Joel Peterson and Marcel Schwantes Chat About Building a Culture of Trust

On episode #25 of the Love in Action podcast, I sat down with Joel Peterson, Chairman of JetBlue and author of the recently re-released book The 10 Laws of Trust: Building the Bonds That Make a Business Great, to learn how you can build a high trust organization Listen in on Apple Podcast (click on image), or wherever you get your podcast. Show notes for the episode are below.

Show Notes

This week’s show is sponsored by TDIndustries, a legendary Fortune magazine Best Companies to Work For. Like Joel Peterson’s message in his book The 10 Laws of Trust, TD has made trusting relationships the foundation of its success. To learn more about TDIndustries visit TDIndustries.com or listen to episode 19 featuring CEO Harold McDowell.

• When there’s trust with teams, things go more rapidly, you innovate more, people are more flexible and innovative, and they just have more fun! When you’re in a turnaround where things aren’t going well for your company, you better have high trust or your turnaround won’t succeed. [3:34]
• Marcel asks, How big a problem is a lack of trust? Joel responds that trust is at risk in society as well as in organizations. As a result, politics takes over and people jostle for power. People operate by fear and greed rather than duty or love. [4:27]
• You can use the diagnostic tool in Joel’s book to measure the level of trust in your company, and start applying the 10 laws to build a high trust organization. [6:36]
• Changing a culture of mistrust is very difficult: it happens one conversation at a time, one person at a time, and it starts with you. [ 7:32]
• What needs to be removed from the path for trust to happen, Marcel asks. We build trust by delivering on promises, Joel responds. Transparency, clarity and constant feedback are also vital. [ 8:30]
• Joel explains how a high trust culture saves a company money. [12:32]
• Law 2 is Invest in Respect. If you want to build a great culture you need to have respected people on a winning team doing something meaningful. [14:56]
• Law 8 is Show Humility. People don’t trust leaders who never admit a mistake or show vulnerability. Humble leaders allow themselves to be influenced, they take feedback seriously. [17:05]
• There are two levels of betrayal. Joel advises how to deal with each type. He emphasizes that where there is a values dispute, remove yourself from the situation. People will compromise on many things, but not their values. [18:16]
• Marcel wants to know how leading from fear destroys trust. Fear is a strong motivator, Joel explains, but it’s not viable long-term. Once you scare someone into doing something, they will do it as long as they feel afraid; the minute they’re no longer scared, they will either leave or get back at you. [21:53]
• Love is the most powerful motivating force in the universe. Plus it’s completely durable. If you can build an organization rooted in love, where you care deeply for one another, your company’s potential is limitless. [ 23:00]

The Quote

The Book

Resources

• Joel Peterson’s website
• Peterson Partners
• Joel Peterson on Twitter 
• Joel Peterson on LinkedIn

Thank you to our sponsor, TDIndustries, for making this episode possible. To see how Love in Action works at TDIndustries, visit TDIndustries.com or subscribe to the TD Talks blog.

Related Episodes

• Harold MacDowell: Servant-Leadership is Love in Action (Episode #19)
• Rebooting Your Company with Douglas Conant (Episode #10)
• Renée Smith: The Benefits of Love in the Workplace (Episode #16)

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