Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

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.

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 Napoleon Hill, an American author who wrote about success, but probably best known for Think and Grow Rich, one of the best-selling books of all time.  Hill was also an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 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. “When you are able to maintain your own highest standards of integrity – regardless of what others may do – you are destined for greatness.”
2. “Action is the real measure of intelligence.”
3. “An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.”
4. “There are no limitations to the mind except those that we acknowledge.”
5. “A quitter never wins and a winner never quits.”
6. “If you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way.”
7. “The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.”
8. “A goal is a dream with a deadline.”
9. “If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it . . . ”
10. “War grows out of desire of the individual to gain advantage at the expense of his fellow man.”
11. “Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”
12. “Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.”
13. “Enthusiasm is the steam that drives the engine.”
14. “Success requires no apologies, failure permits no alibis.”
15. “Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent.”
16. “The world has the habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going.”
17. “No one can make you jealous, angry, vengeful, or greedy; unless you let him.”
18. “No man has a chance to enjoy permanent success until he begins to look in a mirror for the real cause of all his mistakes.”
19. “You become what you think about.”
20. “TELL THE WORLD WHAT YOU INTEND TO DO, BUT FIRST SHOW IT. This is the equivalent of saying “deeds, and not words, are what count most.”

My favorites are #11, #15 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)

Have you answered our June “Pulse” on Trust question? 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.

How is it that large public companies, supposedly run by smart experienced leaders get the simple stuff so wrong?

I was completing a purchase at a discount clothing store (think Marshall’s, Target or Kohl’s.) The checker, a store manager, paused my transaction to search the small purse of an employee who was leaving work for the day. The message being sent to that employee from “above” is quite simple, “We don’t trust you not to steal.” I suggested to the manager that employees might be less inclined to steal if they believed that their employer trusted them, to which he replied “It’s the system.” I proposed he do whatever was in his power to change that system. My guess is he won’t for fear of losing his own job.

What does this story tell you about the culture of the organization? How do companies expect any loyalty, any engagement or any longevity from their employees when they treat them like criminals? A few ideas for senior management….

1. Do a better job screening your new hires
2. Pay your employees a decent hourly wage
3. Have a “one and done” policy on theft
4. Keep your employee searches out of sight of your customers.

Have you participated in Trust Quest, our monthly “pulse” on trust?

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.

Trust is the glue that binds every good relationship, or so we are told. The challenge not only lies in both definition and degree of trust, but too many people believe they are trustworthy when, in reality, they are not. In fact, both business leaders (and criminals) suffer from what is called “The Better than Average Effect,”  and we’ve all fallen victim to this psychological phenomenon at one time or another.

Think about how trust “worthy” you consider yourself and then check off how many of the following apply to you. You may not be quite as trust “worthy” as you thought.

1. Trust me, but don’t turn your back.
2. Trust me, but I come first.
3. Trust me, but I’m the boss.
4. Trust me, but I don’t walk my talk.
5. Trust me, but only in the office.
6. Trust me, but quarterly numbers trump employee well-being.
7. Trust me, but if the going gets rough…
8. Trust me, but only until there’s nothing left “in it” for me.
9. Trust me, but first impressions aren’t necessarily accurate.
10. Trust me, but only when I feel like telling the truth.

While some will argue that trust can be established quickly, I believe that trust takes time and is built in incremental steps. And like all bell curves, only a small percentage of people, even our most successful business leaders, are genuinely very trustworthy, regardless of how they perceive themselves.

As my friend Bob Vanourek at Triple Crown Leadership likes to say, “Always trust your instincts.” He’s right. They will rarely let you down.

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.

There is no doubt a link exists between generosity and trust. One of the great testaments to this can be found in a video produced by a surgeon named Mario Alonso Puig. But many people forget that building trust not only requires reciprocity but also a healthy balance between favors and greed.

In my current work, many of my professional contacts are very generous with their time, as am I. In fact, over the years (trust takes time and is built in incremental steps) we have built reciprocal relationships that are win/win for everyone in this growing circle, and often without the words “trust-building” ever being mentioned.

But as Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s audience and network has grown, we have fallen victim to what I call the “favor phenomenon”, those “simple requests” usually (but not always) from virtual strangers that flood our daily inbox:

1. Will you endorse my book?

2. Can I be a guest on your radio show?

3. Can you make an introduction to __________?

4. Can you help me raise money?

5. Can you get me a speaking engagement?

6. Will you come to my conference and pay to do so?

7. Will you donate to my charity?

8. Will you follow me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn?

Can you, will you, can you, will you? One pattern I’ve noticed is these folks, more often than not, have never engaged with us in the past, and may be the same people who claim to be “very busy.” So busy, in fact, that they have no time to build relationships.

Imagine how much faster trust might be built if these “favor askers” lead with trust!

1. I’ve read your book and just wrote an endorsement for you on Amazon.

2. I know of a media opportunity that I believe would be a perfect fit for you.

3. I would like to introduce you to _____________.

4. I want to donate to your cause.

5. I think you would be the perfect speaker at this event.

6. Please be my guest at my conference.

7. I’d like to make a donation to your favorite charity.

8. I follow you on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and have spent time familiarizing myself with the work you do. Here’s an example of your work that resonates with me.

And by the way, would you mind doing a small favor for me?

So why doesn’t this happen more often? Because most people, in their all-consuming quest to “get” something that provides a short-term benefit ONLY to themselves, also forget (or never learned) that:

• Leading with trust is essential in every healthy relationship, be it personal or business
• Trust is reciprocal
• Trust takes time to build.

It’s quite simple and certainly not rocket science. Try it. The long-term benefits may surprise you.

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.