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.

What is it about lasting friendships that are so easy?

Yesterday was a special day. I had breakfast with one of my best friends from high school. I won’t tell you how many years have passed since those days, but suffice it to say, her children are grown and living on their own, and mine are 95% of the way there!

For many years we didn’t see each other or even speak. She took a different life path after college by marrying a friend from high school and quickly starting a family.  I took the grad school and “career” route, living in New York City, traveling and remaining single until my 30’s.

About 5 years ago we got back together at a high school reunion and picked right up where we had left off. Sure, there were lots of life events in between, but at the end of the day, two old friends just found each other again. Nothing had gotten in the way of the relationship in all the years we had been apart.

What is it about lasting friendships that are so easy?

Is it the innocence of childhood or the complexities of being an adult that complicate relationships?

Maybe it’s simply that trust grows by sharing similar childhood experiences and teenage trials and tribulations. The foundation is laid, and building upon it becomes very easy. Maybe trust can’t be established quickly, and maybe that’s why it gets broken just as easily. Maybe trust simply takes time.

Thank you Judy!

Barbara Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World and editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series. Visit Trust Across America’s website for tools and resources on building trust.

DANGER AHEAD!

 How costly are hidden agendas in building and maintaining trusted personal and professional relationships?

This morning a friend of mine told me that her “significant other” asked what she assumed to be a straightforward and thoughtful question.  Was she interested in making a family trip into New York City for a few hours this weekend?   She almost agreed, but something didn’t feel quite right. His question seemed somehow out of character. Turns out she was right. There was a hidden agenda. What he needed was someone to sit in a double parked vehicle while he transported a heavy box from his office. I don’t mean to kick my friend’s husband to the curb, literally or figuratively, but being the victim of a hidden agenda can bust trust very quickly.

An alternative scenario would have been for the husband to tell his wife he needed to pick up some boxes and ask if she would be willing to play “taxi.” This conversation would have created a more level playing field. Bottom line, no trip to NY and some level of trust rebuilding required.

In business, I’ve seen lots of hidden agendas, and the end result is always the same. Trust disappears in a nanosecond, and it can’t always be rebuilt.

Here are just a few typical “Danger Ahead” signals:

1. The colleague, coworker or manager who asks how they can help  but seeks out a favor in the same conversation.

2. The colleague, coworker or manager who  talks nice to your face, but not so nice behind your back.

3. The colleague, coworker or manager who wants to hear about your latest ideas, only to copy or take credit for them.

4. The colleague, coworker or manager who calls you “partner” but once they get what they want, the word “partner” is no longer in their vocabulary.

5. The colleague, coworker or manager who says “trust me.”

Some claim a relationship of trust cannot exist without character, competency and consistency. My belief is that all the competency and consistency in the world will not build or maintain trust in a relationship if the “character factor” is missing. What do you think?

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

Which sounds better? High stress, meaningless relationships, frequent job loss and suspicion OR well-being, great friendships and frequent promotions?

We’ve all heard the expression “Happy Wife, Happy Life” but how about “High Trust, It’s a Must” or “Low Trust Go Bust!.” I contend that being trustworthy will not only make you happy, but wealthier in many ways than you are today.

What do we mean by being trustworthy? Let’s use this very simple definition.

Act with integrity and always keep your word.

First, let’s talk about the inherent risks of being untrustworthy: 

It takes more time and  psychological energy than it’s trustworthy counterpart and results in:

• High stress
• Low energy
• Frequent job loss
• Meaningless relationships
• Low levels of creativity
• High levels of suspicion among friends, family and coworkers
• High barriers to communication due to lack of honesty and broken promises
• Poor and slow decision making
• High transaction costs
• Win/lose situations

On the flip side, here are ten great reasons to be trustworthy:

• Psychological well-being
• Meaningful friendships and business relationships
• Faster, more efficient decision making
• Greater personal effectiveness in groups
• Greater support for your decisions
• Career promotions
• Win/win opportunities
• Role modeling trustworthy behavior
• More time for creativity and relaxation
• More money in your pocket (people want to do business with those they trust)

Be trustworthy. The benefits are far greater than the alternative. What do you think? Leave a comment.

Barbara Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World and the “Tribal Chief” of the growing Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts. She is also the editor of the award-winning crowd sourced book series TRUST INC. In 2012, Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Who Are Changing the World.”

Trust Rocks!™ Summer ’14

Let’s raise our glasses to trust this summer!

A great way to start the “trust talk” at your next event.

(recipe courtesy of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World)

Ingredients:

Tangerine Juice (orange juice works fine)

Red Pomegranate or Red Cranberry Juice

Umbrella

Seltzer splash

Twist

(add a few ice cubes and  kick it up a notch with a shot of vodka)

 Copyright © 2014 Next Decade, Inc.

 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

Click here for ordering information.