Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

It’s been a bad week for Volkswagen and the “trust” and leadership bloggers are having a field day. But two questions remain unanswered.

• Did Volkswagen betray trust?
• Did the “right” heads roll as a result?

“No” to both. In order for a betrayal to occur, trust must have first been present, and in this case the CEO is simply the fall guy in a large intentional coverup.

Volkswagen could not betray something that never existed: Let’s not forget that the auto industry is one of historical low trust dominated by regulators, the enemy of trust. Have we forgotten about Takata, General Motors and Fiat/Chrysler? Volkswagen is not even the first company to rig emissions.

The new CEO is merely another pawn: Who is naive enough to believe that Volkswagen’s new CEO can “rebuild” trust? Who suggested that rebuilding trust be his message? Was it his legal team or the PR department?  This should simply not be the corporate message, nor is it the responsibility of the CEO. Rather, the construction of trust sits squarely on the shoulders of the company’s Board of Directors, one that has historically thumbed its nose at trust. Like many companies, Volkswagen’s board composition is far from ideal, and its claimed core values, have been nothing more than empty words. The company simply failed to walk its talk, and instead of the Board, the CEO took the fall.

Core values that incorporate trust as a business imperative and are practiced daily give companies a competitive advantage, but in today’s society they are rarely more than a sign on the wall at corporate headquarters.  And that’s why we continue to drift from one corporate scandal to the next, with no end in sight. Will Volkswagen’s board of directors address its lack of practiced core values? Will they take the blame for this latest scandal? These are the questions bloggers and the public should be asking. Based on the Board’s actions over the past several days, I highly doubt they will do either.

What’s my long-term prediction for Volkswagen? Like others before them, the new CEO will be instructed to talk about rebuilding trust, the company will pay their fines, and it will be “business as usual” until the next crisis. Too bad for you, me and every other stakeholder.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO & Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She facilitates the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. Barbara also servers as 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Help us continue our work in organizational trust by purchasing our award-winning books

at this link.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

What can we learn about trust from the great leaders, teachers, writers and philosophers?

JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

Yogi Berra’s passing earlier this week struck a chord both close to home and around the world. To many he was a prolific philosopher, a practical joker and an “all American” kind of guy.  Something you might not know about Yogi Berra…he was an avid hockey fan. As a teenager, his son played for a rival team to my high school alma mater and Yogi never failed to make a game. Humble and always with a smile is how I will remember him. 

This article pulls together fifteen of Yogi Berra’s most inspiring quotes. Regardless of your role in life- a parent, teacher, coach, business, religious or military leader, the following contain many messages about character, competence and consistency, the key ingredients in building trust.

1. “It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.”
2. “I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it. Just try to get better.”
3. “You can observe a lot just by watching.”
4. “We made too many wrong mistakes.”
5. “90% of the game is half mental.”
6. “If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.”
7. “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be. ”
8. “Pitching always beats batting — and vice-versa.”
9. “When you come to a fork in the road take it.”
10. “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
11. “You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn’t enough, in the second half, you have to give what’s left.”
12. “If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.”
13. “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”
14. “It’s not too far; it just seems like it is.”
15. “Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.”

My favorites are #1, #7, and #15. How about yours? Want to read more from this series? We recently highlighted some of the best quotes on building trust from:

•  John Wooden
•  John C. Maxwell
•  Zig Ziglar
•  Mahtma Gandhi
•  Dr. Seuss  (for Mother’s Day)
•  George Bernard Shaw
•  Military Leaders (for Memorial Day)
•  Napoleon Hill
•  Deepak Chopra 
• Quotes for fathers, from fathers and about fathers (for Father’s Day)
• Peter Drucker
• Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner
• Elie Wiesel for the Jewish New Year

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the CEO & Cofounder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She facilitates the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. Barbara also servers as 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Help us continue our work in organizational trust by purchasing our award-winning books

at this link.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

What can we learn about trust from the great leaders, teachers, writers and philosophers?

JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

This week, in celebration of  the Jewish New Year, we turn our attention to the words of Elie Wiesel, a Jewish writer, professor and Nobel Laureate. A few years ago I was fortunate to meet him at a small gathering in New York City where he spoke about leadership, integrity and peace.

This article pulls together twenty of Elie Wiesel’s most inspiring quotes. Regardless of your role in life- a parent, teacher, business, religious or military leader, the following contain many messages about character, competence and consistency, the key ingredients in building trust.

1. “One person of integrity can make a difference.”
2. “For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences.”
3. “There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.”
4. “Think higher, feel deeper.”
5. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.”
6. “Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.”
7. “Indifference is the sign of sickness, a sickness of the soul more contagious than any other.”
8. “Peace is our gift to each other.”
9. “Some stories are true that never happened.”
10. “Not all games are innocent. Some come dangerously close to cruelty.”
11. “Which is better, truth that is a lie or the lie that is truth?”
12. “Questions outlive the answers.”
13. “Certain things, certain events, seem inexplicable only for a time: up to the moment when the veil is torn aside.”
14. “A word is worth a thousand pictures.”
15. “Man’s strength resides in his capacity and desire to elevate himself, so as to attain the good.”
16. “…Those who know don’t talk and those who talk don’t know.”
17. “For the good of all, I say: Be careful, the brutality of the world must not be more powerful or attractive than love and friendship.”
18. “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.”
19. “Never again” becomes more than a slogan: It’s a prayer, a promise, a vow.”
20. “The silence of two people is deeper than the silence of one.”

My favorites are #8, #15, and #16. How about yours? Want to read more from this series? We recently highlighted some of the best quotes on building trust from:

•  John Wooden
•  John C. Maxwell
•  Zig Ziglar
•  Mahtma Gandhi
•  Dr. Seuss  (for Mother’s Day)
•  George Bernard Shaw
•  Military Leaders (for Memorial Day)
•  Napoleon Hill
•  Deepak Chopra 
• Quotes for fathers, from fathers and about fathers (for Father’s Day)
• Peter Drucker
• Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She facilitates the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. Barbara 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Help us continue our work in organizational trust by purchasing our award-winning books

at this link.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Our September Trust Quest asked the following question:

What is the bigger issue in your organization? 

Leadership doesn’t trust its employees?

Employees don’t trust their leaders?

And here are the results of our poll…

71% of our respondents said that employees don’t trust their leaders.  What does this say about leadership? How long will leaders continue to ignore the impact on their organization of low employee trust including:

• Disengagement
• High turnover
• Low innovation
• Poor morale

Trust starts at the top. It can’t be delegated to HR or any other department. The tools to build trust are readily available to enlightened leaders who choose to make trust a business priority.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She facilitates the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. Barbara 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 annual 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.

Did you know we have published 3 books in our award-winning TRUST Inc. series. They are yours when you join our Alliance.

Copyright 2015, Next Decade, Inc.

Happy (post) Labor Day, a long weekend traditionally filled with barbecues and burgers.

Having spent many years living in the same community it’s been interesting to observe the polar opposite leadership “styles” of two competing businesses, the local butcher shops.

These are the “rules” established by Shopkeeper #1:

• No we will not skin your chicken
• No we will not cut steaks to order
• No we will not provide extra marinade
• No we will not break up that package of bratwurst

The list of “no’s is never ending and the butchers are usually (except for one) rude, pretending they have never seen you before.

And these are the “rules” established by Shopkeeper #2:

The customer is always greeted by a warm smile and usually by their first name, followed by a sincere interest in the family.  And ordering is a breeze.

• You want the chicken skinned, of course!
• You want the steak sliced thin, no problem!
• Take a jar of marinade on us.
• How many bratwurst do you want?

Is it any surprise that people line up to do business with Shopkeeper #2? What are his secrets? I know a few of them:

• The customer always comes first.
• Employees are paid well.
• Working hard and showing commitment will earn you a piece of his business.

Regardless of the kind of organization, the leader sets the tone. Core values are either established or they aren’t. Which kind of butcher are you? Will you skin the chicken?

In your opinion what is the bigger issue in your organization?

That’s the question we are asking in this month’s Trust Quest. Your response is important and it won’t take more than 30 seconds. Here’s the link:

bit.ly/1NBCp2W

Thank you so much for weighing in.

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

In your opinion what is the bigger issue in your organization? That’s the simple question we are asking this month. Your response is important and it won’t take more than 30 seconds. Here’s the link:

bit.ly/1NBCp2W

Thank you so much for weighing in. We will report on the results later this month.

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