Lay a strong foundation of trust or make a costly fix in the future. You decide.  Barbara Brooks Kimmel

Over time, homes built on weak foundations develop structural issues- cracked walls, crooked floors, leaky roofs. Organizations are no different.

Yesterday I was speaking with someone who holds a senior position in a startup company. I asked him whether trust is being built into the DNA. After he rolled his eyes, he said “the “team” was too busy for that.” I cautioned that the road ahead could be very bumpy and inefficient, and that long-term success was questionable. Then I turned my back and rolled my eyes!

Building trust into the business strategy at the startup stage increases efficiency (more timely, less costly) and is so much easier and less expensive than making the repairs later on.

These are three steps startups can take to build a foundation of trust. We call this our VIP Model (Values, Integrity, Promises Kept).

Vision & Values: Leaders must collaboratively identify what the organization wants to achieve. Why does it exist and what does it stand for? Bring the team together to write a statement of values or a corporate credo. Discuss it weekly. Modify as required. Don’t know where to start? Here’s a sample. We can direct you to other resources as well.

Integrity: Model openness and vulnerability; use transparent decision making; listen carefully; ask for input; don’t bite off more than you can chew; don’t exaggerate or make false claims; communicate and then communicate again.

Promises: What are the goals and intentions for each of your stakeholder groups? What promises can you make and what steps do you need to take to fulfill them? Do not make promises you can’t keep.

Don’t wait to build trust into your organization’s DNA. The stronger the foundation, the lower the likelihood of cracked walls in the future.

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 and the Executive Editor of TRUST! Magazine. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

Have you seen our brand new magazine TRUST!

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

A warm smile is the universal language of kindness. William Arthur Ward

There are several frameworks and models of trustworthy leadership. Some describe the “three C’S” of Character, Competence and Consistency, while another substitutes “consistency” for compassion. Randy Conley, the Vice President of Client Services & Trust Practice Leader for The Ken Blanchard Companies, and one of our Alliance members, employs the ABCDs as a model (Able, Believable, Connected, Dependable.) At Trust Across America we like to say that trustworthy leaders are VIPS’s (Values, Integrity and Promises kept.)

Yesterday a colleague shared this Harvard Business Review article discussing the work of behavioral science researchers at Princeton (Amy Cuddy and Susan Fiske) and Lawrence University’s Peter Glick.  Simply, the most influential traits of great leaders are warmth and strength. The difficulty comes in deciding which comes first, and if you are like me, you will be surprised at the findings.

Why are these traits so important? Because they answer two critical questions: “What are this person’s intentions toward me?” and “Is he or she capable of acting on those intentions?” Together, these assessments underlie our emotional and behavioral reactions to other people, groups, and even brands and companies. 

When considering the most important traits of those who lead with trust, which do you think comes first, warmth or strength?

Drop me a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com or leave a comment.

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 and the Executive Editor of TRUST! Magazine. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

Have you seen our brand new magazine TRUST!

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, but of choice.

Not something to wish for, but to attain.”

— William Jennings Bryan

Since the financial crisis of 2008 the media’s fixation on the “rotten apples” in the industry has been unrelenting. Under the theory that “bad news sells” the public is reminded daily and left with diminishing expectations for a return to a more trustworthy financial services environment.

But what if I told you there is a silver lining? Contrary to popular belief, when it comes to trust, industry is NEVER destiny.

In the inaugural edition of TRUST! Magazine, we bring together global experts to help us explore companies and leaders who have chosen a different path. These are NOT the stories we hear about in the news, but they are the ones that SHOULD be reported. We have chosen to provide the public with the “other side” of this coin, not just corporate window dressing “best practices,” but actually, the “real deal.”

Trust has been built into the corporate DNA at these financial institutions. It is at the heart of how business is done, and it is practiced and reinforced daily. When we started Trust Across America-Trust Around the World in 2009, our mission was to highlight the “good guys” and showcase their best practices in an unbiased and impartial manner.  Consistent with our approach over the past five years, our readers will not find a single advertisement in this 50+ page magazine. We have elected instead to charge a small fee to cover our costs.

We hope you find value in the Magazine and choose to share it with others. Together we can push this enormous trust boulder up the hill.

ACCESS THE TABLE OF CONTENTS AND LEARN MORE

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, and Executive Editor of TRUST! Magazine. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing. Rollo May

Nan Russell, a member of our Trust Alliance and author of Trust, Inc.: How to Create a Business Culture That Will Ignite Passion, Engagement, and Innovation, shares 12 Communication Practices That Elevate Communication and Build Trust in today’s blog post:

The communication practices below lift understanding, create aligned purpose, improve relationships, and enable healthy and productive differences, and while doing so, increase trust-building:

1. Know what matters to the people you lead
2. Have dialogues without personal agendas or assumed answers
3. Express heartfelt, specific gratitude
4. Be forthcoming about your objective, purpose, or goal
5. Align your actions with your words
6. Operate with thoughtful transparency
7. Paint word-pictures to make something seeable, doable, and purposeful
8. Be about the right action, not the action that’s right for you
9. Be open to all methods of communication
10. Offer feedback as opinion, not fact
11. Listen to learn
12. Be the message, not the messenger, for respect, integrity, and compassion

Communication that builds trust is elevated because it brings honesty, integrity, authenticity, and caring into the conversation.

Thank you Nan for sharing this guest blog post with us. For more information about Nan, visit her website.

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.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

                                                                                               Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Followers who tell the truth, and leaders who listen to it, are an unbeatable combination  — Warren Bennis

Last week Jack Haren, the President and CFO of Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc. delivered a short speech at the CFO of the Year Luncheon in Troy, NY. Mohawk is North America’s largest privately owned (4th generation) manufacturer of fine papers, envelopes and specialty substrates for commercial and digital printing. Jack chose the subject of trust and was kind enough to allow me to reprint his speech.

I have selected the question: What advice would you give someone going into leadership position for the first time? 

Putting aside the obvious ingredients of diligence and hard work, the INSIGHT that I would share is that long term career success is powered by the ability to generate TRUST.

Merriam- Webster dictionary defines trust as the assured reliance on the character, ability and strength of someone or something.

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As a mentor, I would remind them that Trust cannot be purchased. It doesn’t come with a college degree, your family name or your zip code.

It can only be earned.

It comes forth from the values you exhibit…the way you interact with peers, subordinates and superiors.    

It comes when you demonstrate that the MEANS that you employ to accomplish an end have as much to say about your success as the final result.

 ——————————————————————————————–

I would remind them that Trust is fueled by consistency, fairness and openness.

It is strengthened by adversity.

It is built up over a series of experiences, a series of projects, a period of years.

——————————————————————————————–

Finally, it is a quality that will draw others to you.  It is an essential of  leadership.

BUT a caution…it is very fragile… so handle it with great care.

Thank you Jack. Your commitment to trust is reflected in the ongoing success of your company.

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.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

                                                                                               Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed – the culture reflects the realities of the people working together every day – Frances Hesselbein

Bob Whipple of LeaderGrow and a member of our Trust Alliance, was kind enough to contribute today’s guest blog post. He tackles the question of how trust is impacted when organizations make major changes.

When organizations make major changes, such as reorganizations, mergers, or acquisitions, the trust that was in the  groups prior to the action is often lost quickly. This happens for a variety of reasons, as I have documented in my book Trust in Transition: Navigating Organizational Change (ASTD Press, 2014)

The success of the entire change process depends on trust—the trust level before integration and the trust maintained during the process. It matters a lot on the conditions going into the action. There are three possible situations as follows:

1. There is high trust within both groups to begin with. This is the best condition because it allows for people to weather the shock of the change, having some faith that things can work out in the end.
2. One group has high trust, but in the other one the culture has been damaged by prior leadership behaviors. The entity with higher trust will usually do better in the negotiation because there is more free flow of information and fewer problems to hide.
3. When both groups have low trust, it becomes extremely difficult to make progress because there is work to be done around all the interpersonal issues at every juncture. If a group has low trust in their own organization before a merger, then there is little hope that they will have more trust in the other group. It becomes a real mess to unscramble.

As the integration unfolds, the level of trust going in to a major change has a lot to do with how successful it will be.  Make sure that you test the level of trust and keep it strong throughout the process for the best result.

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPLP, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of: Trust in Transition: Navigating Organizational Change, The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations.

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.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

                                                                                               Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Without trust people give up on relationships and leave organizations. Ken Blanchard

(from Trust Across America’s Weekly Reflections on Trust 2014)

Last week we added a new blog feature called Organizational Trust this Week, beginning with the “Good” and ending with the “Ugly.” Each story contains a trust component and at least one lesson for organizations seeking to make trust a business imperative.

THE GOOD

Under new leadership, SAC Capital (now Point 72 Asset Management) will “Reward What Matters”

What happens when the word “integrity” is omitted from the mission statement?

This boss lists “being direct” as a key to good leadership.

THE BAD

Are the actions of the new Walmart CEO trust-builders or trust-busters?

The food retailer who took one step forward and two steps back in building trust.

Are Boards moving in a “trustworthy leadership” direction in their selection of CEOs?

THE UGLY

Dear CDC, You can’t win back something that never existed.

OUR MOST POPULAR POST THIS WEEK

And finally, Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s most popular post on LinkedIn Pulse this week. The Trust Crisis is a Preventable Disease.

Send us your stories for consideration in future editions of Organizational Trust this Week. 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.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

                                                                                               Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

I don’t care what you think unless it is about me. Kurt Cobain  

The baggage we carry over from childhood impacts the odds of being trustworthy team members or leaders as adults.

Who can recall the elementary school classmates who insisted on being:

• First in line
• First to raise their hand (that was me)
• First at bat
• First piece of cake
• First to be picked for the team
• Last to share

Baby Boomers, those of us born between 1946 and 1964 are known as the “Me” generation, narcissism being our most prominent feature.

Many of us have carried our “Me first” perspective into adulthood, but unfortunately, this narcissistic, ego-driven attitude does not go very far in building trust. In fact, according to this study, narcissistic CEO’s do not make good leaders.

As I’ve said in previous blog posts, what many are calling a “crisis of trust,” I see as a crisis of leadership. If organizational trust is the goal, the “We first” leader must assume the helm from his “Me first” colleague.

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.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

                                                                                               Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else. Yogi Berra

• Does your organization have a mission statement?
• How about core values and operating principles?
• How often do you as the leader read them?
• How often do you discuss them with your team?

No leader can build a trust-based organization without laying the foundation first. 

This is the mission of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World. We call it “Words We Live By.”

WORDS WE LIVE BY

Mission

Our MISSION is to help enhance trustworthy behavior in organizations. This will be accomplished with:

• URGENCY. Shining the spotlight on the critical importance of trustworthy organizational behavior.
• LEADERSHIP. Identifying thought leaders around the world who are advancing the trust and integrity movement.
• IDEAS. Serving as a clearinghouse for thoughtful ideas in the areas of trust and integrity.
• EXCHANGE. Providing forums that encourage networking, collaboration, and the sharing of best practices among thought leaders.
• METRICS. Providing the most comprehensive, objective and unbiased frameworks and metrics.
• CHANGE. Raising the bar by showcasing best practices.
• ACTION. Bridging the gap between theory and day-to-day organizational practices.
• SUCCESS. Promoting the correlation between operating within a trustworthy framework and achieving success.

And these are our Core Values and Principles:

Core Values and Principles

• Integrity
  

  To operate with the highest levels of integrity in all that we do.

• Quality
  

  To collaborate with highly respected, ethical individuals and organizations.

  To share the ideas of highly respected thought leaders who want to advance the cause of organizational trust and are not out for personal gain.

  To create the most integrated, comprehensive and holistic methodology for evaluating trustworthy behavior.

• Community
  

  To build a flexible, entrepreneurial organization with a low cost structure. This is achieved by supplementing our core group of professionals with a “community” of highly specialized individuals and firms that share our values.

• Objectivity
  

  To align our organization with respected leaders and organizations that have established solid reputations of unbiased professionalism in their fields.

  To measure company trustworthiness using external independent data and not allowing companies to “game the system” by completing in-house questionnaires.

  To ensure that there is no quid pro quo in return for association with or participation in Trust Across America – Trust Around the World.

  To fund the organization without displaying favoritism or giving the perception of an implied endorsement. As such, we will not accept any form of advertising on our website.

• Credibility
  

  To shine the spotlight on “The Most Trustworthy Companies” and help them share best practices. (We will not engage in a race to expose “offenders.”)

• Success
  

  To improve organizational trustworthiness around the world, achieve growth and profitability, offer quality services, and strengthen win-win relationships with world-class thought leaders who define excellence.

If you choose not to invest the time in building a foundation of trust for your organization, the road you take may lead you to the wrong destination.

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.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

                                                                                               Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Trust is the essence of leadership  — Colin Powell

Let’s face it, being a trustworthy leader and leading a trustworthy organization are not rocket science. The biggest problem with trust is that it is not “regulated” and therefore, most leaders don’t think about it. Trust is taken for granted. Imagine if CEO compensation was tied to an annual trust audit!

The second biggest problem is an outcome of the first. When trust is not practiced proactively or when a leader hasn’t “banked” trust, he or she spends a good deal of time putting out fires and reacting to crises. There is no time to build trust into the organizational DNA.

Regardless of the size or type of organization you lead, choosing trust as a business imperative means the strategy starts with you. Begin today by following these simple suggestions:

• Be honest: Once you tell a lie, nobody will believe anything you say.
• Be selfless: Put others before yourself- ask how you can help and mean it.
• Be humble: Park your ego at the door.
• Be inclusive: Celebrate and share the successes of others.
• Be accountable: Always keep your word.
• Be appreciative:  Never forget the “Thank you.”
• Be apologetic: Admit your mistakes.
• Be competent:  It’s okay to say “I don’t know.”
• Be consistent: Always lead the same way.
• Be patient: Take time to teach.
• Be persistent: Build trust into the daily agenda.
• Be open-minded: Sometimes change is good.
• Be positive: People like being around others who are.
• Be curious: Learn from others.
• Be risk tolerant: Innovation will flourish when people are allowed to make mistakes.
• Be transparent: Let others know what you are thinking.
• Be authentic: Don’t be a phony.
• Be an enabler: Allow people to make independent decisions.
• Be human: Share personal stories with your team.
• Be fun: And finally, don’t forget to laugh at your own mistakes and enjoy the journey with your team.

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.

Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

                                                                                               Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.