The world is in a trust crisis, and developing the eight-pillar framework of trust is the way out. Top leaders ought to use Trust Trends 2014 as a timely application for developing themselves, their teams, their organizations, and society. The following is a summary of the eight trends, their key embedded opportunities, and the pillar of trust each most corresponds with.
8 Pillars
Smarter Proficiency & Precision Results | Trust Trends 2014 Series
Machines are becoming more intelligent, interactive, efficient, and precise.
Machines are becoming more intelligent, interactive, efficient, and precise. Nano-technologies are changing clothing, photonic thread is transforming computing, driverless cars are shifting the transportation paradigm, drones are altering warfare, and three-dimensional data visualization is revolutionizing decision-making. Smarter computers deliver increasingly more proficient and precise results.
Anonymity Dilutes Accountability | Trust in Leadership
A major way to increase accountability is to reduce anonymity. There is a reason that crime is less per capita in small towns; people know each other. They know what each other is up to, and they talk. They know who is at the bar and whose car is parked outside of “that person’s” house all night long. While gossip is certainly a negative; small town accountability can promote higher character. If people know they are being watched, they are more likely to act above reproach. This is one of the reasons people do more stupid things in Las Vegas while on a business trip.
Plan Ahead to Stay Ahead | Trust in Leadership
It’s hard to get a running start on the day without a plan. You don’t want to waste your creative morning time wondering what you should do today. If you want to attack your day instead of having it attack you, use this solid strategy. Take the last 15 minutes of a workday to plan out and prioritize the activities for the next day. This will set you up for success and also keep you from forgetting about important tasks or appointments.
Hyper-Personal & Shared Experience Culture | Trust Trends 2014 Series
Increasingly, Americans desire to be entertained, fulfilled, and transformed, and they want to share these experiences with their friends.
Americans are stressed-out, staying obese, and becoming more self-focused and unhealthy. They are often distrusting critics, especially younger anti-institutional generations who have been influenced by scandals in hierarchies, and this makes them increasingly informal. As consumers, they are demanding and difficult to please. They trade their money and options for what they want, when they want, and how they want. Increasingly, they desire to be entertained and fulfilled, and they want to share experiences with friends. In 2014, American consumers desire hyper-personal products, services, experiences, shared experiences and transformations.
Alliance Academy International | Trust in Schools
It didn’t take long for me to see the impact of trust at one of the biggest schools of its kind—Alliance Academy International(AAI). The impact of an AAI education and experience is powerful. The English Speaking School in Quito, Ecuador educates students from thirty-two nationalities this year alone. The nearly 200 faculty, staff and board are multinational. A student might be a general’s son, a pop star’s daughter, or a scholar-shipped child from the Amazon jungle.
How does AAI build trust that impacts so many lives in the face of such diversity?
Quality and Meaning for People | Trust Trends 2014 Series
Talent economists know that in order to maintain top employees, they have to develop business around meaningful missions and create fulfilling roles.
In the open-talent economy, employees have options, and talent is a scarce resource. Business leaders are thinking like talent economists and sustainability directors. Leaders know that in order to keep top talent, they must introduce environmental, social and governance strategies, provide collaborative work, create environments conducive to multiple generations, allow for flexible work schedules, and focus on happiness. People are searching for meaningful mission statements and high quality work environments.
Strategy for Innovative Agility | Trust Trends 2014 Series
Success, let alone survival, demands an ability to quickly respond to fast-changing markets and environments.
Financial squeezing, increased digital commerce, cutting-edge Big Data technology, increasing distrust in big institutions, and quickly changing markets has given way to innovative strategies for agility. Small organizations are more insightful, and larger organizations are more agile. In addition, new financial systems are being developed, entrepreneurs have an opportunistic outlook, SME’s are thriving, and agile systems of all types are being developed to replace outdated, bulky, and bureaucratic systems.
Volatile & Vulnerable Global Context | Trust Trends 2014 Series
The three-speed global economy is volatile, and a deficiency of trusted leadership makes the entire world vulnerable.
The global context is marked by volatility and vulnerability. The global population is rising quickly, resources are growing scarce, new technology is causing constant disruption, employment rates are on the downswing, and tensions remain. The three-speed global economy is volatile, and it’s not a good time for a crisis of leadership. A deficiency of trusted leadership makes the entire world vulnerable.
Answer to the Trust Crisis | Trust Trends 2014 Series
In 2014, eight key global trends reveal that the world is in a trust crisis, and developing the eight-pillar framework of The Trust Edge is the way out. From the Cyprus bank fiasco and Edward Snowden’s leaks to the Syria chemical weapons attack and horsemeat scandals, stories of distrust are overflowing from the news. These trust breaches are combining with trends of rapid change to leave the world in a volatile state. Worse yet, leaders are leaving our world vulnerable.
