Premiere University | David Horsager - The Trust Edge

July 14, 2016

David Horsager

The Trust Edge

David Horsager has spent years doing research on trust so extensively that he now shares his expertise on the subject with some of the biggest multinational companies. We had the exciting opportunity to having him stop by the office to share his expertise with us during one of our Premiere University sessions. Premiere University is a chance for all of us to hit pause on our busy days to be intentional about learning how to do things better from the best of the best. During this session with David, we had a chance to learn about The Trust Edge. He began with giving us an opportunity to reflect on what our knee-jerk reactions to the word ‘trust’ are. Some words that were used to define trust included ‘integrity,’ ‘faith,’ ‘reliability,’ and ‘honesty.’ 

“Trust is a confident belief in a person, product or organization.” 

There are endless things to say on this subject, but David had a great way of breaking down how his research has influenced his perspective on trust:

• Lack of trust is your biggest expense. “I think we have to think bigger about trust and differently about trust and I think every cost you have is related to trust. Mistrust doubles the cost of doing business.” Biggest Mutal Fund Company in the world, has $100,000,000 /year bc of a lack of trust, cost of lack of trust in Kenya affects their GDP every day. A careless camper can light one tiny spark and cause a forest to burn down in minutes - that’s how trust is. 
• The real cost is time. David brings up a great point when he talks about the fact that most of what’s out there about trust is about how it is destroyed. On a more positive and productive note, Forbes made ‘trust’ their Business Word of the Year. According to David's research, the best places to work are also the places with a high level of trust among employees. A business experiences success and growth when trust creates a safe environment to share ideas and high trust companies out perform low trust companies by 186%! 

In closing, David shared The Eight Pillars of Trust with us:

1. Clarity is powerful "What we’ve found is that people trust the clear and they mistrust or distrust the ambiguous." Ask the question “How?” at least three times." This helps to create a more productive conversation on how to best facilitate change through actionable points. 
2. Compassion - "We trust those that care beyond themselves. One of the basic human needs is the need to be appreciated. Appreciate people because they need to be appreciated." 
3. Character - "Character can be changed for the better. You always have a chance to build character." 
4. Input - "The energy you put in is equivalent to what you get out. Thoughts lead to desires lead to action." 
5. Commitment - "We found that people trust those that we recognize will stay committed in the face of adversity. Commitment is powerful."
6. Connection - "The #1 most magnetic trait of all time is gratitude." 
7. Contribution - "You can have all of the character you could possibly have but you’ve gotta have the contribution. If you don’t produce results, I can’t trust you."
8. Consistency - "Reputation is built on consistency and a brand is built on consistency." 

One of David's challenges for us was to think bigger about trust. After he walked us through his in-depth, research-driven perspective, it's easy to see what he means. Thank you, David, for stopping by and giving us the opportunity to learn even more about The Trust Edge!

"Your whole legacy is defined by real, genuine trustworthiness." 

Want to bring David's expertise to your next event? Let us know here. We'd love to help make it happen!