Trust(worthy)

Twice in our Statement of Values we mention “trust.” Once as a value - Trustworthy Business Principles, and then as a part of the definition another value – Teamwork (building trust).

What does trust really mean? How do you LIVE trust out?

I’ll talk a bit here about what experts John Maxwell and Stephen M.R. Covey say, but first I’ll give you my definition; “being trustworthy is about being credible; being credible is about being consistent in your walk and talk. Being credible is about being who you are in the smallest of details (and when no one is looking). Being trustworthy and credible is about doing and saying the right thing, not the popular thing.

I remember reading a story years ago about a CEO that was interviewing candidates for a high level position within his company. During the interviews, reference checks, and assessments, he would take the candidates out to restaurants so he could get them out of their normal comfort zones and see how they acted and reacted in such environments. The CEO was about to offer a candidate a very high paying position and decided to take him to a cafeteria style restaurant to make the offer. As they were going through the line, taking and arranging the plates on their trays, the CEO notice that the candidate had taken 3 packets of butter and had carefully, if not absently, arranged the plates of food and napkin in such a way as to hide the butter (3 cents each).

The candidate did not get the offer. The CEO did not believe that someone who’d steal 9 cents of product was ethical.

Have you ever heard someone tell a “white” lie? What happens when a fellow co-worker hears you tell someone something just to cover up a mistake? What about when you lie for your kids to get them out of trouble? Or when you tell them you stayed home sick (when they knew you weren’t?

What message are you sending to your co-workers?

Having Trustworthy Business Principles and Building Trust as part of Teamwork is about treating everyone the same, no matter of their position or tenure, and it’s about speaking the truth in the smallest of details.

A great book on how we loose our grip on the reality of trust (tolerance) is “The Good Life” by Charles W. Colson.


Lead well,


Danny Smith
CEO/President
Alethes, LLC