Trust 101 for Boards & C-Suites

Are you a member of a Board of Directors or sit in the C-Suite?

Have you taken ownership of trust?

For the past 13 years, Trust Across America- Trust Around the World has been researching trust, developing numerous tools to elevate trust, and convening some of the world’s leading subject matter experts to stay current on new research and advances in organizational trust. And yet one troubling fact remains unchanged. In the majority of companies proactive leadership initiatives to elevate trust still do not exist. They aren’t even on the radar. In both corporate America and businesses throughout the world, the word “trust” has been relegated to a reactive talking point when the inevitable crisis occurs, often caused by low trust. And other times the word is used by corporate communications and reputation advisors as a placeholder or work around. A few examples… AI Trust, Digital Trust, Brand Trust, Purpose and the latest ESG trust. Each of these examples provides a short-term opportunity to check an expensive box but none have much to do with building long-term trust, the only kind of trust that matters.

Trust is the outcome of principled behavior. Without ethical leadership there can be no trust.

Trust is not a box checking exercise. It’s interpersonal. Without it, every stakeholder relationship will be…