Trust Must Be Earned
Trust can neither be demanded, nor assumed. It needs to be earned. Understanding trust is particularly important at a time when so much of our trust has been shaken, both in our institutions, and in our icons.
Our faith in the financial sector and banks, has been shaken by a series of scandals through collective poor behavior, and through individual misdeeds. Our misplaced trust in people who have been held up as exemplars, like Lance Armstrong and Jimmy Saville, has dented our faith in people we thought to be trustworthy, and made us all call our judgement into question.
Actions speak louder than words, and trust must be earned through acts of integrity. Those sectors, organizations and individuals who have broken our trust will have real work ahead of them to regain our trust. The next time you are tempted to use the phrase "trust me" remember: trust must be earned.
In this edition of "In the Boardroom with Lucy Marcus" I talk about trust and the financial sector. UBS says it's focusing on recovering its lost 'honor' after being fined $1.5bn over the Libor scandal. Banks need to make real and concrete changes to regain lost trust. Deeds speak louder than words.
What do you think business needs to do to rebuild trust? Do you agree with the steps I talk about in the video? What do you think banks and other businesses need to do?
I look forward to hearing from you here and on Twitter via @lucymarcus
Photo credit Christopher Michel
Chairman E3G
11yTrust is hard to build and easy to lose. I doubt that there are more than a handful of companies that treat trust as an asset to be valued and leveraged like any other asset. Successful companies know how much it is worth to maintain the value of a tangible asset and are rewarded by markets for maing those investments. Very few companies know what it is worth investing to maintain trust and are vvery surprised when the asset evaporates.. In an increasingnly distrustful world not trewating trust as an asset is a failure to deliver back to shareholders the full value of the investment they have made in building that trust.
English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
11yThis is a very tricky one. Some customers are strongly inclined to distrust due to poor experiences in their past which don't even involve us, & no matter what we do, they will try to continually cheat us from earning an honest living to prove we're not "ripping them off" & have their own sad stories to priove it- they seem to see themselves as heroic Robin Hoods. Our sympathy eventually ends when we realize we're being continually punished & having all our family's time & profits stolen due to someone else's past "transgressions."
Head of Networks & Manage Services Category Sourcing South East Asia, Oceania & India
11yWow..so many remakes and interpretation of “Trust”, from a simple sentence to a mathematical calculations. Doing things right and doing the right thing are more often can be two entire different things. Unless we explain the reason in all honesty, others may think and draw conclusion without knowing the facts. So the timely communication and each day behavior are also a key to gain and maintain “Trust”, because we all make decision based on collective intelligent – what we see and hear, then add meaning to that.
Marketing and Communications Executive | Consultant | Strategist | Non Executive Director
11yYou need to demonstrate change. Don't just tell your customers what you are going to do, show them. Commit, deliver and let your customers advocate for you. Trust will follow.