The New Leadership is Horizontal, Not Vertical
Several decades ago, when "leadership" became a Big Thing, it was heavily personality-based. It posited Leadership as something done by Leaders, who had learned the art of how to Lead.…
The Math of Low Trust
Trust in business has declined in recent years. One reason why can be demonstrated with a bit of math. Assume two streams of income, with a net present value calculation for each.…
When the Client Cuts Your Face Time in Half
Your progress update meeting with the client is scheduled for an hour, starting at 11AM. You're hopeful it might extend to a lunch invitation. 11AM comes and goes, and the…
The Case of the Untrustworthy Managers
A long time ago, in a land far away (known as "Texas"), I once had a consulting client. They operated a chain of convenience stores, and we had been brought…
Trust, Scale, and the Corporation
I always have trouble answering a question I'm often asked: What company does a great job on trust? Because the answer is some combination of, "it depends on the definition…
Why Experts Are Bad at Sales
If you're a lawyer, accountant, management consultant, VAR, systems engineer, financial advisor, CRM expert, architect, IT services consultant or even an HR consultant – odds are that you're ineffective at…
Risk is to Trust as Vaccine is to Immunity
Should you take the risk of mentioning price early on in a sales call? Should you be candid about your less-than-perfect qualifications for a job? When you notice the client…
A High Trust Strategy in a Low Trust Industry
Differentiation. It's one of the two generic competitive strategies. You'd think it's a no-brainer. If everyone sells coffee in supermarkets based on price, invent Starbucks. If water is free from the…
The Crisis of Confidence in Selling: Dialogue with Ago Cluytens and Charlie Green
(This post is written jointly with Ago Cluytens, and will appear jointly on both our sites.) Ago: Recently, Charles H Green (I get to call him Charlie) and I had…
The Problem with Lying
Dilbert on trust and lying: Scott Adams nails it. With a sledgehammer, as usual. The pointy-haired boss is ethically clueless, and blatantly so. We all get the joke, much the…