Talking Trust at the 2022 Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit

Trust plays a critical role in the values and vision of today’s leaders. It is a vital part of understanding the needs of our teams and stakeholders and it helps us instill confidence in the capital markets and deliver solutions and insights to each new and complex issue shaping our world.

Recently, I had the pleasure of joining esteemed women leaders on a panel, Harnessing Trust to Drive Growth, at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit where we discussed how companies can build a more agile organization and ignite growth with the support of employees, clients, and stakeholders.?

Trust is what brings us, as humans, together. It’s the essential bond that underpins the relationships we have with our people, our clients, and everyone in our ecosystem. Ultimately, it allows us to align teams and enable them to work towards a common vision and goals.

?Instilling a culture of trust in the very fabric of an organization can help guide the business toward growth.

In the upcoming book The Four Factors of Trust (available November 1, 2022), Deloitte’s Ashley Reichheld and Amelia Dunlop explain that trust ultimately comes down to humanity, capability, transparency, and reliability. Through their research, they detail why building trust is an organization’s single greatest opportunity to create competitive advantage. Trusted companies outperform their peers by up to 400% and 79% of employees who trust their employer are more motivated to work and less likely to leave.

Trust as the foundation for transformation

The pandemic has spurred the fastest pace of digital transformation in recent history. As Gina Mastantuono, Chief Financial Officer at ServiceNow, shared during our panel, “Digital transformation is on everyone's radar and on everyone's roadmap today, more so than ever before.” We’re redefining how and where we work, integrating more and more technology into our day-to-day, and reshaping the business landscape. We’ve hit the fast forward button and we see this growth trajectory continuing for many years to come. But transformation at this size and speed requires a strong foundation of trust. ?

We’re still in the early stages of what’s to come from digital transformation but if we hope to seize the opportunities this moment presents, we should remain agile. Kathleen McCarthy, Global Co-Head, Real Estate at Blackstone further expanded on this during the panel when she noted, “a moment like this, with volatility and uncertainty, is usually what creates the best opportunities for those who keep a clear head. These kinds of moments can be places that really propel a lot of growth.” In order to have the freedom to innovate and evolve with the needs of the day, our employees, clients and stakeholders should have a basis of trust. They should understand that the sweeping moves we are making to bring our organizations forward are aimed at driving value across the board. Instilling a culture of trust in the very fabric of an organization can help guide the business toward growth. When your ecosystem has trust in your organization, each move you make can face less resistance and have a greater chance of bringing benefits for all.?

?Trust is the currency of growth.

Communicate your purpose

I believe trust is the currency of growth. If you don’t have that, your organization won’t be able to achieve its potential. But you also need a guiding purpose – something you’re aligning around and working towards.

When you are clear about your mission, you can inspire people in your organization, show them they are contributing to an integrated goal, and keep them focused on what matters despite the noise that can accompany transformation.

A strong sense of purpose can help you embrace change, navigate disruptions and fuel growth but it can’t do any of those things if it isn’t clearly communicated. As Kathleen shared, “when you talk about trust, it’s about fostering a lot of conversation.” Additionally, Gina commented, “What’s most important to be communicated can never be communicated enough.” When you speak with one voice throughout your organization, and connect each action back to your purpose, you help people internalize your message. This refrain helps build the kind of deep trust that can have a tremendous and direct impact on your organization, its prosperity, and its competitive advantage.

When trust and transparency are well established in your organization and your motives are communicated clearly, it can reflect back on your brand in the marketplace and how you show up with clients. But weak links jeopardize this position. Gina stated this clearly and simply during our panel when she said, “trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets.” I invite each of you to view the Harnessing Trust to Drive Growth panel for more insights on this important and timely topic. As we lead our organizations, we should appreciate the opportunity of this moment. By homing in on trust, we can facilitate the transformations that can allow us to grow and thrive well into the future.

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