Stakeholder Trust

This week, we return to Stephen M.R. Covey's, The Speed of Trust, and visit the next “wave of trust,” called "Stakeholder Trust." In Phase II, Ideation, we focus heavily on the engagement of our stakeholders to move our work forward and highlight the importance of trust between ourselves and this group. The first principle in this Stakeholder Trust “wave” is alignment. When structures and systems are not aligned, it creates a low-trust environment. This low-trust environment manifests itself within organizations and coalitions in the form of “symbols of trust.” Each of our stakeholders comes from their own sector, and that sector contains its own trusted symbols. So, when brought together, there are bound to be issues as communications and understandings develop. The seven high-trust “dividends” to expect from a business angle are: increased value, accelerated growth, enhanced innovation, improved collaboration, stronger partnering, better execution, and heightened loyalty. 

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