Archive

Posts Tagged ‘leadership’

Jun
01

Trust Gap: Leadership vs. Employees

No commentsUncategorizedJune 1st, 2025

One of our Trust Alliance members was assisting a leadership team in assessing why a certain division was underperforming. We worked with them to run our simple one minute AIM Trust Audit for both the leadership team and the division employees. Take a look at the results. The first chart is leadership (38 respondents) and the second is the division employees. (108 respondents).

A relatively wide gap existed between the leadership team’s perception of the behaviors undermining trust compared to the employee’s perception. These results are quite common in our assessments.

How do you think the leadership team responded when provided with this data?

What would you advise them to do next?

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is an author, speaker, product developer and global subject matter expert on trust and trustworthiness. Founder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World she is author of the award-winning Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, Trust Inc., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust and Trust Inc., a Guide for Boards & C-Suites. She majored in International Affairs (Lafayette College), and has an MBA (Baruch- City University of NY). Her expertise on trust has been cited in Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, Thomson Reuters, BBC Radio, The Conference Board, Global Finance Magazine, Bank Director and Forbes, among others.

For more information visit our website at www.trustacrossamerica.com

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Oct
21

Should Investors Care About Trust?

No commentsUncategorizedOctober 21st, 2024

The returns of the Trust 200 Index over 13+ years according to IndexOne

More than 15 years ago The Economist published a briefing paper sponsored by Cisco, called “The Role of Trust in Business Collaboration,” concluding that tens of millions of dollars had been spent evaluating corporate governance but a *definition of corporate trust continued to elude us. The 2008 financial crisis essentially destroyed investor confidence in the stock market and the ethical decision making practices of business leaders and their public companies. And so it should come as no surprise that trust in the financial markets has stagnated and even deteriorated since that time. After all, what actions, if any, have organizations taken to build investor confidence and trust? Plenty of money is spent on PR “talk” followed by little constructive action.

What if instead of using the elusive word “trust” as the barometer, companies could instead be evaluated based on their trustworthiness? In other words, the ethical business principles and leadership practices that support trust building within the organization and can then be applied to all stakeholders. This was the question we began to address over fifteen years ago. With the assistance of academic, financial, corporate and consulting professionals, Trust Across America began to construct what became the FACTS Framework.

*Trust Across America describes trust at the individual/interpersonal level as the “outcome of principled behavior” and organizational trustworthiness as the “collective outcome of principled behavior.”

Our ten+ year study published in November 2021 continues to be, by order of magnitude, the most comprehensive and data driven analysis available regarding the trustworthiness of public companies. It speaks to both the public and the financial industry’s understanding of trust, supports trust based investment decision making and enables targeted and simplified trust portfolio construction. We analyze companies quarterly and rank order by company, sector and market capitalization.

As our chart and study link above highlight, trustworthy public companies are rewarded over the long-term. They not only avoid expensive crises but also have the benefit of broader internal and external stakeholder support. 

Low trust keeps investors out of the stock market and on the sidelines

It has not been valuation, liquidity, or profits that keeps many investors on the sidelines. It is a lack of trust in both the financial industry and in the ethical actions and decision making practices of public company leadership. Even after a time of dramatic returns over the past several years, vast amounts of money remain parked in low yielding money market accounts and other underperforming investments. By delivering a time tested and “beyond reproach” strategy to investors combining the key drivers of corporate trustworthiness, Trust Based Investing can serve as a viable solution that both the industry and the public has been seeking.

In conclusion

Trust Based Investing provides the following:

  • Companies have proven through a rigorous analysis that they are trustworthy and represent lower investment risk.
  • Investors can be assured that ethical business and investment decisions are being made.
  • Trustworthy companies have stable and strong investment returns.
  • A virtuous cycle is created. As investment money flows into the hands of these companies, other companies will want to follow suit and become more trustworthy.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is an author, speaker, product developer and global subject matter expert on trust and trustworthiness. Founder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World she is author of the award-winning Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, Trust Inc., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust and Trust Inc., a Guide for Boards & C-Suites. She majored in International Affairs (Lafayette College), and has an MBA (Baruch- City University of NY). Her expertise on trust has been cited in Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, Thomson Reuters, BBC Radio, The Conference Board, Global Finance Magazine, Bank Director and Forbes, among others.

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Jan
22

2024 Top Thought Leaders in Trust

No commentsPress ReleaseJanuary 22nd, 2024

Trust Across America-Trust Around the World (TAA-TAW) whose mission is to help enhance trustworthy behavior in organizations, announces its 2024 Top Thought Leaders in Trust. The awards program, now in its 13th year, celebrates professionals who are transforming the way organizations do business.

While a growing number of global “top” lists and awards are published, no others specifically address trust. Celebrating its 16th anniversary this year, TAA-TAW has been working with a growing team of global cross-functional professionals to research the “practice” of trust and build tools to support leaders, teams and organizations who choose to build, elevate or repair trust.

According to Barbara Kimmel, CEO, ”The release of our 2024 honors brings the focus to global champions of trust. Beginning this year we will be recognizing ten professionals who inspire organizations to look more closely at their higher purpose…to create greater value for, and trust from all of their stakeholders, and understand trust is a “hard currency” with real returns. All of our honorees have made a significant contribution to the field of trust over the past 12 months. Their expertise ranges from journalism to financial services.”

The honorees can be accessed via the Winter 2024 issue of TRUST! Magazine, available at no cost at this link, including complete details on our methodology, award winners, and additional trust resources.

Nominate now for our 2025 Top Thought Leaders at this link.

Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™ is a program of Next Decade, Inc., an award-winning communications firm that has been unraveling and simplifying complex subjects for over 20 years. TAA-TAW helps organizations build trust through an abundance of resources and ever-expanding tools. It also provides several frameworks for organizations to improve trustworthy practices, and showcases individuals and organizations exhibiting high levels of trust and trustworthiness.

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May
21

Can Trust Be Tracked & Measured?

No commentsAIM Towards Trust, Articles written by experts, Behavior, Leadership, TAP INTO TRUSTMay 21st, 2023

Tracking and addressing the behaviors that build or weaken trust in teams and organizations has the following benefits:

  • Elevating employee engagement & retention
  • Reducing workplace stress
  • Enhancing decision making
  • Increasing innovation
  • Improving communication
  • Reducing costs and increasing profitability

Is progress being made?

The growing interest in our Tap Into Trust campaign has brought almost 180,000 people to our universal principles, available in 16 languages. We are also running the largest global (one minute/one question) anonymous survey on workplace trust, with the goal of determining which of our 12 principles of trust are the WEAKEST in teams and organizations and whether they change over time. The anonymous survey can be taken here and the results of hundreds of respondents viewed upon completion.

Building a trust based team or organization is not one size fits all. It happens in 3 stages. We use AIM as the acronym.

ACKNOWLEDGING that trust (the outcome of principled behavior) is a tangible asset

IDENTIFYING  the behaviors that are weakening and strengthening trust

MENDING the behaviors and tracking them over time

We call this AIM Towards Trust, and the framework is being adopted by enlightened leaders in organizations of all sizes and across industries, providing a path forward to high trust.

Elevating trust in teams and organizations requires specific personal and interpersonal principles and skills.

There is no “one size fits all” or check the box fix.

 

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is an author, speaker, product developer and global subject matter expert on trust and trustworthiness. Founder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World she is author of the award-winning Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, Trust Inc., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust and Trust Inc., a Guide for Boards & C-Suites. She majored in International Affairs (Lafayette College), and has an MBA (Baruch- City University of NY). Her expertise on trust has been cited in Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, Thomson Reuters, BBC Radio, The Conference Board, Global Finance Magazine, Bank Director and Forbes, among others.

For more information contact me

Copyright 2023, Next Decade, inc.

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May
20

Trust is Not a Box Checking Activity

No commentsArticles written by experts, Behavior, Communications, LeadershipMay 20th, 2023

I remember speaking with Greg Link when he and Stephen M.R. Covey were writing their book Smart Trust.

That was 10 years ago

What has changed? In essence accountable leaders who have assumed responsibility for trust continue to reap the rewards. But sadly, over the past decade not many have chosen this route. Instead, the majority of businesses are simply checking boxes and little more. Why? These activities are relatively fast, easy and can be delegated. Put the “trust” label on the program and check the box. Now the communications team has some great talking points. Brand trust, purpose trust, AI trust, digital trust, ESG trust, etc. The list is endless. Who benefits from this approach? Consultants, speakers, academics, media and NGOs who have all joined forces in monetizing “perception of trust.” Who loses? Boards, business leaders, employees, customers and most other stakeholders.

In Smart Trust Covey and Link discuss 5 actions

  • Choose to believe in trust. …
  • Start with self. …
  • Declare your intent and assume positive intent in others. …
  • Do what you say you’re going to do. …
  • Lead out in extending trust to others.

These actions are a great starting point for business leaders, and there are many time tested strategies that will result in smart trust. Paradoxically, while trust is more important than ever, the majority of those who have the power to elevate it are choosing all the wrong approaches. I call that a dangerous win/lose proposition.

In the words of Covey and Link  There is a direct connection between trust and prosperity because trust always affects two key inputs to prosperity: speed and cost. In low-trust situations, speed goes down and costs go up because of the many extra steps that suspicions generate in a relationship, whereas two parties that trust each other accomplish things much quicker and, consequently, cheaper. The authors call high trust a “performance multiplier.” High trust creates a dividend, while low trust creates a wasted tax.

Whether you choose to be part of the trust problem or part of the solution, here are a few indisputable facts:

Trust is the outcome of principled behavior.

Trust is always interpersonal.

Trust takes time and it is built in incremental steps.

Trust building is an inside out, not an outside in activity.

Trust ALWAYS starts with leadership.

As Bill George said in his testimonial for Smart Trust… Nothing is more important than building trust in relationships and in organizations. Trust is the glue that binds us together. Everywhere I go I see a remarkable loss of trust in leaders, and once lost, trust is very hard to regain. I feel this loss is tearing at the fabric of society, as so many people love to blame others for their misfortunes but fail to look in the mirror at themselves.

For more information and resources on elevating trust, please visit www.trustacrossamerica.com

Or contact us directly.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is an author, speaker, product developer and global subject matter expert on trust and trustworthiness. Founder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World she is author of the award-winning Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, Trust Inc., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust and Trust Inc., a Guide for Boards & C-Suites. She majored in International Affairs (Lafayette College), and has an MBA (Baruch- City University of NY). Her expertise on trust has been cited in Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, Thomson Reuters, BBC Radio, The Conference Board, Global Finance Magazine, Bank Director and Forbes, among others.

Copyright 2023, Next Decade, Inc.

 

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May
17

Poor Governance & Low Trustworthiness: Some Warning Signs

No commentsArticles written by experts, Behavior, Communications, culture development, Governance, HR, Leadership, RiskMay 17th, 2023

What is the average lifespan of a public company?

“A recent study by McKinsey found that those companies listed in Standard & Poor’s 500 was 61 years in 1958. Today, it is less than 18 years. McKinsey believes that in 2027, 75% of the companies currently quoted on the S&P 500 will have disappeared.” While some might question this conclusion or argue that disruptive technology is primarily to blame, maybe lack of trustworthiness is the real culprit.

Every year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World creates a “Top 10” Most Trustworthy Public Company list. The 2022 list can be found here. Four of the companies were founded in the 1800s and all but one has been in business for more than 18 years. The average life span of the ten companies is 77 years. Could it be that the most trustworthy companies are not only great innovators, but also tend to stay in business because they are well governed?

Some of warning signs of poor governance and low trustworthiness may surprise you.

  1. Trust is taken for granted and viewed as a soft skill. Either leadership never discusses it, or worse yet attempts to delegate it.
  2. There is a new chief in town who holds the title of Chief Trust Officer but it is not the CEO (see #1 above) as it should be, and the job description is similar if not identical to the Chief Risk Officer. Trust building and risk mitigation skillsets are not one and the same and trust always starts at the top.
  3. The skillset of the “leadership” team needs a serious reset. For example, layoffs are a first line of defense.
  4. Employee turnover is high but no one is asking why.
  5. The company website contains lots of Kumbaya “words” that do not translate into action. Just ask the employees.
  6. Strategies for elevating organizational trust and trustworthiness have never been discussed let alone described, shared or agreed upon.
  7. Leadership focuses on survival and short-term profitability. In fact in many cases, compensation is directly tied to quarterly earnings.
  8. Board diversity in gender and race are present but sorely lacking is diversity of thought or opinions.
  9. A well defined/aligned hiring strategy has not been implemented resulting in cultural confusion and non engaged employees.
  10. Expensive Short-term “perception of trust” programs/workarounds are abundant. (Hint: Think about whether the program can easily tick a box.)

Take a look at this infographic for some additional insights.

Elevating trust and trustworthiness does not require complex formulas. Most of these warning signs can be easily addressed given the right tools and resources, and a willingness to fix what is broken. Want to learn more about building organizational trust and trustworthiness? Our website provides an endless number of tools and resources.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is an author, speaker, product developer and global subject matter expert on trust and trustworthiness. Founder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World she is author of the award-winning Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, Trust Inc., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust and Trust Inc., a Guide for Boards & C-Suites. She majored in International Affairs (Lafayette College), and has an MBA (Baruch- City University of NY). Her expertise on trust has been cited in Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, Thomson Reuters, BBC Radio, The Conference Board, Global Finance Magazine, Bank Director and Forbes, among others.

Join our Constant Contact mailing list for updates on our progress.

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May
05

Is Your Organization Ethically Blind?

No commentsArticles written by experts, Behavior, Ethics, Leadership, RiskMay 5th, 2023

Many models of (un)ethical decision making assume that people decide rationally and are, in principle, able to evaluate their decisions from a moral point of view. However, people might behave unethically without being aware of it. They are ethically blind.

As organizations are comprised of individuals, Ethical Blindness naturally extends into the workplace. Some business sectors appear to be more ethically blind than others, and this creates enormous enterprise risk.

More on our Framework here.

Ethical blindness can be corrected, but only if leaders choose to be “tuned in” to the warning signs described below:

Is Ethical Blindness at the organizational level fixable? Absolutely. But the first order of business requires leadership acknowledgement and commitment to elevating organizational trust and ethics.

These 12 Principles called TAP, were developed over the course of a year by a group of ethics and trust experts who comprise our Trust Alliance. They should serve as a great starting point for not only a discussion but a clear roadmap to eradicating Ethical Blindness. As a recent TAP commenter said:

“An environment /culture that operates within this ethos sounds like an awesome place to me, I would work there tomorrow if I knew where to look for it.”

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is an author, speaker, product developer and global subject matter expert on trust and trustworthiness. Founder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World she is author of the award-winning Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, Trust Inc., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust and Trust Inc., a Guide for Boards & C-Suites. She majored in International Affairs (Lafayette College), and has an MBA (Baruch- City University of NY). Her expertise on trust has been cited in Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, Thomson Reuters, BBC Radio, The Conference Board, Global Finance Magazine, Bank Director and Forbes, among others. For more information contact barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Copyright © 2023, Next Decade, Inc.

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Mar
15

Ten Questions for Leaders Pursuing Trust as a Strategy

No commentsBehavior, Governance, Leadership, RiskMarch 15th, 2023

Business leaders are constrained by the number of hours in the day, competing demands, and how they choose to prioritize their time. Sadly many spend a large percentage of their day reacting to crises and extinguishing fires. This is lost time that could be better allocated to proactively building their brand.

From our research over 15+ years we know that trustworthy organizations make for good business and are less risky, yet the majority of leaders do not embrace the long-term benefits of trust. If they did, some of their time would be freed up for more worthwhile pursuits.  If you are a leader and this sounds remotely interesting to you, start by asking yourself these ten questions.

Ten Questions For Leaders Seeking to Build Trustworthy Organizations

  1. Have I acknowledged or ignored the business case for trust?
  2. Am I personally trustworthy? Does trust matter to me as an individual or in my professional life?
  3. Is trust mentioned in our mission/vision statement or corporate credo? If not, why not?
  4. Do all stakeholders view me as trustworthy? Have I asked?
  5. Do I speak about the importance of trust on a regular basis?
  6. Do I engage my employees in discussions about trust?
  7. Do I own and model trust building behaviors? Am I transparent, accountable, respectful?
  8. Do I celebrate achievements? Do I allow mistakes?
  9. Do I have a trust tracking mechanism in place?
  10. Have I budgeted for trust building programs?

What other questions should leaders be asking themselves in pursuit of building trustworthy organizations?  Leave a comment.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is an author, speaker, product developer and global subject matter expert on trust and trustworthiness. Founder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World she is author of the award-winning Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, Trust Inc., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust and Trust Inc., a Guide for Boards & C-Suites. She majored in International Affairs (Lafayette College), and has an MBA (Baruch- City University of NY). Her expertise on trust has been cited in Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, Thomson Reuters, BBC Radio, The Conference Board, Global Finance Magazine, Bank Director and Forbes, among others.

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Mar
05

How We Rationalize Low Trust

No commentsAIM Towards Trust, Articles written by experts, Behavior, LeadershipMarch 5th, 2023

So what’s your trust excuse?

Fifteen years is a long time to be “talking trust” with leaders and managers, and yet something keeps me doing it. I have spoken with hundreds if not thousands of business leaders during this time from small startups to Fortune 500 and, given the opportunity, ask this question.

What role if any does trust play in your work?

And these are the most common responses in no particular order.

  1. None, trust is a soft skill
  2. None, there is no business case
  3. None, we have no budget 
  4. None, we do not consider it a measurable risk
  5. I never thought about it
  6. My employees trust me
  7. Huge, every year we bring in a “big name” motivational speaker
  8. None, I have too many daily fires to extinguish
  9. None, it’s not my job
  10. None, are you kidding?

What’s the message here? Whether you are a leader, manager or work as a member of a team, if you do not intentionally choose  trust building as part of your daily activities, do not expect it to flourish. It does not happen on its own.

If you are interested in learning more, take a look below.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is an author, speaker, product developer and global subject matter expert on trust and trustworthiness. Founder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World she is author of the award-winning Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, Trust Inc., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust and Trust Inc., a Guide for Boards & C-Suites. She majored in International Affairs (Lafayette College), and has an MBA (Baruch- City University of NY). Her expertise on trust has been cited in Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, Thomson Reuters, BBC Radio, The Conference Board, Global Finance Magazine, Bank Director and Forbes, among others.

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Feb
25

Trust Lessons from Working Remotely… a Look Back

1 CommentArticles written by experts, Behavior, Leadership, Trust InsightsFebruary 25th, 2023

By Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Founder Trust Across America-Trust Around the World

Early in 2020 several members of our Trust Alliance convened around the topic:

Trust Lessons from Working Remotely

At the time many of us had only been working remotely for several weeks, while for others, this had been their norm for years. Dozens of excellent insights were offered during the session and they are divided into three categories. 

The Good

  • Trust is foundational regardless of whether people are working face to face or remotely.
  • Trust is the ultimate collaboration tool.
  • Leaders who invested in learning the language and creating a foundation of trust have a competitive advantage in our current environment. Kudos to them for addressing trust before a crisis.
  • The current pandemic environment represents a rare and unique opportunity for managers to work on trust building behaviors like accountability, openness and respect. It’s also a great time to be relying less on email and more on verbal communication.
  • In all levels of society we are learning that facing challenges and solving problems are simplified when trust is amplified.

The Bad

  • Adding more technology options does not build trust, nor is it a substitute for trust. Trust is interpersonal. It develops over time and builds in incremental steps through principled behavior.
  • If trust was lacking in the office before the pandemic, this deficiency will be amplified with employees working remotely.
  • If people are more productive working remotely, managers MUST ask themselves why.
  • Employees who were disengaged pre-crisis (the majority according to Gallup) will most likely be even more disengaged now.
  • Some people are finding that the 5 day work week has become a 7 day week and don’t know when to end their workday. In other words, work/life balance can suffer in some cases.

The Ugly

  • Nothing busts employee trust faster than a layoff (some countries have laws prohibiting layoffs.) With so many alternatives, leaders who were the earliest to press the downsize button may be last to fill vacancies with qualified employees when they need them again. These companies will be viewed by good talent as too risky and certainly not employee centric. In fact, decline in profitability, employee performance and even bankruptcies are all too common when layoffs are the solution of choice.
  • Many view fear as the opposite of trust and when leaders do nothing to allay the fears of their employees and other stakeholders during a time of crisis, they are setting themselves up for further damage in the future.
  • Fluffy marketing garbage is not working. The public has become way too skeptical to believe most of the “purpose” filled trust messages that brands are attempting to deliver. When a bank tells me they are “here for me during this time of crisis” while simultaneously cutting savings account interest rates but not credit card interest, I would rather not receive their marketing message. In fact they may just lose my business.
  • And speaking of banks, any organization in any industry whose leaders haven’t learned how to bank trust by building a strong foundation, can now expect their own bank balance to continue to decline as distrust increases.

A few suggestions were offered to elevate trust:

  • Assign a permanent Remote Workforce Manager.
  • If you didn’t already have one, a crisis continuity plan should be created.
  • Have more frequent “touch points” with your team, not only about work related matters but also about personal needs. Also, don’t forget the mental health of your employees during these difficult times.
  • Set up a buddy system for new employees.
  • Get your workforce up to speed with technology, but don’t over invest in it, or view it as a quick and easy trust “fix.”  Set aside some of that budget to learn how to build trust. It may be a little more work, but will produce much great rewards over the long-term.

Finally, Stephen M.R. Covey reminded the group that COVID is redefining our work environments. Once this crisis passes, leaders will need to reevaluate the following:

  1. How work is done: The “new” hybrid combining in-person and remote work will require more trust, not less.
  2. How we learn: Learning may require a different process that also requires more trust.
  3. How we lead: Leading with trust will continue to be a better way.

Now that almost three years have passed, have we made any progress? Not from my perspective. In fact, everything we knew about the benefits of high trust in the past is now further amplified. Often, it takes a crisis to remind us what happens when trust is ignored or taken for granted. Which leaders are emerging the strongest from COVID 19? Could it be those who chose to place trust in the center of their business strategy long before March 2020? Leaders and their organizations who banked trust before COVID 19 are being handsomely rewarded, and should continue to be long into the future.

Trust Alliance members including Lea Brovedani, Stephen M.R. Covey, Natalie Doyle Oldfield,  Charles Feltman, Sean Flaherty, Darshan Kulkarni, Olivia Mathijsen, and Bob Whipple joined me in this very lively discussion. 

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