^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 eight 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 5^th year of the formation of our Trust Alliance, a growing group of global professionals committed to learning together and advancing the cause of organizational trust.

This year we recognize 84 global professionals from a broad functional base including integrity and trust, leadership, culture, compliance and ethics, reputation and risk management, governance, communications, employee engagement, sales and customer service, and data security. Fifteen are current or retired corporate CEOs, eight are writers or members of the media, others are authors and leadership advisors, and some work behind the scenes as teachers, mentors 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 colleagues who have maintained Top Thought Leader status 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 is a “hard currency” with real returns.

The 2017 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 2017 issue of TRUST! Magazine, available at no cost.

Interested in applying for 2018 honors? You may do so at this link.

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 an abundance of resources and ever expanding tools. It also provides a framework for organizations to improve trustworthy practices, and showcases individuals and organizations exhibiting high levels of trust and integrity.

 

A high performing trustworthy business is a great source of competitive advantage, and that is driven by the Board of Directors. The following are 12 “must follow” strategies for 2017 adapted from our book. 

 

Boards must pay attention to corporate culture. Culture is the legacy of leadership, and a healthy culture builds stakeholder trust. Click To TweetBob Vanourek, Triple Crown Leadership

Demand management accountability for the factors that contribute to corporate character. Click To TweetRoger Bolton, President Arthur Page Society

Empower an independent chief compliance officer (CCO) to act as a strong ethical culture leader in the organization. Click To TweetDonna Boehme, Principal, Compliance Strategists

Align the business agenda with societal expectations. Build a better world as you build a better company. Click To TweetDoug Conant, Conant Leadership

Understand how your stakeholders feel about you. Take surveys, monitor social media and share information across the organization. Click To Tweet Linda Locke, Standing Partnership

Practice values based leadership: articulate precisely, connect frequently, role-model, sanction or fire. Click To Tweet Charles H. Green, Trusted Advisor Associates

Develop the strategic direction for the enterprise by taking the constellation of all stakeholders into account Click To Tweet. Nadine Hack, beCause Global Consulting

See the entity through the eyes of a new employee by attending a live new-employee orientation or its online equivalent. Click To Tweet Robert Galford, Center for Leading Organizations

Boards must develop their own robust crisis plans prior to any crisis. Click To Tweet Davia Temin, Temin and Company

Build authentic conversations based on trust and exchange ideas fearlessly. Click To Tweet Alain Bolea, Business Advisors Network

The Golden Rule is the best strategy for Boards to drive C-Suite behavior. Click To Tweet Mark Chandler, Senior VP & General Counsel, Cisco

Review, discuss, share and elevate your company’s “Return on Trust.” What can be measured can be managed.  Barbara Brooks Kimmel, CEO Trust Across America

Get the Board on board in elevating trust in 2017! Click To Tweet. Over 50 more ideas like these are available by ordering the book.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO and Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Now in its eighth year, the program’s proprietary FACTS® Framework ranks and measures the trustworthiness of over 1500 US public companies on five quantitative indicators of trust. Barbara also runs the world largest global Trust Alliance, is the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and a Managing Member at FACTS® Asset Management, a NJ registered investment advisor. In 2012 was named one of “25 Women who are Changing the World” by Good Business International.
Copyright (c) 2017 Next Decade, Inc.

 

 

Trust is at the heart of all successful relationships, both personal and professional. While business leaders often view it as a “soft skill” in reality, trust is the key driver of profitability and long-term success. Drawing on the insights of twelve high integrity leaders and thinkers, and in our never-ending quest to elevate trust in business, Trust Across America offers these insights to the most important question for 2017:

 

What do you believe is the most important action a business leader can take to build trust with his/her stakeholders?

 

Stephen M.R. Covey, one of America’s most well known thought leaders on trust urges leaders to…

Lead out in extending trust. @StephenMRCovey In building trust with ALL stakeholders, lead out in extending trust. Click To Tweet

Why?  Because extending trust generates a reciprocity of trust.  When we give it, people receive it—and then they return it.  When we withhold it, they withhold it.  

 

Marshall Goldsmith a top American leadership coach seconds Stephen’s advice…

Lead by example. @CoachGoldsmith In building trust with ALL stakeholders, lead by example. Click To Tweet

What we do speaks far more loudly than what we say.

 

Bob Vanourek of Triple Crown Leadership and a former CEO of five companies, urges leaders to…

Put trust on the agenda. @BobVanourek In building trust with ALL stakeholders, put trust on the agenda. Click To Tweet

By constantly putting trust questions on the agenda, like “Are we building trust with what we are doing here?” everyone will begin to understand and take action on building trust.

 

David Reiling, Sunrise Bank’s CEO suggest that leaders…

Walk the talk. @ReilingDavid In building trust with ALL stakeholders, walk the talk. Click To Tweet

Day-in and day-out, night-in and night-out, weekends and holidays. Being authentic and living with integrity builds trust in business and everywhere else. 

 

 Linda Fisher Thornton who runs Leading in Context and is on a mission to unleash the positive power of ethical leadership urges leaders to…

Show genuine interest. @leadingincontxt In building trust with ALL stakeholders, show genuine interest. Click To Tweet

Initiate conversations and find ways to add value. Think about the impact of every decision on every stakeholder, and act in their best interests as well as your own. 

 

Tim Erblich, CEO of Ethisphere believes the most important action a leader can take to build trust is to…

Measure the culture @TimErblich In building trust with ALL stakeholders, measure the culture. Click To Tweet

of his/her business, and openly share the findings with employees, stakeholders and more.  

 

Dave Ulrich, a professor at the Ross School of Business (University of Michigan) and co-founder of the RBL Group, found it hard to pick one thing so we picked it for him!

Be transparent. @Dave_Ulrich  In building trust with ALL stakeholders, be transparent. Click To Tweet

Avoid leadership hypocrisy…do what you say. Share personal feelings.

 

Evan Harvey who directs Corporate Responsibility at NASDAQ seconded the theme of transparency with his answer…

Act transparently. @EvanHarvey99 In building trust will ALL stakeholders, act transparently. Click To Tweet

Tell your stakeholders what you are trying to accomplish and why; then demonstrate progress towards a goal. That involves others in the process, widens the circle of influence and interaction, and builds lasting trust.

 

Jim Lukaszewski, an author, speaker and crisis management consultant urges leaders to…

Be candid. @JimLukaszewski In building trust with ALL stakeholders, be candid. Click To Tweet

Find the truth, tell that truth, act on it promptly in an environment where values matter at least as much as profits and gain. Candor: truth with an attitude told right now is the basic building block of Trust.

 

Doug Conant, former CEO Campbell Soup who heads Conant Leadership, believes the most important action a business leader can take to build trust is…

Do what you say you are going to do. @DougConant In building trust with ALL stakeholders, do what you say you are going to do. Click To Tweet

And do it well. How can people trust a leader who says one thing but does another? They can’t and won’t.”

 

Jason Lunday Principal Consultant Integrity Factor quotes another one of my favorite trust thought leaders, Frank Navran “Trust is the result of promises fulfilled.”

Keep your promises. @Jason_Lunday In building trust with ALL stakeholders, keep your promises. Click To Tweet

Establish full-cycle mechanisms to ensure that the organizations’ promises will be met, including communicating success.

 

And as the 12^th recommendation Barbara Kimmel (that’s me) offers leaders the following:

The leader sets the tone for the organization. @BarbaraKimmel In building trust with ALL stakeholders, the leader sets the tone for the organization. Click To Tweet

Building stakeholder trust first begins with leadership recognition that trust is critical to long-term organizational success. This means making trust a leading business focus in both the Board & C-Suite, reinforcing the trust imperative, and always leading by example.

 

Thank you to all our contributors.  May 2017 bring increasing stakeholder trust to your organization!

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO and Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Now in its seventh year, the program’s proprietary FACTS® Framework ranks and measures the trustworthiness of over 2,000 U.S. public companies on five quantitative indicators of trust. Barbara is also the editor of the award-winning TRUST INC. book series and a Managing Member at FACTS® Asset Management, a New Jersey registered investment advisor.

Copyright (c)  2016, Next Decade, Inc.

 

Measuring the integrity or trustworthiness of public companies is an ongoing research project at  Trust Across America-Trust Around the World. In fact, we now have over 7 years of increasingly “rich” data.

Take a look at this chart:

 

 

While we are in the business of identifying “best in breed” and not in predicting the next corporate crisis, our FACTS(R) proprietary data is quite capable of doing so. Citigroup, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo… Did the lack of integrity at Wells Fargo contribute to its recent crisis? Could it have been avoided under different leadership? What do you think?

Would you like more insights like this?

Request our White Paper:  The State of Trust in Corporate America 2016

Trust Data: Public companies can review the level of trust within their organization and compare their performance to their peers.

Order our Trust Inc. book series.

2017 Trust Poster: Weekly Do’s and Don’ts to Foster Organizational Trust

Join our Trust Alliance where share our research with high integrity business leaders.

If you lead an organization, serve on a Board or in any management capacity or work with others, and you continue to ignore trust as a hard asset, you are losing out to your competitors and failing to protect your organization against a Wells Fargo crisis.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO and Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Now in its seventh year, the program’s proprietary FACTS® Framework ranks and measures the trustworthiness of over 2,000 U.S. public companies on five quantitative indicators of trust. Barbara is also the editor of the award-winning TRUST INC. book series and a Managing Member at FACTS® Asset Management, a New Jersey registered investment advisor.

 

Copyright (c)  2016, Next Decade, Inc.

 

Five years ago tools to assess and build organizational trust were rare and difficult to locate online. Trust Across America-Trust Around the World was formed to serve as a clearinghouse for these tools and related resources.

The most progressive companies are already implementing trust as an intentional business strategy, knowing it is a competitive advantage. Leaders of organizations interested in elevating trust and proactively practicing it as a business strategy, will be interested in these links:

Trust Alliance: a group of global professionals working to elevate trust and share resources.

Trust in a Box: A “do it yourself” solution for professionals and organizations interested in elevating trust, ethics and integrity.

Trust Data: Public companies can review the level of trust within their organization and compare their performance to their peers

2017 Trust Poster: Weekly Do’s and Don’ts to Foster Organizational Trust

White Paper:  The State of Trust in Corporate America 2016

Books: An entire Reading Room dedicated to organizational trust.

TRUST! Magazine: a digital magazine, dedicated to helping leaders and organizations place trust on their strategic agenda.

If you lead an organization, serve on a Board or in any management capacity or work with others, and you continue to ignore trust as a hard asset, you are losing out to your competitors. Trust works. Give it a try.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO and Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Now in its seventh year, the program’s proprietary FACTS® Framework ranks and measures the trustworthiness of over 2,000 U.S. public companies on five quantitative indicators of trust. Barbara is also the editor of the award-winning TRUST INC. book series and a Managing Member at FACTS® Asset Management, a New Jersey registered investment advisor.

Nominations are now open for the 7th annual Top Thought Leaders in Trust.

Copyright (c)  2016, Next Decade, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do low integrity and trust cost an organization and the economy? The research studies cited below should give our readers some insight:

• Gallup reports that employee engagement was more or less stagnant in 2015, (over 17% actively disengaged.) In 2014 less than one-third of US workers were engaged in their jobs, with millenials the least engaged, and this is costing the US economy $450-550 billion a year, which is over 15% of payroll costs. (Gallup, 2015)

• The Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s survey participants estimated that the typical organization loses 5% of its revenues to fraud each year. Applied to the 2011 Gross World Product, this figure translates to a potential projected annual fraud loss of more than $3.5 trillion. 2012 Global Fraud Study

• According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (2010), 84% of senior leaders say disengaged employees are considered one of the biggest threats facing their business. However, only 12% of them reported doing anything about this problem.

• The cost of Federal Regulations is approaching $2 trillion annually according to a study by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

• According to a recent report by PwC the U.S. held its position as the top location for innovation, with in-country R&D spending of $145 billion in 2015. However, other countries (i.e., China) increased their R&D spending by greater proportions than the U.S. which caused it to lose some of its relative advantage.

• Volkswagen lost 20% of its stock value after the emissions scandal and Target’s profits fell 34.3% after it’s data breach.

• A study by Murphy, Shrieves and Tibbs called “Determinants of the Stock Price Reaction to Allegations of Corporate Misconduct” finds that allegations of misconduct are accompanied by statistically significant control-firm adjusted declines in reported earnings, increases in stock return variability, and a decline in concordance among analysts’ earnings estimates.”

• In a 2008 study by Karpoff, Lee and Martin called “The Cost to Firm’s of Cooking the Books,” the authors find The penalties imposed on firms through the legal system average only $23.5 million per firm. The penalties imposed by the market, in contrast, are huge.

• The PR firm Edelman finds in their 2016 “Trust Barometer” that nearly one in three employees don’t trust their employer. And more than two thirds feel that CEOs are too focused on short-term performance. As a result, employees are far less likely to say positive things about the company they work for.

The trust gap not only negatively impacts a company’s revenue, market share, brand reputation, employee engagement and turnover, stock price, and bottom line profitability, but every facet of society.

What happens when integrity & trust increase?

Find out in our new white paper: The State of Trust in Corporate America 2016. Request it here.

Copyright (c) 2016 Next Decade, Inc.

 

Executive Summary of White Paper Recently Published

by Trust Across America-Trust Around the World

 

Building a trustworthy company will improve both its profitability and organizational sustainability. Supporting this statement is a growing body of evidence showing an increasing correlation between trustworthiness and superior financial performance. Our 2016 report attempts to provide content and context to place trust in the center of more business conversations, to answer the following questions and dispel the myth that integrity and trust are “soft” skills.

• Why do trust and integrity matter?
• Can they be measured?
• Are they profitable?
• Which sectors are the most trustworthy?
• Is industry destiny?
• What are the costs of low trust and integrity and why do they matter as hard currencies?
• Which companies are some of the most trustworthy and why?
• How can companies become more trustworthy?

Integrity and trust should start at the top and flow down through the organization. They are not CSR, compliance, HR or leadership “programs” but rather an intentional holistic business strategy adopted by leadership and practiced daily. Vanishing are the days of low transparency, “short termism” and maximization of shareholder value at the expense of other stakeholders.

As trust breaches continue to make the headlines across many major institutions and societies around the globe, organizations that choose integrity and trust as intentional strategies will continue to outperform their peers.

Who will find value in reading this paper?

• Business leaders
• Boards of Directors
• Associations
• Investors
• Communications and Investor Relations
• Corporate responsibility officers
• Regulators
• Politicians
• NGOs

Please register here to request access to the full paper.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO and Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Now in its seventh year, the program’s proprietary FACTS® Framework ranks and measures the trustworthiness of over 1500 US public companies on five quantitative indicators of trust. Barbara also runs the world largest global Trust Alliance, is the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and a Managing Member at FACTS® Asset Management, a NJ registered investment advisor.

Copyright © 2016, Next Decade, Inc.

 

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