{"id":1621,"date":"2014-08-02T08:12:30","date_gmt":"2014-08-02T12:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2014-08-02T08:12:30","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T12:12:30","slug":"kill-the-evening-before-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=1621","title":{"rendered":"Kill the Evening Before Dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Late last year\u00a0Trust Across America-Trust Around the World\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0published the first in a planned\u00a0series of award-winning books.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book,\u00a0Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-Suites<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>In this book,<\/em>\u00a0sixty\u00a0experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout the month of\u00a0August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone\u00a0as 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.<\/p>\n

Yesterday’s post….\u00a0There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees<\/a>\u00a0discussed why\u00a0being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.<\/p>\n

The second essay in our series was written by Robert Galford,\u00a0Managing Partner of the Center for Leading Organizations <\/span><\/a>and a Leadership Fellow in Executive Education at Harvard\u2019s Graduate School of Design. He\u00a0is the co-author of The Trusted Advisor<\/em>,<\/a> The Trusted Leader<\/em><\/a>, and Your Leadership Legacy<\/em><\/a>. He is on the Faculty of the National Association of Corporate Directors, and is Chair of the Compensation and Governance Committee on the Board of Directors of Forrester Research. He is also a member of the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts (ATBE)<\/a> and has been named a 2014 Top Thought Leader in Trustworthy Business<\/a> by Trust Across America-Trust Around the World.<\/p>\n

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Kill the Evening Before Dinner<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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My friend Ken Daly, the CEO of the National Association of Corporate Directors, speaks frequently and passionately about the \u201casymmetry of information\u201d as one\u00a0<\/em>of the biggest issues facing those of us in Board and executive roles. Think about it: where do we get our information on how well the organization is doing, or what it\u2019s doing, or what it\u2019s really like to work there? How much of our information\u00a0<\/em>do we get first-hand, compared to how much we receive in reports, summaries,\u00a0<\/em>or PowerPoint presentations? How do we, as senior executives and\/or directors (especially those of us who serve as independent, outside directors) ensure that our judgments are well founded, based on complete pictures, and rooted in realities we personally understand?<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are three proven things one can do as part of the effort against asymmetry, which, by any other name, is integral to the effort to build trust:<\/em><\/p>\n

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  1. Kill the \u201cevening-before\u201d executive team or board dinner. Instead, take a small group of front-line or mid-level employees to dinner in an informal setting, without the presence of other corporate executives. People are forthcoming, thoughtful, and engaging (to say nothing of appreciative).<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Sign up for those \u201cGoogle Alerts\u201d or other independent news alerts to keep abreast of what others are saying or hearing or reading about the organization.<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. See the entity through the eyes of a new employee, be it via sitting quietly through a live new-employee orientation or its online equivalent.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Many more ideas at What Better Director’s Do<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful,\u00a0follow\u00a0this link<\/a>\u00a0to order both of our books online.<\/p>\n

    Barbara Brooks Kimmel<\/strong>\u00a0is the Executive Director of\u00a0Trust Across America-Trust Around the World<\/a>\u00a0whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She is also the editor of the award winning\u00a0TRUST INC.<\/a>\u00a0book series. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.<\/p>\n

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    .\u00a0\"Print\"<\/a>\"ND<\/a><\/p>\n

    Should you wish\u00a0to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at\u00a0Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com<\/a><\/p>\n

    Copyright \u00a9 2014, Next Decade, Inc.<\/p>\n

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