Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

What do we mean when we say “Trust is a Lifestyle?”

• Trust is not a mathematical equation or formula
• It is not a memo to be circulated at a meeting
• It is not negotiated via a contract or a regulation
• It cannot be delegated
• It is not something to be “built” in the wake of a crisis
• It is not “the buzzword of the day.”

When we hear the word “trust” we should envision a way of being, a lifestyle that includes:

• Acting with integrity at all times, no exceptions
• Respecting others
• Making ethical decisions
• Shaking the hand of a partner in business or in your personal life, looking them in the eye, and telling them that you are extending trust.

Build a lifestyle of trust, beginning with self-trust, and extend trust to those around you. It will be reciprocated.  You will experience a higher quality of life, as will those who learned from your example.

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.

                                                                                                  Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

This week as I was preparing our upcoming calendar of events, I took some time to reflect on the progress we have made at Trust Across America-Trust Around the World.

What began as a conversation at the breakfast table in 2009 has since grown into a global, cross-functional social movement, whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Our website has become the leading “go to” global source of information on trust.

What do we have planned for the remainder of the year?

October 1: Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business nomination period opens to the public: Recognizing global leaders who are inspiring others to place trust in the center of how organizations do business. This is our fifth year administering this program which has grown in both prestige and global awareness.

Late October: Publication of the inaugural edition of TRUST! The Magazine with a theme of:

Values to Value: Financial Institutions That Are Changing the Way Business is Done 

November 17-24: Join us as we celebrate TrustGiving ™, the first week long celebration of trust.

November 24: The publication of the 3rd book in our award-winning series:

TRUST INC., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust.

December 2014: Our Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts celebrates its second anniversary. We have grown from 25 founding members to a thriving organization with top thought leadership from around the world.

I want to extend a huge “thank you” and virtual “hug” to all who have freely given their time, advice, support and good wishes over the past five years, and who have encouraged me (in the words of Eddie Kendricks) to  “keep on truckin’.” 

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.

                                                                                                  Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Michelle Clarke in the UK. Michelle is the organizer of the Global Trust Conference, which completed its second annual event just yesterday. I was lucky enough to virtually attend the conference, and to catch Stephen M.R. Covey delivering a great speech, packed with insight and advice. Stephen wrote the cover quote for our award-winning book TRUST Inc. and also contributed an essay.

I took notes and am happy to provide some highlights in today’s blog post.

What are the three most important facts about trust?

• Trust is an economic driver
• Trust is the #1 competency of leadership
• Trust is a learnable competency.

Think about a person you work with who you trust and consider the positive outcomes of that relationship.

Now think about a person you work with who you don’t trust and the lost opportunities as a result.

Trust=Confidence while Distrust=Suspicion

Confidence requires both character and competence.

Trust is Reciprocal

When you give trust, you receive it in return.

Trust is Not about Coordination

Trust is about collaboration, partnering and teamwork.

Energy and Joy

When trust goes down, energy and joy do too.

Four Cornerstones of Credibility

• Integrity (character)
• Intent (motive/agenda)
• Capability (are you relevant?)
• Results (your past and current performance)

Talk Straight

Candor is the language of trust. Never use spin.

Leaders Extend Trust

• The first job of a leader is to INSPIRE TRUST
• The second job of a leader is to EXTEND TRUST

And finally…. the starting place for trust is self-trust.

Thank you Michelle and Stephen. As I like to say, “It will take a tribe to push the trust boulder up the hill, but together we can.”

Would you like to help Stephen, Michelle and me in pushing that BIG boulder? Join our Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts today.

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.

                                                                                                  Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Is your Board stuck in the SAC Rut- Show Up, Agree, Collect Check? 

A female acquaintance who has held C-Suite level corporate positions in the past, was recently talking to me about the multiple Board of Director seats she holds. I asked her about her degree of input at Board meetings. Her answer went something like this, “I show up, agree, collect my check and leave.” I pressed her a bit further. “What if you don’t agree? What if you have something to add to the discussion based on your own experiences? What if you want to challenge another board member?  Her answer was simply, “The more I just smile and agree, the better my chances are of getting on more Boards. It’s very lucrative and requires almost no work.” She then reminded me that she is a “hot commodity” as a former female senior executive.

Our August blog series, 31 Trust Tips For Boards & C-Suites provides guidance to boards on how to get out of the SAC Rut. There are another 69 essays in the book itself, Trust Inc., A Guide for Boards & C-Suites.

High-trust organizations with high-trust Boards are rewarded with faster decision making, flourishing innovation, and accelerating growth and profitability.  And trust is built through:

• collaboration
• common goals
• cooperation
• competence
• candor
• connection
• challenging the status quo
• character
• caring
• compromise
• choices

And these are just the “C’s”!

Boards stuck in the SAC Rut get back exactly what they put in. They get back nothing and ALL the stakeholders suffer as a result. And unfortunately, the story told above is all too common.

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.

                                                                                                  Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Companies talk about the importance of building customer loyalty and trust, but invariably a headline like this gets in the way:

Mimicking the Airlines Hotels Get Fee Happy

and the public quickly realizes that the “talk” is insincere and deceptive and the race to the bottom of the trust barrel continues.

Who in the C-Suite decided that the way to build trust with customers was to tack on extra charges wherever possible, or to mimic an industry (airlines) with historically low trust and lousy customer service, replete with bankruptcies and consolidations? Why did you choose the airlines as your role model?

Corporate culture is determined by the Board and the CEO. Weak leadership produces weak culture. Apparently the hotel industry has its fair share of both.

While you are racing to the bottom, why not inscribe your “values” on the lobby wall at corporate headquarters:

Our 5 Pillars of Business:

• We have no long-term vision or leadership.
• Our culture is simply to maximize short-term profit at all costs.
• Our customers come last.
• We will nickel and dime them at every turn.
• We have no interest in building loyalty or trust.

I wish this article was a spoof, but it’s not. Where’s the trust? Where’s the love?

Fortunately, industry is not destiny. There are some great hotels who DO place customers first. If you are one of them, please email me at barbara@trustacrossamerica.com. I want to hear your story. I would love to blog about it.

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.

                                                                                                       Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

A recent conversation with Doug Turner, one of our Trust Alliance members, ended with him sharing this photo he had taken.

 What a statement about society’s view of trust or distrust!

We all agree that society clearly requires trust in order to function. So who decided that signage like this was the “right” way to build that trust? What positive trust message is the reader of this sign expected to take away?

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.

                                                                                                Coming Soon!

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

Ask most Americans which companies they trust and the same names will surface: Apple, Google, Amazon, and maybe even Walmart.

But when pressed as to why, the answer is usually something like this:

• I trust Apple because they have innovative products.
• I trust Google because their search feature is easy to use.
• I trust Amazon to deliver my packages very quickly.
• I trust Walmart to have the lowest prices.

So does this mean these companies should be trusted? Sounds more to me like we are talking about customer loyalty or brand loyalty and not so much about trust.

In fact, many would argue that these four are far from trustworthy.  Just ask Apple’s factory workers, Google’s privacy critics, Amazon’s publishers or Walmart’s suppliers what they think.

So let’s not generalize the word “trust.” If we are going to talk about it, we need to clarify what we really mean!

Earlier today I read the following article about how IBM can help Apple with its trust issues. It sheds a bit more light on the confusion between brand loyalty and trust.

And my friend Charlie Green recently wrote this blog post called If Trust Is So Far Down, How Come– which confirms the need to use the correct terminology.

What do you think? Do we have a definitional issue, and if so, how do we overcome it?

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.

“When a business that’s comfortable not having 100% market share happily recommends a competitor, they’re sending a signal about trust and confidence and most of all, about feeding the community first.” This is a quote from a recent Seth Godin blog post.

If you are an entrepreneur, small business owner or consultant interested in building trust, ask yourself these two questions:

Do I spend all of my time promoting myself only?

If your answer is “yes”, I can almost assure you that this strategy may work in the short-term, but will present serious challenges long-term. It  shows low self-confidence, an unwillingness to share and learn, and you will potentially bust trust with those you view (right or wrong) as competition.

Do I spend some of my time recommending others in my professional community who may have more targeted experience, resources or products, and will do a better job than I can?

If your answer is “yes,” you understand that trust is reciprocal and you are willing to take a “risk” that may pay off and lead to longer-term success. If we want to help ideas spread, if we want to change the world, we must do it together. Park your self-interest (along with your ego) at the door and try collaboration instead. The payoff may not be as quick and easy but the long-term rewards will be well worth it.

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 and the Executive Editor of TRUST! Magazine. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

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

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

September is “Thoughtful Conversation” Month

according to Trust Across America’s

2014 Calendar

Your stakeholders need not know the company’s trade secrets, or what the CEO had for dinner, but if your company is serious about increasing trustworthiness, consider engaging all your stakeholders in rich, thoughtful conversations. View them as vital contributors to a better organization.

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 September 2014.

• Week 1: Cooperation is the central mode of working, and mutual trust and true sustainability are our measures of success. Philip Mirvis, Organizational Psychologist

• Week 2: The capacity of brands to build trust among stakeholders depends on a company’s ability to build an army of advocates. Brian Moriarty, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics

• Week 3: The level of organizational trust has a direct correlation with the top leader’s sincerity of purpose and values. Rajeev Peshawaria, The Iclif Leadership & Governance Centre, Malaysia

• Week 4: The crisis of trust is a crisis of leadership Robert Phillips, Jericho Chambers

• Week 5: We should always be moving to create high trust environments. Steven N. Pyser, JD, Temple University

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.

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 final essay wraps up our series with a short piece that I wrote for this book.  For those interested in a brief bio, I am the  Co-founder and Executive Director of Trust Across America –Trust Around the World and editor of  the Trust Inc. series of books.  In 2012 I was named one of “25 Women who are Changing the World” by Good Business International. In a previous life, I worked as a consultant to McKinsey & Company, and for the past 20 years, I have owned an award-winning communications firm in the NY Metro area called Next Decade, Inc. I majored in International Affairs at Lafayette College and have an MBA from Baruch at the City University of New York. My proudest accomplishment is having raised two children with extraordinary character and values, who like many of their friends and classmates, represent hope for the next generation of business leaders.

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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.