It’s late January. That means the business media are full of two events: the Davos World Economic Forum, and the Edelman Trust Barometer (announced at Davos, of course). This is the 11th year of the Trust Barometer, which means it’s a measurement that increasingly permits study over time. It’s a rich source of information and […]
Most salespeople have a complicated relationship with the truth. It’s not hard to understand why, but most of us shy away from truth-telling. Too bad for us. It’s not only misguided—it actually doesn’t work. (And don’t worry, we’ll get to the sex part later). Take James—a smart, personable man in his 40s. He approached me […]
Robert Eccles is a Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. For over three decades he’s been active in management accountability—linked to, but not limited to, more traditional concepts of financial-only reporting. He’s written several books before, perhaps most notably Building Public Trust: The Future of Corporate Reporting with Sam DiPiazza, former Global […]
Issues of social trust and social institutions has been on the forefront of my mind for months now; the theme only seems to grow in relevance. The Trust Primer, volume 9 addresses such issues. The relationship between the media, politics and society-at-large has been shifting recently, and trust, or the lack-thereof, lies at the heart […]
First of all, stifle that snarky laugh about awards for trust in business. Yes, trust in business is at an all-time low. All the more reason to identify best practices, celebrate them and help us to learn from them. And while most efforts at measuring trust fall short, there’s a new award ceremony in town […]
The attempted assassination of Congresswoman Giffords in Tucson this weekend is related to trust. I’m not talking here about interpersonal trustworthiness. Nor am I talking about polls and surveys about which institutions or professions are up or down in the public’s sentiments. I am talking about what the academics call “generalized trust.” (See interview with […]
Join us at one or more upcoming Trusted Advisor Associates events. This January we’ll be hosting and participating in events in Fairfield, New Jersey; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon and through the globally accessed radio show “Trust Across America.” Also, a few words about the new Trusted Advisor Mastery Program, and an offer to vote in […]
You probably want your customers to trust you. And you probably tell them the truth about why they should buy from you. You might think that’s enough for them to trust you, but of course it’s not. Oddly, what’s missing is telling them something about why they might not need you. Here’s why. Consider these […]
I’m a huge fan of country music. In small doses, that is. One of the great things about country music is how it speaks to the heart, about real human emotions. Then again—after a certain point, dwelling on those emotions can turn toxic on you. It’s easy to get addicted to crying in your beer […]
I wrote a good blog post at this time four years ago, and haven’t improved on it yet. Here it is again. Happy New Year. —————– My unscientific sampling says many people make New Years resolutions, but few follow through. Net result—unhappiness. It doesn’t have to be that way. You could, of course, just try […]