The Five Levels of Trust That
Drive Success Or Failure
How Trust Affects Your Business, Your Close Relationships,
and Your Personal Success
Phillip C. Thomas
Founder
Boston Business Group/CXO Leadership Institute
www.bostonbusinessgroup.com

That Simple Word That Affects Every
Relationship, Every Deal, and Every Company.

A Little About My Background…
 BYU undergrad; executive development courses at
Stanford and Harvard Business Schools
 Naval Officer - eight years
 6 different CEO level opportunities to lead/25 years
 Also serve as a CEO Group Chair w/Vistage Int’l
 Continually seeking to improve my ability to
gain, retain, and extend Trust with others

Leading At The Speed of Trust
Based on the Best-Selling
Book by Stephen M. R. Covey
Author
Speaker
Leader
A person I know, admire and trust

Key Areas of Discussion
• What Is Trust?
• What Key Attributes Form The Basis of Legitimate Trust?
• How Do We Obtain Trust?
• How Do We Retain Trust?
• How Do We Regain Trust?
• 13 Key Behaviors That Reflect Trust - And Their Counterfeits
• 5 Areas Where Trust Has A Major Influence In Our Lives – And How They
Interconnect
• Trusted Leadership – What It Means In Terms of Growing Your Company

Trust In Today’s World
Edelman Trust Index - www.edelman.com
The 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer sees an unprecedented nine-
point global decline in trust in government.
There is still a yawning trust gap for business.
While traditional media sources are still the most trusted, the
diversification of trusted media sources continues.
In fact, social media, which consists of social networking
sites, content-sharing sites, blogs, and micro-blogging sites, saw
the biggest percentage increase in trust among media sources.

The 5 Waves of Trust
“As Trust Is Manifest In Each Successive Wave, The Effect Of Trust
Becomes Cumulative And Exponential.”
- Stephen M. R. Covey
The Case for Trust

What Is Trust?
“The Degree Of Confidence Born Of The Character And
Competence Of A Person Or An Organization.”
The Opposite Of Trust Is Suspicion….
“I Could Give A Dictionary Definition, But You Know It When You
Feel It. Trust Happens When Leaders Are Transparent, Candid, And
Keep Their Word. It’s That Simple.”
- Jack Welch
Introduction

Trust Myths and Reality
Myth Reality
Trust is soft. Trust is hard, real, and measurable.
Nothing is as fast as the speed of
Trust is slow.
trust.
Trust is a function of both character
Trust is built solely on integrity.
(which includes integrity) and competence.
Trusting people is too risky. Not trusting people is a greater risk.
Trust is established one person Establishing trust with the one
at a time. establishes trust with the many.
The Case for Trust

The Economics of Trust
Low Trust Adds Cost And Slows
Everything Down
The Trust Tax
The Case for Trust

The Economics of Trust
High Trust Lowers Costs And
Speeds Up Your Business
The Trust Dividend
The Case for Trust

12

The Four Core Elements Of Trust
Personal Trust 13

The Four Core Elements Of Trust
Integrity
Consistency, Humility, Courage, Respect
Intent
Your Motives, Agendas, Behaviors
Capabilities
TASKS: Your talents, attitudes, skills, knowledge, & style
Results
Your Personal Track Record
 What have you actually accomplished?
 What impact did it have on the business or relationship?
Personal Trust 14

15

Relationship Trust
Think of a high-trust relationship you have
What is it like to be around this person?
How long does it take to get things done?
What is communication like?
What kind of results are you able to achieve?
Think of a low-trust relationship you have
How does it compare with high trust relationships you enjoy?
How does it change the way you operate day to day?
At the end of the day, are you drained or uplifted?
Does this person build you up or wear you down?
Relationship Trust 16

13 Behaviors of Trusted Leaders
1. Talk Straight 8. Confront Reality
2. Demonstrate Respect 9. Clarify Expectations
3. Create Transparency 10. Practice Accountability
4. Right Wrongs 11. Listen First
5. Show Loyalty 12. Keep Commitments
6. Deliver Results 13. Extend Trust
7. Get Better
Relationship Trust 17

13 Counterfeit Behaviors
1. Lie or deceive 8. In denial; ignore
2. Demonstrate lack of respect 9. Intentional vagueness
or concern
10. Avoiding or not “owning
3. Hide, cover up, obscure up” to a situation
4. Deny or rationalize wrong 11. Speaking first, not listening
behavior
12. Violating promises
5. Self credit taking, betraying
13. Withholding Trust
others
6. Fail to achieve
7. Become irrelevant
Relationship Trust 18

Extending Smart Trust
Propensity to Trust Thoughtful Analysis
Primarily a matter of the Primarily a matter of the
heart mind
Your willingness or tendency to trust Wisely assessing:
others. The job to be done
Instinctual or intuitive The risks involved
“Trust your gut” The credibility of the organization
Experiential based judgment or person involved
“It takes 20 years to obtain 20 Their character and
years of experience…” competence
Adhering to basic principles or Past results
time tested truths Third party endorsements
Relationship Trust 19

Extending Smart Trust
Relationship Trust 20

Restoring Trust
Three Conditions
1. The nature of the loss
2. The importance of the relationship
3. The willingness of both parties to restore trust
When others have lost your trust…
Don’t be too quick to judge
Be quick to forgive
Be “smart” about it…but don’t overthink it
When you have lost the trust of others…
Strengthen the 4 Cores of Credibility
Behave in ways that inspire trust
Be humble and willing to serve without a hidden agenda
Relationship Trust 21

22

The Organizational Trust Dividend
Total return to shareholders for organizations with
high trust is almost 3x higher than that of
organizations with low trust.
- Human Capital Index
Watson Wyatt Worldwide
Organizational Trust 23

Organizational Trust: Dividends and Taxes
Organizational Trust 24

Symbols of Low Trust
Organizational Trust

Symbols of Trust
Organizational Trust 26

Your Symbols of Trust
Can you name some symbols of trust in your
organization?
If you were CTO – Chief Trust Officer, what changes in
symbols of trust would you make?
Why and with what intent?
Organizational Trust 27

28

What Brands Do You Trust –
And Why?
?
Market Trust

Market Trust in the 21st Century
20th Century 21st Century
Passive consumers. Active participants.
Traditional print-radio-TV “Social media” - Internet
advertising. communities, blogs, video share.
The organization owns and Consumers influence and share
controls the brand “top down.” ownership of the brand.
Market Trust 30

Dramatic Decline In Market Trust
“In the 1960s, if you introduced a new
product, 90 percent of the people who viewed it
for the first time believed the corporate
promise.
40 years later, if you performed the same
exercise, less than 10 percent of the public
believed it was true.”
- Howard Schultz,
Founder, Starbucks
Market Trust

Everyone’s Talking…
What is your organization doing in this new world of
interconnected communications?
Which behaviors are becoming increasingly important in
this new world?
“He Posted What?!” (recent attorney presentation)
“Monitoring Off-Duty Conduct”
“When You Foul Up Now, It’s Google-able.
In The Old Days, You Just Had To Wait Three Days
And No One Would Remember.”
Christopher Buckley, editor, Forbes FYI
Market Trust 32

Segmenting Market Trust
Three Attitudes Example
I recommend them to my friends, I go out of my
Promoter way to buy from them, I would nearly have an
emotional breakdown if they went away.
I do business with them because they are
Passive convenient, but I wouldn’t much care if they went
away.
I would not do business with them myself, and I
Detractor
would warn others to stay away.
Market Trust 33

Consistency Counts!
Market Trust 34

Your Brand
Does your brand have integrity?
How would you know?
Does your brand demonstrate good intent?
How is that accomplished?
Is your brand associated with results?
Are they legitimately expressed?
What does your brand say about YOU personally?
Is your brand an accurate reflection of who you are?
Market Trust 35

36

Societal Trust in the 21st Century
20th Century 21st Century
Business is responsible to
Business is responsible only to
shareholders and the community at
shareholders.
large.
Unconscious consumers. Socially conscious consumers.
Profit and contribution are the
Profit is the measure of success.
measures of success.
Societal Trust 37

Socially Responsible Companies Prosper
Comparison of Shareholder Return Over A Six-Year Period
Percentage of
Shareholder Return
Source: “The 100 Best Companies to Work For,” Fortune.
Societal Trust 38

Compassion And Cash Flow
“The idea that business is responsible only to
its shareholders mortifies me with its
narrowness…
Business has to be a force for social change. I
can imagine a day will come when compassion
counts as much as cash flow.”
- Anita Roddick,
founder, The Body Shop
Societal Trust

One Example
Over ten years, New Leaf Paper customers saved the
following resources by using post-consumer recycled fiber
instead of virgin tree fiber:
1,400,649 fully grown trees
331,001,041 gallons of water
660,267 million BTU’s of energy
66,519,808 pounds of solid waste
115,297,918 pounds of
greenhouse gases
Societal Trust 40

Trust Taxes Paid by Non-CSR Companies
CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility
North Latin
Global Respondents… EU Asia
America America
Refused to buy their products or
83% 85% 79% 74%
use their services.
Refused to work for them. 46% 51% 37% 59%
Refused to invest in them. 72% 80% 61% 65%
Actively demonstrated or
24% 14% 42% 23%
protested against them.
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer, survey of 2800 college-educated people in 18 countries.
Societal Trust 41

Integrating With The 4 Cores
Integrity: What are your values in relation to society?
Intent: What do you intend to do to make a beneficial
societal contribution?
Capabilities: What are you uniquely capable of doing to
make a societal contribution?
Results: What have you already done to make a
meaningful societal contribution?
Societal Trust 42

The Fundamental
Elements of
Trusted
Leadership

The Five Levels of Trust That
Drive Success Or Failure
How Trust Affects Your Business, Your Close Relationships,
and Your Personal Success
Phillip C. Thomas
Founder
Boston Business Group/CXO Leadership Institute
www.bostonbusinessgroup.com