Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

Yesterday I wrote about Ten Trust-Building Questions Leaders Should Be Asking and today I am following up with some easy suggestions and resources for accessing the trust-building answers.

Ten Trust-Building Resources for Leaders

1. Read a book on building trust
2. Watch a video on building trust
3. Receive cutting edge advice by joining our Alliance
4. Read a report on building trust
5. Contact an expert
6. Join a Circle of Trust
7. Hold a workshop
8. Plan a trust event. Make it fun!
9. Listen to the world’s leading trust experts via 4 years of Trust Across America Radio Archives
10. Send a note to Trust Across America-Trust Around the World. If it’s trust you are seeking, we have the resources to help. Contact: 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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Drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Business leaders are constrained by the number of hours in the day, and how they prioritize their time. Many spend a large percentage of it reacting to crises and extinguishing fires rather than proactively building business. If more leaders embraced the benefits of trust, they might have their time freed up for more worthwhile pursuits. So, if you are a leader, here are ten questions to ask yourself.

Ten Questions For Leaders Seeking to Build Trustworthy Organizations

1. Am I trustworthy? Does trust matter to me as an individual or in my professional life?
2. Is trust mentioned in our mission statement or corporate credo?
3. Do all stakeholders view me as trustworthy? Have I asked?
4. Do I talk about the importance of trust on a regular basis?
5. Do I engage my employees in discussions about trust?
6. Am I transparent?
7. Do I celebrate achievements? Do I allow mistakes?
8. Am I more concerned with profits or values?
9. Would I compromise my integrity?
10. Do I acknowledge the business case for trust?

What other questions should leaders be asking themselves in pursuit of building trustworthy organizations?  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. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

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Drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Yesterday at lunch my colleague made a statement I hear rather frequently.

“It takes years to build trust but it can be destroyed in a second.”

I don’t agree.

A person with high integrity, a leader with outstanding character, an organization that has committed the time to build a trust bank account will not have trust destroyed as quickly as those who haven’t.

Yes, trust building takes time.  In the long run it’s worth it. Your next misstep (and we all make them) may not be the one that brings down the house.

Why not start today?

What do you think? Leave your comments below or  send them along.

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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This morning, Seth Godin’s daily blog  “Beware the Zeitgeister” caught my attention and got me thinking.

From my bird’s eye perch, it appears that in certain circles “trust” has become quite the fashion statement in 2014. With increasing frequency, I read about the importance of trust from outside experts in leadership, teamwork, culture, innovation, engagement and many other disciplines.  But there is a very large (and perhaps the most important) stakeholder group missing from the conversation.

Can you name it? It’s senior leadership.

Last week I did an exhaustive search in an attempt to find examples of corporate leaders proactively talking about trust.

This is what I was able to find:

Lloyd’s CEO to Discuss Leadership and Rebuilding Trust

Dennis Lally of PWC on Rebuilding Trust from Value to Values

Marillyn Hewson, CEO Lockheed Martin on The First Thing a New Leader Should Do to Build Trust

and finally, IBM’s CEO Visits China for Trust Building Talks

Returning to Seth’s blog, while there are lots of examples of senior leaders “Zeitgeisting” trust after their company’s latest crisis, why do they hesitate to proactively embrace it as a way to do business?

While many of the right people are beginning to focus on the importance of trust in all aspects of business, we’ve yet to get “buy in” from those who could benefit the most.

What will it take?

Do you have more examples of senior leadership talking about trust? Please send them along.

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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How Much Does Trust Matter?

Earlier this week, in a blog post called Trust: The Direct Route to Profitability we updated our ongoing research on the Business Case for Trust. This post takes a closer look at the impact of our trust research on two companies in similar businesses.

Every year my friend and colleague Laura Rittenhouse at Rittenhouse Rankings releases her CEO Candor Survey equating candor with better stock performance. Laura’s work enhances our FACTS® Framework and has heightened my awareness of the manner in which CEOs choose to portray their companies in their annual letters to shareholders.

So on this rainy 4^th of July, I decided to take a closer look at two companies in the Business Services (Staffing) Sector. Trust Across America’s (TAA) database contains a total of seven companies in this group. Manpower Inc. received the distinction of being named the Most Trustworthy Public Company 2013 by TAA. The lowest scoring company in the sector is Resources Connection, Inc.

Should you choose, you can read the CEO letters to shareholders at the links below.  The contrast is striking in both content and candor. You can also compare the investment performance of the two companies over the past 5 years.

MANPOWER  (FACTS® Score 70)

www.manpower.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/Manpower/Annual_Report_MP_Inc/ManpowerGroup_Interactive_Annual_Report_2013.pdf

RESOURCES CONNECTION (FACTS® Score 42)

files.shareholder.com/downloads/RECN/3301951960x0x691297/5E63377E-98B5-4C22-9178-DA764B98C139/2013_Annual_Report.RECN.pdf

Is there a correlation between trust, values and company performance? What role does the CEO play in building a trustworthy culture?  In which company would you rather invest? 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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Leaders Often Overlook the Obvious

Remember, What You Give is Often What You Get 

The following comments are sure to reduce the level of trust among your team.

How often have you heard these?

• Who works for whom?
• Because I said so.
• Fudge it if you don’t know.
• Who do you think you are?
• Not now.
• So what? Who cares?
• Don’t make a mistake.
• Who do you think you’re talking to?
• My door is closed for a reason.
• Because I make the rules.

What would you add to this list of things trustworthy leaders should never say?

Please share your comments and suggestions! Email: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara 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.

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Are you a trustworthy leader?

What differentiates your leadership style from your peers?

While we continue to hear talk of the importance of  trust, rarely do we read about the leader who is placing trust at least somewhere near the top of his/her agenda. Trust Across America-Trust Around the World is looking for those “best in practice” leaders. We have assembled an online  questionnaire addressing trust as it relates to:

• SUCCESS
• PERFORMANCE
• COSTS
• BENEFITS
• COLLABORATION
• CULTURE
• ACTION
• LEADERSHIP
• TRANSFORMATION
• PROOF
• VISION

We want to hear your story and share it with others. Our goal is to continue to bring awareness to organizational trust as the new standard of leadership. Will you help us?

Please share your comments and suggestions! Email: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara 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.

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July is “Truth” Month 

according to Trust Across America’s

2014 Calendar

Truth-telling is at the core of trust. Any leader who wants to build a trustworthy organization must have an extremely comfortable relationship with the truth. No company is perfect and it’s not necessary to air all the dirty laundry – just don’t lie about it or intentionally mislead. In times of crisis, a habit of truth-telling yields particularly good returns.

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 the 5 weeks in July 2014.

Week 1: Trust is the glue that will bind the private, public and civil sectors together Eric Lowitt, Nexus Global Advisors

Week 2: Trust is the absence of fear. James Lukaszewski, The Lukaszewski Group

Week 3: When leaders convey their overall vision to employees, a high trust, highly committed organization can be created. Amy Lyman, The Trustworthy Leader

Week 4: The real advantage of trust is that it is the deepest yearning of all humans. Robert Porter Lynch, The Warren Company

Week 5: Ethics is the foundation of trust. Chris MacDonald, PhD, Ryserson University

Please share your comments and suggestions! Email: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World and editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series.

 We hear lots of “talk” about trust but see very little action in building it. Trust is not as confusing a term as many make it out to be.

1. Trust cannot be legislated
2. Without trust at the top, trust in the middle is hard to maintain
3. Ethics and compliance are related to trust but not the same
4. Hanging a corporate credo on the wall doesn’t build trust
5. Growing quarterly earnings does not make a company trustworthy
6. Trust cannot be owned by one corporate silo
7. Corporate responsibility or sustainability are not substitutes for trust
8. Trust CAN be measured
9. Trust is a hard currency, not a soft skill
10. The business case for trust has been made

More information on building trust in your organization can be found in our award-winning TRUST INC. series of books and on our website at www.trustacrossamerica.com

Trust Inc.

How can organizations expect to be trusted without the buy-in of senior leadership? Trust is not a soft skill. It’s the hard currency behind the most profitable institutions.

TRUST INC.:  A Guide for Boards & C-Suites, edited by Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Executive Director of Trust Across America – Trust Around the World, is the second book in the award-winning TRUST INC. series. It convenes over 60 experts from around the world including CEOs, academics, consultants, military leaders, and many others to share 100 strategies on building organizational trust at the Board & C-Suite levels.

Trust is not merely a soft skill or a social nicety.  Research shows that trust is as important to successful and sustainable organizations as customer service or teamwork.  One study by Watson Wyatt found that the rate of return to shareholders was almost three times higher at companies with high levels of trust than at those with low levels.

TRUST INC.: A Guide for Boards & C-Suites is organized into seven sections addressing various challenges of boards and executive leadership:

• Trust and Corporate Culture
• Trust and the Role of the Board
• The CEO Who Leads with Trust
• Trustworthy Communications
• Trust and Engagement
• Trust Builders and Best Practices
• Trust Busters and Risk

A major theme running through the book is that trust is the bedrock of great leadership, with significant implications for how the organization interacts with its stakeholders — customers, employees, vendors, shareholders, and the community.

“Any Board members or C-Suite executives who don’t evidence an unmistakable sensitivity to this societal drumbeat, do so at their own peril” writes Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company and currently CEO of ConantLeadership, in his contribution.  “Help build a better world.  Earn the trust and respect of all stakeholders…”on the other hand, there is no other hand.”

While each contributor has written in his or her own voice and style, they all arrive at the same conclusion — trust works. Regardless of whether the reader is the owner or Board Member of a small startup or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, TRUST INC. provides lessons on how to reap the rewards of “trust at the top.”

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About the Editor

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is Co-founder and Executive Director of Trust Across America –Trust Around the World and editor of the 2014 Nautilus and Eric Hoffer award-winning book Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset. In 2012 Barbara was named one of “25 Women who are Changing the World” by Good Business International. A former consultant to McKinsey & Company, Barbara has owned the award-winning communications firm, Next Decade, Inc. for over 20 years. She majored in International Affairs at Lafayette College and has an MBA from Baruch at the City University of New York.

Trust Across America’s mission is helping organizations build trust.  For more information visit www.trustacrossamerica.com

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