Trust matters in business. When you think about it, our economy is essentially a huge and complex network of relationships built on trust.
Organisations of all types, and the many relationships they have with their key stakeholders, are functional because they trust each other. Some are more functional (and successful) than others and that’s largely because of the extent to which they are in trusting relationships.
Hopefully, your company exemplifies the existence of trust. Where stakeholders believe you are trustworthy and they’re willing to be vulnerable as a result.
Trust is a strategic asset
Yet, we don’t always think about trust as a discrete thing that generates value. It just happens (or not). That’s possibly why it is under appreciated and under-utilised by organisations as a strategic asset.
The reality is that trust touches everything and everyone. It lies at the heart of every action, every relationship and every transaction in our society. Even the value of our money is underpinned by the presence of widespread trust as is our online economy.
Trust is fundamental to the human experience, so needs to be treated as a strategic asset.
We live in an increasingly complex and interdependent environment. We know from our personal experiences that people and organisations can be unreliable. There’s a gap between what they say and do – sometimes accidentally and on others intentionally.
The more we depend on others, the greater the risk, yet we’ve learned to rely on each other in spite of those risks, thanks to trust.
Trust is in decline
However, various research studies indicate trust is in decline, across most industries and institutions. This has created an environment of uncertainty, anxiety and fear. The bar for being seen as trustworthy (the antecedent of trust) has never been higher.
All of us deal constantly with trust in our daily lives, but our tribal instincts, where trust first emerged as a survival mechanism, continue to shape how we think about it.
Our predisposition to trust is shaped by our genetic make-up and lived experiences. We tend to rely on them to make our trust/don’t trust decisions rather than the science and mechanisms that exist to help us manage trust.
When we rely on our instincts, biases and stereotypes as our sole sources of guidance, we end up falling prey to untrustworthy people. As a result, we miss out on opportunities to interact with trustworthy others. What’s needed are sources of authentic and accurate information about the trustworthiness of others.
Trust is a choice
Trust is about making choices; deciding who we trust and then making ourselves vulnerable to risk. It requires of us a trade-off to balance the potential rewards against potential risks. But it’s not risk-less.
If you trust someone or something, it means you are willing to enter into a risky environment and allow yourself to be vulnerable to another. Do I trust this person or not? Most importantly, if you manage an organisation, do others think you’re worthy of their trust (i.e. trustworthy)?
Trust is the lubricant that keeps our social and business systems operating in a positive manner. It provides a great deal of efficiency by removing impediments to and accelerating positive outcomes. But it’s not a commodity that is easily bought. Building it requires a lot of effort because it is an investment in the future.
Trust matters, a lot. So it’s time every company unlocked its value as a strategic asset.
What do you think?
When performed with the right intent and a high degree of execution, your company’s actions can earn trust with its stakeholder groups. Trust is a strong differentiator and a dominant driver of future business profit and growth.
We’ve made trust tangible with our Trustgenie service—helping companies measure, manage, and improve their trust performance to increase revenue, reduce costs, mitigate risks and protect reputations.
If your company is ready to make trust its superpower, Trustgenie can help.