Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

I’ve spent the best part of a 20+ year career on a mission to simplify complex subjects, and for the past 6, my focus has been on organizational trust. If I had known 6 years ago the quicksand I was about to step into, I may have chosen a different subject! But with great tenacity, I have waded through murky waters and, with the guidance of some amazing and accomplished colleagues, developed a very simple “Golden Rule” of organizational trust. It’s not perfect, but captures the key elements for those who are already on a quest to proactively address what some have called the “issue of the decade.” And if you, like so many others, are stuck in an organizational “crisis mentality quicksand,” this may help you dig your way out.

The VIP Model of Organizational Trust

Vision & Values+Integrity+Promises Kept=Trust

Organizations and their leaders become trustworthy once trust is earned.

This is accomplished via the following sequence of actions:

• VISION & VALUES: Identify what the organization wants to achieve. Why does it exist and what does it stand for? Write a credo.
• INTEGRITY: Identify, practice and communicate the moral principles and purpose of the leadership team and the organization. Alignment is essential.
• PROMISES: Ensure that leadership is held accountable for doing what they say they will do, and for regularly communicating the vision, values and promises to all stakeholders.

Regardless of the size or nature of your organization, this VIP Model will set you on the right course to building organizational trust “worthiness.” What do you think? Worth a try?

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She also facilitates the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject, and is 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 trust from the great leaders, teachers, writers and philosophers?

JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

This week we turn our attention to the words of Deepak Chopra, an Indian medical doctor and author of more than 80 books, including 22 NY Times Bestsellers. Chopra is an influential global scholar and thinker. This article pulls together twenty of his most inspiring quotes. Regardless of your role in life- a parent, teacher, business, religious or military leader, the following contain many messages about character, competence and consistency, the key ingredients for building trust.

1. “There is a big difference between being centered and being self-centered.”
2. “When you make a choice, you change the future.”
3. “You will be transformed by what you read.”
4. “Ask for nothing less than inspiration.”
5. “Good luck is opportunity meeting preparedness.”
6. “Instead of asking “what’s the problem?” ask “what’s the creative opportunity?”
7. “Owning your own feelings, rather than blaming them on someone else, is the mark of a person who has moved from contracted to expanded awareness.”
8. “Give up being right. Instead radiate peace, harmony, love, and laughter from your heart.”
9. “The most creative act you will ever undertake is the act of creating yourself.”
10. “If you focus on success, you’ll have stress. But if you pursue excellence, success will be guaranteed.”
11. “The more boundless your vision, the more real you are.”
12. “The direction of life is from duality to unity.”
13. “Every great change is preceded by chaos.”
14. “The world ‘out there’ won’t change until the world ‘in here’ does.”
15. “Never forget your real identity. You are a luminous conscious stardust being forged in the crucible of cosmic fire.”
16. “Replace fear-based thinking with love-based thinking. Every time you’re making a choice, ask yourself if it’s going to cultivate the experience of unity and love or the experience of separation and stress.”
17. “Freedom comes when you see the built-in contradiction of trying to manipulate something that is going right to begin with…. Stop trying to steer the river.”
18. “Attachment to money will always create insecurity no matter how much money you have in the bank.”
19. “Nothing brings down walls as surely as acceptance.”
20. “And stop talking in that puffed-up way they taught you. Words aren’t brains, you know.”

My favorites are #1, #7, #8 and #20. How about yours? 

Want to read more from this series?

We recently highlighted some of the best quotes on building trust from:

•  John Wooden
•  John C. Maxwell
•  Zig Ziglar
•  Mahtma Gandhi
•  Dr. Seuss  (for Mother’s Day)
•  George Bernard Shaw
•  Military Leaders (for Memorial Day)
•  Napoleon Hill

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.

It’s no secret that trust is either completely ignored or taken for granted in most organizations. In fact, usually its a pattern of systemic low trust, followed by a crisis, for the word “trust” to even make its way on to the organization’s radar. And then the wrong question is asked.  How do we “rebuild” trust (even though it never existed)? What a mess.

Why is this? These are the 5 most common excuses for ignoring trust:

1. Boards and C-Suites (in most organizations) have never considered trust as a business imperative or strategy.
2. Organizational trust is mistaken for compliance which is confused with ethics.
3. Organizational trust cannot be regulated. It’s voluntary.
4. When a trust breach occurs, often the punishment doesn’t fit crime so there is little deterrent for repeating the “crime.”
5. Trust is soft and can’t be measured. And that which can’t be measured, can’t be managed.

It’s #5 that perhaps bears the least weight. There are numerous measurements of organizational trust and trustworthiness. Trust Across America-Trust Around the World has aggregated 5 years of data proving the Return on Trust in public companies. Other global trust experts have validated assessment tools measuring the most important indicators of qualitative trust in leaders, teams, employees, etc.

Organizations choosing  to be proactive about trust must turn over the right rock to find the help they need. It doesn’t come from legal, compliance, risk, crisis management, CSR, sustainability, marketing or traditional leadership expertise. The only way to craft a trust-building strategy that “sticks” is by having the right people do it, and those are trust experts, no one else.

Taking trust for granted is like breathing…until the heart attack makes it impossible. Then the victim tries to find the best Band Aid to temporarily stop the disease when it could have been totally avoided. Leaders who choose to be proactive about trust have a huge advantage over their competitors. All the excuses in the world won’t change that.

Have you answered our June “Pulse” on Trust question? Today is the last day to vote. It will take no more than 30 seconds.

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.

Who is less trustworthy? Politicians or big business?

Welcome!

Our monthly roundup is another 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!

Edward Marshall discusses the link between trust and the thriving workplace

Donna Boehme weighs in on the role of Boards in compliance

Randy Conley describes how trust is not a destination, but rather a journey.

Nadine Hack explains how the truth can set you free.

My most popular post this month was a Mother’s Day Special containing 20 quotes on building trust from the very lovable Dr. Seuss.

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
•  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.

Trust & regulation mix like oil and water, yet oil always rises to the top.

The 2015 PWC CEO Survey has just been released, and 78% of CEOs are concerned about over-regulation, and for good reason. Regulation happens to be a trust killer, but that’s not their main cause for concern. Regulation, like low trust slows down the pace of business and innovation. It’s also very costly.

Richard Sexton, PWC’s Vice Chairman of Global Assurance, filmed this short video in which he (attempts to) explain the important role of trust in business, except he misses the mark. To PWC, the route to trust is through (more) reporting. Create more boxes to check and teach companies how to check them and like magic, you’ve got trust!

So let’s recap, CEOs are burdened by increasing regulation and the escape hatch is via more reporting. Except trust CANNOT be regulated and it’s also NOT a check the box finite reporting “project.”

Building organizational trust begins when the CEO, with the support of his or her Board, commits to run a trust-based organization and takes the required steps to do so. But there are certain prerequisites that must be met in order to make this commitment:

• The C-Suite must acknowledge and embrace the importance of building trust. The business case has been made but it is being ignored by the vast majority of organizations.
• Building trust is a long-term strategy that may have a short-term negative impact on earnings.
• Trust as a business strategy requires a certain mindset and “type” of CEO, and a Board that supports this.
• And perhaps most important, building trust cannot be delegated.

Hiring more compliance staff, increasing regulation and checking more boxes will not build stakeholder trust, regardless of what this survey and others have claimed. PWC may be carving out a “reporting” practice area that will serve it’s internal needs and that of its clients for many years to come, but it’s as much about trust as oil and water.

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.