Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World  published the first in a planned series of award-winning books.  TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

This tenth essay in our series brings advice from Israel and my friend Lilach Felner, a Marketing Consultant helping companies become trustworthy. She has developed the Trust-based Strategy Model that was included in an essay written by Patricia Aburdene contained in our book, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset.  She is also the Founder of I Trust U. itrustu.biz 

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.

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World  published the first in a planned series of award-winning books.  TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

This eighth essay in our series brings pearls of wisdom from  Davis Young, a public relations counselor and author of Trust is the Tiebreaker.  In collaboration with client Revco Drug Stores, he received the best of Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America for the single finest program of the year nationally.

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.

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World  published the first in a planned series of award-winning books.  TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

The seventh essay in our series brings advice from Carol Anderson, a Principal at Anderson Performance Partners LLC who blogs at The Intersection Blog, where she shares experiences and ideas for intersecting learning with continuous performance improvement. Anderson Performance Partners LLC is a certified woman/veteran-owned business, working with organizations to facilitate problem solving through workforce energy and innovation. She has experience in human resources leadership in government, retail, consulting services, financial services and healthcare, and a bias for positioning human resources as a business partner that adds real value. Carol is also a member of the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts (ATBE)

Superficial CEOs and Their Boards

After several months of sitting in Board Compensation Committee meetings as an internal executive comp consultant, I noticed something a little troubling.  The CEO told the Committee exactly what he wanted them to know.  And they never asked questions, or probed for deeper information.  What the CEO wanted them to know was superficial.  It became even more evident that he was staying at the 30,000 foot level (everything’s great) as the stock price plummeted and the economy was tanking.

It was an interesting lesson for me.  As I watched, month after month, the financials sink further and further from target, and as I listened to the justification as to why the executive incentive targets should be adjusted or key talent would leave at this critical time, I squirmed.

Where were these highly paid, intelligent, experienced board members?  They read the papers like we did, and they had insider information on what was happening in the organization.  But they never asked a pointed question.  Oh they asked some superficial questions of the CEO, which he answered with his usual panache, and then they approved the restructuring of the targets. 

I wanted to ask the questions myself, even knowing the answers but obviously thought better of that.  I thought about grabbing someone during a break and throwing them a question to ask, but thought better of that too.  So, as the economy slid further in 2008, the organization ultimately went bankrupt.

We all know that a board member has a fiduciary responsibility to the organization, but I wonder if all board members really understand what that means.

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

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.

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World  published the first in a planned series of award-winning books.  TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

The sixth essay in our series brings us the wisdom of Alan Williams, Managing Director of SERVICEBRAND GLOBAL, who coaches service sector organizations, internationally and in the UK, to deliver inspiring service for competitive advantage. Alan created the 31Practices concept and approach and is co-author of the book THE 31 PRACTICES: release the power of your organisation’s VALUES every day. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, a Board member of the British Quality Foundation and a Steering Group member of the recently formed UK Values Alliance.

“It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It)” [1]

Core values are traits or qualities representing deeply held beliefs. In an organization, values (explicit or implicit) define what it stands for and how it is seen and experienced by stakeholders (customers, employees, service partners, suppliers and communities). 

The tone is set by every employee. People notice how leaders of an organisation behave.  Yet, wherever you are, you have influence on those around you.  The organization is only as good as each of the component parts.

The power of living values is described by David MacLeod, Chair of the UK Government-sponsored Employee Engagement Task Force in the UK: “All organizations have some values on the wall. What we found was that when those values were different from what colleagues and bosses do, that brings distrust. When they align, then it creates trust.”[2]

The transparency brought by the internet and social media will arguably bring the importance of values into even sharper focus than ever before. Organizations are no longer what they say they are but what others say they are.

[1]Probably best known for the version by The Fun Boy Three and Bananarama 1982  but in fact, the original version is a calypso song written by jazz musicians Melvin “Sy” Oliver and James “Trummy” Young. It was first recorded in 1939 by Jimmie Lunceford, Harry James, and Ella Fitzgerald.

[2] Laura Chamberlain (2012). Four key enablers to employee engagement, Personnel Today, 27^th January 2012. 

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.

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World  published the first in a planned series of award-winning books.  TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

A quick reference on what’s been covered so far this month:

August 1: There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees explains why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

August 2: Kill the Evening Before Dinner and take a small group of front line employees to dinner instead.

The third essay in our series is from a speech delivered by Pär Larshans, the Chief Sustainability Officer at Max Hamburger Restaurants, a Swedish, family owned fast-food company, that employees many workers with disabilities. He speaks regularly on leadership, sustainability and human rights and also lectures on behalf of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Swedish Institute.  He is a member of the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts (ATBE) and has been named a 2014 Top Thought Leader in Trustworthy Business by Trust Across America-Trust Around the World.

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

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.

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World  published the first in a planned series of award-winning books.  TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

Yesterday’s post…. There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees discussed why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

The second essay in our series was written by Robert Galford, Managing Partner of the Center for Leading Organizations and a Leadership Fellow in Executive Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. He is the co-author of The Trusted Advisor, The Trusted Leader, and Your Leadership Legacy. He is on the Faculty of the National Association of Corporate Directors, and is Chair of the Compensation and Governance Committee on the Board of Directors of Forrester Research. He is also a member of the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts (ATBE) and has been named a 2014 Top Thought Leader in Trustworthy Business by Trust Across America-Trust Around the World.

I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

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.

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World  published the first in a planned series of award-winning books.  TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites. In this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

We begin our series with advice from David A. Shore, PhD, a former associate dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, and the founding director of Harvard’s Trust Initiative; and his colleague Jona Raasch, CEO, The Governance Institute (TGI), a division of NRC, a member based organization with 1000+ healthcare organization membership.

I hope you have enjoyed this first sneak peak into the trust treasures contained in our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.

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.

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

August is “Transparency” Month 

according to Trust Across America’s

2014 Calendar

Merriam Webster defines “transparent” as visibility or accessibility of information, especially with business practices. A leader who thinks he or she can still hide behind a veil of secrecy need only spend a few minutes on social media reading what stakeholders are saying.

During the  52 weeks of 2014 you can build trust in your organization by thinking about, discussing and following the advice of the experts. Below are weekly reflections on trust for August 2014.

Week 1: It’s useful to think of trust and its payoffs on a continuum. Elsie Maio, Humanity Inc.

Week 2: Trust is the acceptance of risk, and thus gives the ability to foresee, acknowledge and understand that no one is perfect. Stephen Marsh, PhD, UOIT, Canada

Week 3: Long-term trust trumps short-term profits and public relations gimmicks. Timothy J. McClimon, American Express Foundation

Week 4: Self-organized teams (SOTs) require and reinforce trust. Deb Mills-Scofield, Innovanomics

Please share your comments and suggestions! Email: 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.

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Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Have you ever considered the inverse relationship between product warranties and trust? I have.

According to my friends at Merriam-Webster a warranty is: a written statement that promises the good condition of a product and states that the maker is responsible for repairing or replacing the product usually for a certain period of time after its purchase. 

The catch phrase is “a certain period of time.”

As consumers, how often have we heard the following:

1. It’s not covered under warranty.
2. Sorry, your warranty expired last week.
3. Do you have a copy of your warranty?
4. Do you know the length of your warranty?
5. Did you send in the warranty?

In essence the manufacturer is setting a time limit on its own reputation and building a wall of mistrust between itself and its customers. I’m not suggesting that warranties should not exist. I suppose there are times when they are needed, although I can’t think of any offhand.

If you are interested in reading about the history of the warranty including such events as the 1975 Magnuson-Moss FTC Warranty Improvement Act, express vs. written, repair and replace, breach of warranty, disclaimers and limitation and dozens of other “laws” please click here. (Thank you Paul E. Wojcicki for incorporating all this information in one neat Slideshare.) Imagine how many lawyers it took to write the warranty rules and how many are needed to enforce them! Let’s not even think about the gross annual costs to society of warranty litigation.

How about instead, if companies just “did the right thing?”

Sometimes they do.

Yesterday I called Kohler to inquire about replacing a broken head on my kitchen faucet. The call wait time was very short, an English-speaking customer service rep answered, some basic information was collected (name, address, phone) and the matter was resolved in under 5 minutes. The outcome: The part is being replaced at no charge. There was little discussion of warranties. The closest was the question as to when the item was purchased. I told the CSR I had no idea, as I could not remember when we had our kitchen remodeled.

So hat’s off to Kohler for standing behind their product and “doing what is right” instead of only “what is legal.” And the way they do business is clearly not by accident. Founded in 1873, Kohler is a family-owned business, and a privately held company. You can read their mission statement here. Their employees seem happy and they have won many awards. The CEO, Herbert Kohler, Jr. is the founder’s grandson. And I’ll bet you didn’t know that the company owns several golf courses and an arts center in Wisconsin! Do you think culture and values are high on the priority list of this company? Are you surprised they have been in business for so long? I’m not. It seems they try to “do right” by all their stakeholders. I doubt the company is perfect, but they certainly set high standards.

Kohler has built trust with this consumer, and based on the success of the company, with many others as well. Can you guess who will get my business next time I need a new fixture?

Thank you Kohler. You are truly a role model for trustworthy business.

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.

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Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Have a question? Feel free to contact me: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Recently I saw an ad for a men’s wristwatch. The company had substituted the “5” on the watch face for a picture of a martini. Apparently this reminds the wearer of the watch that it’s time to leave work and head for the bar!  It got me thinking about “humpday” and TGIF, the “grind” as some call it, and all the expressions workers use to show their disdain for their jobs.

Gallup released a poll in 2013 showing that a shocking 63 percent of employees are disengaged and another 24 percent are actively disengaged. Those disengaged workers cost business over $300 billion per year.

We know that happy workers are productive workers, so apparently the majority are pretty unhappy nowadays. Can you blame them? Overwork, underpay, job insecurity, and many less tangible reasons. And the root cause… organizations with leaders who place little to no value on their employees. Inflated egos, inattention, inability to say “thank you,” and perhaps worst of all, lack of transparency. This is how business is done, and  trust is busted. In a recent blog post  called “In Building Trust Actions Speak Louder than Words,” I offered some very simple suggestions for leaders who want to give trust a try. Pick  just one or two from this list today and watch engagement grow immediately.

Not convinced?  Look what happens at companies like Zappos when employee engagement is placed very high on the “to do” list. And as my friends at Edelman like to say, “If you want your employees to trust you, try engaging with them.” You may find less of them checking their watches for that 5 o’clock reminder to head to the bar.

Thank goodness today is Monday! I love my job and occasionally I even pat myself on the back.

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.

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Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Have a question? Feel free to contact me: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com