What’s the value of trust? The importance of being trustworthy? And what’s the cost when it’s lost?
Trustworthiness turns a bunch of smart people into a real team. It has the power to connect people and help them develop deep relationships. In a world full of noise, rapid change, and general skepticism, the value of trust isn’t a soft skill – it’s the absolute hardest, most essential currency a person or organization has. And when you lose it, you lose everything – especially your credibility. And that’s damn hard to rebuild. My passion lies in figuring out how we maintain trust and how we actively design cultures where honesty, reliability, and integrity are automatics.
The Table Stakes of Trust
When I worked in local news – a career that spanned more than 35 years – protecting the trust our audience placed in us was Table Stakes. Ditto for the trust we formed with colleagues. Preserving trust was the bare minimum. It was also the most important piece of the puzzle. As journalists, we seek the truth and report without bias, in service of and on behalf of our community. In our newsrooms, we had a mission. Most of the time, we lived up to the value of trust that audiences or teammates placed in us. Unfortunately, though, there were times we fell short of expectations – our audience’s and our own.
Trust Lost
Very early in my career, I had a senior manager who was very hands-off. Rarely did I ever see him, much less hear from him. I was a baby producer, and frankly, I could have used more oversight and guidance. Thankfully, I had strong teammates and mentors in the newsroom who helped guide me in real time. But, I was definitely faking it ‘til I made it. One day, after my early morning newscast aired, my rarely-there boss complained that I hadn’t included a story in my newscast – one that was on the front page of the newspaper. My reason was simple – we hadn’t confirmed it, and at the time we went to air (early in the morning), we still weren’t able to do so. He told me I should have reported it nonetheless.
Doing so would have gone against every journalistic standard I valued. It wasn’t our story, and I couldn’t confirm it by news time. Besides, what if I had reported it, and then the other organization was wrong? That really would have been a problem. Talk about a trust-buster. This was long before websites and social media posted, reposted, tweeted, and amplified content – and decades before news organizations routinely attributed reports from competing organizations. I stood my ground and took my lumps. And looking back, that was the moment that the value of trust became part of my north star.
Trust Earned
On the flip side, I’ve seen exactly what it looks like when a team gets it right and truly earns and nurtures that trust. The biggest example, hands down, was during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world was shutting down and panic was high, people defaulted back to local news media. They came to their TV newscasts, local news websites, and streaming platforms because they needed clarity and truth that was centered around them. Our newsroom took our role as first informers seriously. We knew the public needed us to cut through the clutter, separate fact from fiction, and give them the essential, verified information they needed to navigate that terrifying time. That experience cemented for me the massive power and responsibility that comes with being a reliable resource in a moment of crisis.
A Trust Truth Bomb
When organizations or leaders lose trust, it almost never happens overnight. It’s more like death from a thousand tiny cuts. Teams and the public stop believing in you for three main reasons: inconsistency, lack of transparency, and brushing failures under the rug. When leaders say one thing while their actions tell a different story, the gap between “say” and “do” begins to crack the foundation. Applying rules inconsistently, blowing off accountability because it’s hard to have those conversations, or hiding bad news, tells everyone the organization cares more about covering itself than respecting its people. As Stephen M.R. Covey explains in this video (based on his book, The Speed of Trust), the loss of trust is a business expense few can afford. But, when leaders and organizations show the value of trust – internally and externally – it can be a game changer for business, culture, and the bottom line.
Baking Trust into Company Culture
Genuine trustworthiness can’t just be mandated in a handbook; it’s a living, breathing part of the culture that must be baked in from day one. And doing so in a world where change comes at people like a sonic boom, and everyone seems to be treading water, makes it that much more challenging. As researcher and author Brené Brown points out, trust is built in small, concrete actions – not grand gestures. The opportunity is there, though. To build a team or organization that can actually withstand shocks, leaders have to create psychological safety where two things thrive: consistency and vulnerability.
Consistency means that processes, decisions, and communications are fair, predictable, and transparent. It means employees don’t have to waste energy guessing when the next shoe will drop or wondering what the next surprise will turn up. It means they can count on honest feedback that guides and celebrates their growth. But vulnerability – that’s the real key. It’s when leaders are willing to be human and open about challenges. When executives model integrity – by admitting their own mistakes, being brutally honest about the company’s struggles, and actively rewarding employees who deliver tough but true information – they make trust the cultural standard. This approach gives teams the power to stop being distracted by internal politics and start focusing on the mission.
The New Mission
I spent decades in a field where trust was the price of entry, witnessing the profound cost of its loss both in the newsroom and in the eyes of the public. That experience taught me that trustworthiness is an active, foundational choice, not a passive state. Now, as I step into a new professional chapter, that lesson remains: the work is to help guide my clients through their organizations where the “Table Stakes” of integrity are always met, where vulnerability is seen as a strength, and where consistent action closes the gap between promise and reality. My mission hasn’t changed – it’s still about serving the community – but the tools I use are now focused on consciously building cultures that last because they are built on a sturdy foundation of certainty and clarity.
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start building a culture where trust is your biggest competitive advantage, let’s talk about mapping out your path.