The TRUST Show

S5E1: TRUST and First Impression

One of the six components of my trustworthiness model is time. Time is one of the “what you do” group of dynamic components. Time accelerates the impact that the interaction's positivity (or negativity) has on your trustworthiness level. But not all time is equal. You know that it takes time to build trust. You also know that once you lose trust, it is almost impossible (or takes a tremendous amount of time) to rebuild it. You also heard that “nobody gets a second chance to make a first impression.” The first impression plays a special role in building trust, as well. This episode will discuss the special role of first impression in building your trustworthiness, explain why it has such a strong impact, explain what happens over time, and give you some advice related to the role that first impression plays in building your trustworthiness.

S4E12: TRUSTABILITY, Your Greater Responsibility

My 8th Law of Trust states that the level of trust I have in you is the product of my Trustability, or my willingness to trust other people in general, and your trustworthiness. In workshops, I typically say that there is nothing you can do about the former (my trustability), and everything you can do about the latter (your trustworthiness). This is also why my Trust Habits workshop focuses on forming habits that will build your own trustworthiness. 
But that’s not entirely true. There is something, even though very little, that you can do to affect other people’s trustability, and with that, comes a responsibility. In this episode, I will discuss trustability in a little more depth, show you how you can affect it, and emphasize the responsibility that comes with it. 

S4E11: Can You TRUST Customer Reviews?

The idea of posting and relying on customer reviews comes from the fifth law of trust: that trust is transferrable. If you trust one person, who trusts another person, you may trust that other person too.

The better business bureau (BBB), Amazon, Google, and many other companies use such reviews. Before you buy almost anything, before you download a song, go to a movie, or book a hotel room, you check reviews. You buy if you see positive reviews, and you don’t buy if the reviews are bad.

But is that trust justified? Should you trust people you don’t know? In this episode, I will share some of the dangers with relying on customer reviews, but will also discuss other aspects of it, as well as give you ideas on how to know if you can trust reviews, and how to increase the reliability of such reviews.

S4E10: How do you Measure TRUST?

Trust is the foundation for everything. With trust, you have creativity, productivity, and financial results. With trust, you have strong marriages and healthy relationships with your kids, parents, and friends. But how do you measure trust? Trust is a relatively intangible, abstract construct that’s hard to measure. You can’t just send a questionnaire and ask people “what is the level of trust in your organization?” Trust is relative, and therefore no absolute answer would be accurate. Yes, if trust is the foundation for everything, you must measure it somehow. In this episode, I will provide a philosophy of how you should measure trust.

S4E9: What Does TRUST Have to do with the Boardroom?

When the organization has high trust, customers prefer to buy from it, even at higher prices. The employees are less stressed, more engaged, and more satisfied with their jobs. They are capable of conducting a constructive disagreement that leads to creativity. Those high trust companies are more innovative and productive. Projects are completed on time and budget 45% more than low-trust organizations. They deliver 5 times higher profits and 286% higher shareholder returns. It’s all good. But what does that have to do with the board of directors? In this episode, I will give you 4 ways in which the board can influence the level of trust in the organization, for better or worse.

S4E8: TRUST and Breaking the Rules

Once again, I’m recording an episode in response to something Simon Sinek said. In a LinkedIn post, he wrote “We don't trust people to follow the rules. We trust people to know when to break them.” I understand the need to be provocative and contrarian, but is this statement true? Is that how we should decide who we trust and who we don’t trust? In this episode, I will break down the relationship between trust and following, or breaking rules. I will also broaden the scope of the discussion and bring in ethics and morals, too. 

S4E7: Is TRUST More Important Than Performance?

In one of his videos, Simon Sinek makes the point that trust is more important than performance. I agree with a lot of what he says, but not with this statement. In this episode, I will give you two reasons why I so strongly disagree with this statement, but also, given that trust is relative, how do you balance those two? 

S4E6: How Many People Can You TRUST?

How many people can you really trust? Is there a limit to the number of people you can trust? In this episode, I will answer this with a definite YES. But to answer the question “how many?” I would have to say, “it’s complicated.” In this episode, I will uncomplicate things. I will explain what factors affect how many people you can trust, and how much you can really trust them. This episode is a little philosophical, but would help you answer that question yourself. The answer will be based on several laws of trust, on the fact that trust is relative and dynamic, on what you have to lose, on time and intimacy, and, believe it or not, the size of your brain. And, yes, I will give you numbers.  

S4E5: Trust and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic, now entering its third year, had a major impact on trust in many ways. Some might say that the impact is not smaller than the events of 9/11. In this episode, I will discuss things such as our trust in the media, science, and experts, the impact of virtual meetings on intimacy and trust, the impact of the polarization around masks and vaccines on trust, the quality of education, and the impact it will have on trust in the future, and the great resignation. I will not take a position on those topics but rather discuss how they relate to, affect, or are affected by trust. Finally, I’ll address the issue of “the new normal.” 

S4E4: 10 Ways to be More Accountable and Trusted (Part II)

This is the second part of this two-part episode on accountability. 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines accountability as “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions.” In my research, I found a very strong link between trust and accountability. Like any trust relationship, this one, too, is reciprocal. If you behave in an accountable way, I will trust you, I will give you autonomy because I trust you not to abuse it, and you will then trust me, and be even more accountable. Accountability cuts across many relationships, from personal to professional. This is the first of two episodes in which, through stories and my research and trust model, I will discuss several aspects of accountability, the link between accountability and trust, and give you 10 ways to be more accountable and trusted.