Can you purposefully work on building trust and remain authentic?
This was the easy one. Unequivocally everyone feels that yes, it’s absolutely vital to be authentic while purposefully building trust. In fact, there is no concern around losing your authenticity when you design a programme around trust because trust is steeped in being real and genuine.
Is transparency really in the best interests of a company?
Yes, it is a key ingredient for any successful business of today, and for the business of tomorrow. In fact, leaders should be prepared for the day when they will have to be completely transparent regarding their own personal assets. Beware, however, that more information doesn’t equal greater transparency. You need to be legible and tailor your information according to your stakeholders.
Is the CEO the face of trust for a business?
The superficial answer is yes. But the business leaders and focus group qualified this to say that trust is equally dependent on the entire organisation. This is the challenge then for businesses – to ensure that the right values are carried through to the rest of their organisation.
Is it easier for 'big' businesses to build trust as compared to small businesses?
The business leaders we spoke to who come from both large and small to medium-sized organisations felt that the larger your business, the more complicated it is to achieve that consistent culture, in order to build trust. The people were almost split equally but in the end more than half say it is indeed easier for big businesses to build trust. Perhaps at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what size you are but rather the fundamentals you have in place, i.e. a belief that trust is an asset, and ability to identify whose trust is most important to you and your purpose as a business.
Can there be a one-size-fits-all model for building trust?
The quick answer is no. But business leaders felt there is a set of basic principles – integrity, walking the talk, ethics and a code of conduct – which are consistent across any organisation. Those are your building blocks to create trust.
