Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

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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June is “Talk” Month 

according to Trust Across America’s

2014 Calendar

Your stakeholders need to know what steps you are taking to build a trustworthy organization. Quarterly numbers are no longer the “be all and end all.” In fact, evidence is mounting that a trustworthy culture and profitability go hand in hand.

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 June 2014.

Week 1:  It’s going to take a substantial collaborative effort to bring trust back to the heart of how we live and work. Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Trust Across America – Trust Around the World @BarbaraKimmel

Week 2: There’s nothing more destructive to trust than deceit, and nothing more constructive than candor, Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner, The Leadership Challenge @KouzesPosner

Week 3: Doctor-patient relationships that don’t foster trust don’t work because the doctor or the patient has not sought a way to share or relinquish control. Shirie Leng, MD

Week 4: When people trust an organization, they are more likely to exhibit supportive behavior. Linda Locke @Reputationista

Week 5: Corporate trust and reputation matter, and they are the most valuable asset of every enterprise. Michael Lowenstein, Ph.D., CMC, Beyond Philosophy @Lowen42

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

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Executive Director, Trust Across America – Trust Around the World

Editor  Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset (a 2014 Nautilus & Eric Hoffer Book Award winner)

Are we moving into a new age of “transparency” in corporate America?

Let’s review a bit of history.

The term “corporate responsibility” has enjoyed a shelf-life of over 50 years, since the 1960s to be exact. Some argue that CSR is merely window-dressing, or an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful multinational corporations (Wikipedia) and it’s hard to believe that almost thirty years have passed since “greenwashing”  came into vogue in a big way.

The term greenwashing was coined by New York environmentalist Jay Westervelt in a 1986 essay regarding the hotel industry‘s practice of placing placards in each room promoting reuse of towels ostensibly to “save the environment.” Westervelt noted that, in most cases, little or no effort toward reducing energy waste was being made by these institutions—as evidenced by the lack of cost reduction this practice effected. (Wikipedia)

Now we’re staring to not only hear but also see a new “trend” in corporate communications. It sort of sounds like transparency via the social networks but it’s disingenuous. It lacks the right “feel.” Here’s a few recent Tweets that caught my attention.

Here are a few basic tips for storing and prepping vegetables & melons monsantoblog.com/2014/05/27/keeping-your-salad-safe-and-tasty-proper-care-of-your-salad-ingredients/ … #nationalsaladmonth

AmeriHealth NJ @AmeriHealthNJ · 18h

#Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A #healthybreakfast can help you stay focused all day! #Good4U bit.ly/1csnKRk 

General Motors @GM · May 19

Last year, GM saved $162 million in combined energy costs at an industry-leading total of 63 facilities worldwide. #sustainability #CSR

Are you seeing the same pattern that I see?

Let’s talk about vegetables, breakfast and energy costs instead of  Roundup, escalating insurance premiums and culture change.

Are companies genuinely interested in being more transparent, or have they found a new “short-term thinking” PR loophole via social media? My guess is the stumbling block lies with the legal and compliance folks, whose focus on what’s legal always seems to trump what’s right. But in reality, consumers don’t want to hear about washing vegetables as much as they do about culture, values and authenticity.

That’s the stuff that trust is made of. The rest is just more noise in an increasingly noisy world.

Barbara Kimmel, Executive Director, Trust Across America-Trust Around the World

What do you think? Do you have examples of companies that are using social media in the ways that really matter, the ways that will bring trust back from the sidelines? Email me at barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Trust Inc.

May is “Teamwork” Month 

according to Trust Across America’s

2014 Calendar

Teamwork leads to better decisions and better outcomes. Teams create trust, and trust creates teams, especially when silos are broken down.

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 four reflections on trust for the 4 weeks in May 2014.

Week 1: People now trust one in four companies on average, making its scarcity in the marketplace an object of value. John Gerzema, BAV Consulting @JohnGerzema

Week 2: The most trust-destroying thing you can say is, “trust me.” Charles H. Green, Trusted Advisor Associates @CharlesHGreen

Week 3: Building trust creates a premium value for product brands as well as enterprise value for the corporate brand. James R. Gregory, CoreBrand @Corebrand

 Week 4: Trust is the core issue impacting organizational, team and leadership effectiveness. Noreen Kelly, Noreen Kelly Communication @NoreenJKelly

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

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Executive Director, Trust Across America – Trust Around the World

Editor  Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset (a 2014 Nautilus Book Award winner)

Barbara Brooks Kimmel  has just learned that her book,  “Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset” has received a 2014 Nautilus Silver award in business/leadership. Founded in 1998, the Nautilus Awards honor books promoting social or environmental justice. Former winners include Deepak Chopra, Barbara Kingsolver, Marianne Williamson, Eckhart Tolle and others.

“Trust Inc.” is the first in a series of crowd-sourced books containing dozens of essays written by experts in organizational trust and leadership including Stephen M.R. Covey, Kouzes & Posner, Patricia Aburdene and Ken Blanchard. The foreword is written by Timothy McClimon of American Express and the concluding chapter is written by Robert Easton of Accenture. Many consider the breakdown in trust to be the “issue of the decade” and this book is the definitive guide for any organization seeking to build trust with its stakeholders.

After graduating from Lafayette College with a degree in International Affairs, and receiving an MBA from Baruch in New York City, Kimmel worked as a consultant to McKinsey and then founded a communications firm in 1994, called Next Decade, Inc. whose focus has been on “simplifying complex subjects.” In 2009 she turned her attention to the subject of “trust” and launched  Trust Across America, a global program that provides trust tools, interactive presentations and workshops to organizations of all sizes. 

Trust, Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset is available from Amazon.com and the Barnes & Noble website. The next book, Trust Inc., A Guide for Boards and C-Suites will be published in May.

Trust Inc.

Last week we announced the results of our 4th annual “Most Trustworthy Companies,” ranking almost 2500 US based, publicly traded companies on 5 indicators of trustworthy business behavior. Utilizing our proprietary FACTS Framework, Trust Across America picks up where other lists leave off, analyzing Financial stability, Accounting conservativeness, Corporate governance, Transparency and Sustainability from several independent data sources.

The “Top Ten” companies are shown below.

#1 Manpower Group (MAN), human resource consulting firm

#2 Hormel Foods (HRL), food producer

#3 Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL), commercial real estate

#4 CA Technologies, Inc. (CA), computer software

#5 The Boeing Company (BA), aerospace

#6 CBRE Group (CBG), commercial real estate

#7 Capital One Financial Corporation (COF), bank holding company

#8 The Sherwin Williams Company (SHW), general building materials

#9 Lexmark International, Inc. (LXK), office equipment

#10 Delta Airlines (DAL), transportation

The full press release is reproduced here.

This week we compare the performance of this group to the S&P 500.

Are you surprised about the recent past performance of these companies against the S&P 500? We aren’t. The business case for trust has been proven once again.

One-year return for “Top 10” vs. S&P 500:  38.8% vs. 17.59%, or 120% higher.

Two-year return for “Top 10” vs. S&P 500:  65.74% vs. 33.29%, or 97% higher.

Five-year return for “Top 10” vs. S&P 500: 240% vs. 114.81%, or 109% higher.

*Returns do not include dividends but the yield is similar to the S&P 500.

*While the returns show past performance of the ten companies, a live portfolio being rebalanced monthly has a similar profile.

Investors can choose to support trustworthy companies who are doing business “well” and are also highly profitable. This creates a virtuous cycle whereby less trustworthy companies may be inclined to focus more on corporate culture and  less on quarterly returns.

For more information, tools and programs on building trust in your organization, please visit us at Trust Across America.