“Credere”: verb (Latin), “to trust.” From which we have creed, and credibility. And importantly, credit. As in “credit markets” – where recent events have seen trust erode along with the bail-out, collapse or take-over of a roster of venerable institutions once believed to be fortresses of durable integrity.
A central theme on this site as it approaches its first anniversary is the trust on which strength and reputation are based – hard won, demanding to maintain, and easily lost. Trust lies at the heart of the enterprises of trade, commerce and finance, as well as their gate-keepers – management and directors; lawyers, rating agencies and accountants – and all branches of government alike.
It’s my pleasure to host this month’s Carnival of Trust, at the kind invitation of Charlie Green, who writes on trust related matters at Trusted Advisor. The Carnival is a traveling review of the month’s best posts on aspects of trust. (For prior editions, see here.)
With my thanks to Charlie for the opportunity, and to Ian Welsh for his support, here for your consideration are ten selections, made with some difficulty from a deep and stimulating set of offerings. Please share with us and the authors your reactions and comments.
Coming just after the American presidential elections and the world’s anticipation of new approaches to governance and diplomacy, George Ambler’s compact checklist of “The behaviors that create or break trust” is a handy guide and reference with broad applicability to all those engaged in, as he titles it, the Practice of Leadership.
Here are two studies on the direct relationship of trust to the state of an economy: the Greater Good Blog, arguing for a regulatory structure that prefers trust-worthy financial institutions to the providing of bailouts and subsidies, concludes that “When trust declines, so does the economy”; while Simon Djankov, at the Doing Business Blog, introduces a paper that queries “Regulation and Trust: Substitutes?” -- examining the extent to which the level of government regulation is correlated with measures of cultural trust.
And for tight focus on a specific example, Natasa Kovacevic’s article in the Harvard International Review, “Risky Business: Microcredit in Argentina“, examines the inhibitions on trust-building in a country suffering from lack of faith in both government and lending institutions, and the techniques for success of micro-lenders seeking to serve borrowers mainly among the country’s poorest women.
Hard pressed to think of an area that generates more jargon and blather, I rely on Lucy Kellaway at the Financial Times as an old-media source of fresh air and incisive analysis – no reference here, just a recommendation. Meanwhile John Strande at the Business Evolutionist strips out great quantities of needless verbiage by working a single anecdote into this persuasive case: “Work is Personal … Trust Matters.”
By putting a plaque on your office wall with the four concisely-stated elements of trust-building aimed by David Newman at "Small Business Marketing – The Power of Trust" -- a proposition no less applicable in enterprises of any size and scope – you could open a lot of bookshelf space and spare a lot of trees.
And yet, appreciating a classic that has stood the test of time, Richard Parkes Cordock’s recommendation of a book by Richard Lomax invokes the classic Ogilvy on Advertising in order to “train your workforce to become your salesforce” – highlighting the importance of current customers and employees in the success of business growth.
A theme to these three offerings is the scrutiny of trust-building into the future, where a key is the establishment of authority and expertise:
John Bell treats the challenge of retail banks in marketing to customers in very scary times, “How Banks Must Regain Trust (hint: Not Via Advertising)”.
Chris Wright’s blog Magic and Lies takes up “Influence and Authority in a Web 2.0 World” – an inquiry that should be dear to the heart of bloggers and other aspirants to success as internet-based enterprises.
And appropriately as a way to conclude, Ford Harding provides a provocative exchange on the value of LinkedIn to the selling of professional services – Liking LinkedIn? – opening the door on a discussion that will no doubt evolve as rapidly as tomorrow’s new modes of communication themselves.
Thanks for joining in this dialog – and please do let us have your views.
And as a note for next month’s Carnival of Trust, Stephanie Westallen of Idealawg will be the host. Articles on trust can be submitted for consideration here.
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