Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

A little secret…. do you know the single factor that impacts an organization’s bottom line more than any other?

Low trust.

It’s almost a guarantee that one of these is present in your organization and your bottom line is suffering as a result:

• Boards members don’t trust each other, nor do they trust the CEO
• Executives don’t trust themselves nor their management team
• Employees don’t trust their bosses and vice versa
• Consumers don’t trust the products to deliver what they say they will and they certainly don’t trust customer service to respond in any way that elevates trust
• Communities don’t trust the company not to pollute the local environment.

And so on…

Sound familiar?

Trustworthy organizations have a trust “edge” over their competitors, directly impacting profitability through:

• Faster decision making
• Speed of innovation
• Higher employee retention with better overall health and less stress
• Increased customer loyalty
• Long-term focus and less short-term pressure
• Fewer crises
• Improved hiring- people want to work for trustworthy employers
• Elevated reputation with all stakeholders
• Holistic organizational “wellness”

Contrary to what others may say or believe, the decision to lead with trust is always made at the top. When the leader lays it on the line that character and integrity matter more than short-term profitability, the entire organization shifts its long-term perspective and the way it “does” business. It’s up to the CEO to:

• First gain an understanding of what a trust strategy means across the entire organization (it’s not ethics or compliance) and how a trustworthy company should act.
• Communicate values loud and clear to all stakeholders- board of directors, employees, shareholders, vendors, suppliers, customers.
• Keep that word and promise ALWAYS. Live up to those espoused values. There’s nothing worse than a leader who “talks trust” but fails to walk it.
• Use communications channels to issue frequent reminders about the trust and integrity imperative in the organization.
• Become accessible- Roll up those sleeves, leave the ivory tower and go to talk to the people who make it possible to buy those custom-made shirts.
• Display excellence always. Nothing speaks “trust” louder than character, competence and consistency combined with a bit of generosity.

Companies that proactively build trust into their DNA see expenses decrease and profitability increase.

Not yet convinced?  Take a moment to read this short article that makes the business case for trust from a research perspective.

Need more proof? This is an excellent summary of where we are today in corporate America and where we might be heading if we maintain the “low trust” status quo.

Lemmings tend to follow each other off cliffs. Those who choose a different path to profitability never get close enough to the cliff to worry about falling off.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Some encouraging headlines for consumers, employees and the public….

McDonalds is limiting the use of antibiotics in its chicken according to NPR

Nestle says “Goodbye” to artificial colors as reported by CNN

Be it for the right or wrong reasons, Walmart is raising its minimum wage as is TJX

Capital One empowers Americans to close the digital skills gap by committing $150 million in community grants

When companies do more than just talk about the importance of “good business” and begin walking it with commitments like the above, it’s a good sign. From my perspective these announcements sound like more than just corporate window dressing.

It’s worth mentioning that McDonald’s has a brand new CEO and Walmart a relatively new one. Nestle is a Swiss company, and TJX is run by a woman. The CEO of Capital One, Richard Fairbank is also its founder.

Building organizational trust is a “top down” business strategy. Sometimes it takes a new leader to bring a fresh perspective regarding the imperative to build trust with all stakeholders. Other times tenure is more important, and recently it’s been reported by Fortune that women not only make better CEOs, but perform 3X better than the S&P 500.

Whatever the reasons, I’m glad to read these headlines and hope more companies follow suit. Let’s keep the momentum going on that tidal shift in organizational trust.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

And that is why I’m glad that I am not a Goop, are you?– Gillette Burgess

Who remembers the childhood poem about The Goops? It’s an oldie but goodie. Our family recited it in lieu of a prayer at the dinner table, and now as an adult, I have relatively good table manners. When we don’t teach our children “right from wrong” and ignore or overlook their bad behavior, they carry it into adulthood.

Certain professions are reputed for low ethics- bankers, lawyers, PR firms, marketing consultants. The world of trust and leadership is not without its goops, perhaps because there are simply no barriers to entry. One need not have a college degree, any experience or table manners. Like me, I’m sure you’ve met your fair share along the way.

Use this as a checklist to identify the next goop you meet.

• They grandstand about the importance of trust, integrity, values, ethics and leadership but are incapable of walking it in their daily lives. They never learned how to use the soup spoon, let alone the knife and fork.
• They help themselves to the work of others without proper attribution, also known as plagiarism.
• They “borrow” intellectual property-  logos, pictures, articles and anything else they choose with a sense of entitlement and no remorse.
• Their professional “claims” can’t be verified or checked.
• They are quick to blame but slow to accept responsibility.
• They say they are givers which makes them the worst kind of takers.
• They don’t keep their word.
• They speak hollow lingo- “listening” (this week), “mindfulness” (last week) and “trust” the week before.
• “Thank you” and “I’m sorry” are not part of their vocabulary.
• They lick their plates 🙂

Do any of the above sound familiar?

Why do we have “high trust” expectations of leaders in business, politics, media and sports? Why should we expect these public figures to be trustworthy when many of the people who claim to be the teachers and advisors to leaders on ethics and trust are not?

It’s lunchtime. I think I’ll go slurp some soup and join the rest of the goops. On second thought, I think I’ll pass. I’d rather go hungry. How about you?

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

How much are you trusted personally or professionally? It’s not that difficult to be trust “worthy” and the rewards are enormous. Instead, most people choose to take trust for granted. They simply don’t stop to consider the benefits of high trust including lower costs (both monetary and emotional) and increased speed of decision making.

Here’s YOUR daily trust “cheat sheet.” Try it for one week!

• Want your kids to trust you? Catch them doing something right and let them know.
• Want your spouse to trust you? Do ANYTHING for them without being asked. Show you appreciate them.
• Want your co-worker to trust you? Invite them to lunch and share something personal. Be a bit vulnerable.
• Want your boss to trust you? Show up on time with no excuses. Be reliable.
• Want your employees to trust you? Tell each one individually why you appreciate them. Show gratitude.

Mean what you say and say what you mean.

Character, competence, consistency and a bit of gratitude. It’s really quite easy.

Don’t forget to let me know what happens at the end of the week.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

According to an earlier report by NJ 101.5 radio Chris Christie said he played by the rules during recent travel. And how exactly does Christie define playing by the rules?

“Everything that I do is cleared by ethics folks before I do it, and yeah I’m completely comfortable with it because I comply with the rules,” he said.

Makes sense, so what’s the problem? After all, it seems Christie broke no rules nor violated any laws.

Simply stated, the “ethics folks” are all attorneys. They are charged with ensuring compliance and nothing more. But what if Christie had posed the same scenario to his invisible “trust” staff. No doubt, their answer would have been quite different.

And therein lies the problem.

The public is demanding something else, something more than just compliance, something meaningful and authentic. Something that shows character and values. Whether it’s politicians, business leaders or sports figures, “playing by the rules” is no longer “enough.”

Visionary leaders build trust into their organization’s DNA through trustworthy leadership. While their “ethics folks” are certainly capable of keeping them “legal,” it takes the right kind of leader, surrounded by the right staff, to proactively take the next step toward building stakeholder trust.

Sorry Chris. From one LHS grad to another I like you, but you’re not getting what it takes to differentiate yourself from your colleagues.  The good news is, you have lots of company that doesn’t either.

And fortunately, it’s never too late to start building trust.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Welcome! Our monthly roundup is the latest collaborative undertaking of our Trust Alliance, self 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.

If you only read one post, read this one!

In Psychology Today, Nan Russell explains “The Real Reason Most Leaders Aren’t Thinking About Trust”

Doug Turner Shows How Trust Precedes Innovation in HR Voice.

Are You Leading With a Wounded Spirit? Effective leadership is about who you are as a person—your values, beliefs, and character—and much less about what you actually do in terms of leadership techniques or practices. If your inner life as a leader is off track, it diminishes the impact you have on others. In this post Randy Conley shares five warning signs you may be leading with a wounded spirit.

Holly Latty-Mann explains how avoiding confrontation erodes credibility and trust.

Creating and sustaining trust requires an ongoing commitment in all our endeavors, personally and professionally.  As it’s something we pass on to those with whom we interact, Nadine Hack wrote this post about that process.

Linda Fisher Thornton asks 7 Questions For Ethical Culture Building.

And finally, my most popular post for the month: Build Organizational Trust, Ten “Ts”

Our next monthly roundup will be published at the end of March.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Donna Boehme recently shared a Wall St. Journal article by Ben DiPietro called I Wouldn’t Trust Us if I Were You.

A survey of 1,000 security and IT executives from around the world found 25% of respondents saying if they were a customer of their organization, they wouldn’t trust their company to store and manage their personal data…The research findings reveal some interesting contradictions between the perception and the reality of data security.

The article goes on to explore the findings from other data security surveys. But it was the comment at the end by Bruce K. that drove the point of today’s blog post home. Bruce writes:

Several years ago when I was working for a large international firm I found that the senior company execs that knew the least about IT were the most confident about their companies security and in many cases these were the companies that had the most porous borders. and data security controls.

Does the same apply to other important yet overlooked factors impacting organizational trust? Employee engagement, innovation, speed of decision making, and most important, profitability? As companies remain “stuck” in quarterly earnings and “compliance only” mentality, are senior execs ignoring the conditions that elevate organizational trust?

Data breaches are just one symptom of a diseased organization. Perhaps the impact of the others is not as deeply felt, but sometimes those are the ones that pose the largest threat to long-term success.

Our Trust Alliance has assembled a basic membership toolkit of organizational trust resources to help leaders in the best organizations get better by building trust into their long-term business strategy. The rest can continue to turn a deaf ear to trust and wait for the next data breach.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Not everything that’s legal is ethical, and not everything that’s ethical is trustworthy. Or is it? Well, it’s often subjective and the answer just might depend on who you ask.

Every January upon naming our Top Thought Leaders in Trust, unrelated third party companies troll our website seeking to grab our latest list and sell plaques and other “awards” to our honorees. These unscrupulous companies even prepare samples that include the name of our organization, giving the illusion that we have authorized these transactions. Sadly, their business practices are not considered illegal. My guess is these companies have a team of lawyers who keep their employer just to the “right” of what’s legal, and therefore also consider their actions ethical, merely because they are not violating any laws.

And every year, I must send out an apology note to our honorees explaining that I have no affiliation with these companies and have not authorized them to solicit our thought leaders.

This year, we even went so far as to require registration to receive a free issue of TRUST! Magazine containing the complete list, in an effort to protect our honorees against the intrusion of these unethical trolls. A few days later, there they were, registering to obtain the list.

A trustworthy business approach might be for the same companies to contact us and engage in an “above board” and transparent business relationship. I’m sure more plaques could be sold if they gained the endorsement of the award sponsor.

This is a great example of the difference between legality, ethics and trust. Sometimes what’s legal is not ethical. And what’s not ethical can certainly never fall within the category of trustworthy. And that’s why ethics is only a component of trust, a much more difficult goal to attain, and where most organizations fall short. The three terms are not interchangeable. But don’t try to explain this to lawyers or compliance professionals. After all, trust is nothing more than a “soft” feel good word, and certainly not a business strategy. Or is it? You decide.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and I’m certainly not Dr. Ruth or an expert on interpersonal relationships, but I DO know a few things about trust. Whether interpersonal or organizational, low trust kills relationships.

According to Dr. Robert Glover

By nature women are security seeking creatures. Therefore, trust is everything and if you mess with a woman’s sense of trust, you also mess with her lust.

So on this Valentine’s Day 2015, I offer men (and women) around the world 6 simple ways to build trust (and sex) back into their relationships.

• Have integrity. Tell the truth, not just when it’s convenient but all the time. In other words, “Man up” even if you did something wrong.
• Be accountable by doing what you say you will do.
• Be consistent in your words and actions.
• Walk your talk. Don’t say “I care” without showing her you REALLY do.
• Be proactive. Do something nice without being asked.
• And finally, don’t forget the occasional “non-holiday” gift. It doesn’t need to be large or expensive, just make it meaningful and thoughtful, and a small sign that you know something about your “significant other” and that they exist.

Keep in mind that trust is built in incremental steps over time, and trust violations lengthen the process of (re)building it.

As Seth Godin said in his daily blog post today, Roses, chocolates and greeting cards are a stand-in for actual human emotions, a stand-in for caring and respect and love. But of course, it’s way easier to make the expense on chocolate go up than it is to actually care more.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Should Brian Williams have been fired?

Two recent surveys conducted by the public relations firm of Edelman and the polling firm of Rasmussen Reports place public trust in media at historic lows. Edelman’s most recent global Trust Barometer shows a continuing decline in trust, down from 53% a year ago to 51% in 2015. Rasmussen’s poll of Americans is just slightly better.

The Williams incident is certainly not NBC’s first scandal. In fact, just a few days prior, another NBC debacle was swept under the rug in Washington. And let’s not forget Don Imus, Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, Mitt Romney and Martin Bashir to name just a few in recent years.

Does NBC think that firing Brian Williams is going to reverse this escalating decline of consumer trust in the media? According to NBC News President Deborah Turness, they do. Apparently, Brian has “a responsibility to be truthful and uphold high standards,” while the rest of the organization gets a free “pass.” Turness has had her hands full since joining NBC in 2013. And  for those who may have forgotten who owns the company, it’s Comcast, under the direction of Brian Roberts, another organization with more than just an occasional “oops.” In fact, Frank Eliason, the original “Comcast Cares” guy recently wrote this article about his former employer. If your bill came addressed to “Dear A–Hole would your trust in Comcast increase or decrease?

Can anyone else identify the real culprit here? Call it a lie, an embellishment, a mistake or a conflation, what Brian Williams did was wrong. But should NBC have fired him? Considering Williams is just one mangled car in a bad train wreck, how much responsibility lies with his boss and his or her boss’s boss? After all, aren’t they at least as much to blame as Williams, if not more so?

NBC has a problem with its culture. In fact, the entire industry does. Yet, that goes unmentioned by the people who have the power to change it.  Deborah Turness certainly didn’t mention culture when she fired Williams. And until she, Brian Roberts the remainder of the “C Suite” and the Board of Directors acknowledge their untrustworthy culture and take responsibility for affecting change, the industry will continue to lose the public’s trust. That’s the way trust works.

Brian Williams is just a symptom of a much larger problem. What is stopping the executives at NBC and every other media outlet from taking responsibility and charting a course to fix this systemic disease? The downward spiral of public distrust in media need not continue. Will the industry use the Williams incident as a culture wake-up call, before the public turns its back on it for good? What do you think?

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in learning more, and 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 2015 Poster, 52 Weeks of Activities to Increase Organizational Trust is available to those who would like to support our work by making a small donation.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.