The 3rd of May was the International Day of Trust. It’s something that I decided to start. The organisation which I run – entente and the entente foundation – now have as their goals building and restoring trust. This year, in London, Las Vegas, Jamaica, Johannesburg and Sydney, we started a global conversation. Here’s what we heard:
- We need more trust in our world.
- It is going to take a long time.
- It’s a grassroots movement
- It requires our leaders to change and set an example.
- A world built on trust would be a world of prosperity, productivity, without violence or war, without abuse, where people cared about each other and there was peace.
As I have begun focusing on building and restoring trust I have been surprised by a number of things among hundreds of people I have spoken to:
- that everyone agreed that trust was critical to their business, family, marriage, community, society;
- that trust is powerful when you have it, but can break quickly, and is often impossible to rebuild;
- that most people do not set out to break trust, they are simply unaware of what is causing it to break down.
This year saw the kick off of the t12 dialogue on trust. It involves focussed groups of 12 leaders in their field meeting to explore trust and its role. I ask participants to make one promise for which they will personally take responsibility, to ensure the building of trust in their organisation, life and world.
Peter Shergold and the Centre for Social Impact kindly hosted the first t12 dialogue on trust in the social sector in Sydney this year, as t12 groups met and continue to meet around the world during the month of May. Participants were:
- Sandy Blackburn-Wright, Westpac’s Organisational Mentoring Program
- Catherine Baldwin, Executive Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre
- Lynne Dalton, CEO of the Centre for Volunteering
- Toby Hall, CEO of Mission Australia
- Chris McMillan, CEO of Fundraising Institute of Australia
- Jayne Meyer-Tucker, CEO of Good Beginnings Australia (see her blog ‘Control Freakery’: Leadership and Capacity Building)
- Sue Murray, Executive Director of The George Institute
- Phil Hayes-St Clair of HSC and Co
- Glenda Nixon, Director of entente foundation
- Fiona Krautil, National Executive Officer of Girl Guides Australia
- Steve Killelea, CEO of the Institute for Economics and Peace
- Claerwen Little, Director Uniting Care, Children, Young People and Families
It was wonderful to see such dedication to exploring trust, as each participant agreed that trust was at the central core of their operations, and in many cases was the very thing they were aiming to build in their service to their members and communities.
Key blockers to trust we identified as the lack of a sense of unity, common goals or common purpose. The ‘Why’ is missing – from organisations, families, society. Without a sense of why we should work together, why we should trust, what we are all trying to achieve together, there is no accountability and no consequence. Consequently trust is broken.
It was agreed that as a society we are not rewarding or acknowledging trustworthy behaviour anywhere near enough. We need more people, more leaders, to take a stand for trust, and to acknowledge and reward that.
With clearer communication about boundaries, and expectations – with a focus on understanding the needs of others, as well as our own and a determined effort to meet those needs; with a recognition that when we make promises and commitments to others, others are relying on those; and with a conscious awareness that we must meet and manage the expectations of others and keep the promises we make – we might yet move beyond just imagining a world built on trust, and begin to live that reality.
I’d love to hear your views.
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