The September Carnival of Trust

I believe this: Trust is the essential underpinning of enduring success in any field of endeavor and any type of relationship.  It is a critical theme in many professions (it certainly is in mine) and topic areas, and we see it prominently featured in a great deal of the writing posted in the blogosphere. 

I am proud to host - and to welcome you to - the September Carnival of Trust. 

The Carnival of Trust is a traveling review of the past month's ten best posts on trust in different realms of the world.  This month's carnival provides us with a broad range of great reading on this topic from a number of great blogs; be sure to click through and check them out!

1.  Entire books have been written about getting your customers to trust you - but what about trusting your customers?  What about putting policies and practices in place that assume customer honesty and good faith?  Rebecca Morgan, who writes Grow Your Key Talent, shares an engaging story about an encounter with a business during her recent vacation and highlights the principles of trust she found there.

Post: Do You Trust Your Customers?

2.  In relationships between human beings, business and otherwise, things invariably go wrong.  With this basic truth in mind, Steve Miller (author of Two Hat Marketing) brings us some insight on trust, defining it not as a perfect (and error free) relationship, but rather one where the parties believe they can rely on each other.  Using the story of a good friend, he helps us see how this insight plays out in the real world of customer relationships.

Post:  Trust: A Relationship of Reliance

3. Organizations are increasingly tapping into social media to execute their marketing strategies.  One question keeps popping up: How to maximize the potential of these new tools?  Here to help is Charles Heflin of Business Social Networking, who gives us the Ten Social Media Commandments.

Commandment 1:  Thou shalt gain the trust of your audience!

Post: The Ten Social Media Commandments

4.   As leaders, most of us take great pride in viewing ourselves as trustworthy.  It can be painful to learn, or even suspect, that others don't.  Dan McCarthy, who writes Great Leadership, offers help and some straightforward advice on the steps that any of us can take to inspire - or regain - trust.

Post: 10 Ways to Inspire Trust as a Leader

5.  In a provocative post, Darren Gorton of Outthink lifts the topic of internal controls above the level of accounting/auditing issues and into the realm of trust and relationships.  Does the increasing prominence of controls in business signal the death of trust?  What do you think?

Post:  Trust vs. Control: Is Control Merely a Substitute for Trust?

6.  Using the story of a young manager struggling to earn the trust of his team, Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership speaks definitively about the true nature of trust and what it takes to nurture and grow it.

Post:  How Do I Trust Thee?

7.  There's some twisted thinking going on about building trusted relationships; that trust is based on being agreeable and likeable. Luckily, Steve Roesler of All Things Workplace is here to set the record straight.

Post:  Want Trust and Respect? Say "No"! 

8. The trust of its citizens is one of the most important assets that a democratic government possesses - particularly at the local level.  In this post, U.K. Office for Public Management Fellow Simon Parker shares some of the lessons gleaned from his new research on how local governments can build trust with their citizens.

Post: State of Trust

9.  What do business and personal bloggers have in common?  Very little, you might say, operating as they do from such different realms.  Sonia Simone of Copy Blogger begs to differ, showing us that all bloggers must earn the trust of our respective audiences in order to be successful, and offering great advice on how we do that in today's "weird, Bladerunner world"!

Post: Are You Trustworthy?

10.  Recent research indicates that public trust in nonprofits is declining.  While there are real and legitimate reasons for this mistrust, Holly Ross of the Nonprofit Technology Network tells us, most nonprofits are doing good and doing it well.  In her post, she details her case for nonprofits to step beyond their traditional response to trust issues - the placebo - and directly engage with stakeholders.  The technology hook?  Social media tools make this step much easier.

Post: The Trust Placebo

Thanks to all for visiting.  The next Carnival of Trust is planned for October - information forthcoming!

Comments

[Charles Green]

Ann,

What a terrific job you have done hosting this carnival. I find all the selections to be informative and of the highest quality; I liked them all, though I particularly enjoyed Darrel Gorton's piece on trust and control (your item number 5). Thanks too for adding your own take to the subjects.

I look forward to reading more comments on this blog, and thank you again for doing the heavy lifting associated with putting a carnival like this together.

[Ann Bares]

Charlie:

My pleasure to host! I also look forward to reader comments and thoughts.

[Darren Gorton]

Hi Ann

Thank you for including my post here. It was quite a surprise, particularly considering the stature of some of the other writers you have selected.

Great topic for this world we're living in now, and certainly one I hope many people will come across and stop to think about, so thanks for providing that opportunity.

Charles, thanks for your vote of confidence!

[Ann Bares]

Darren:

You're welcome - great having the opportunity to share such a thought-provoking post!

[Steve Miller]

Hello Ann,

Many thanks for including my post in your Carnival of Trust list! I agree this is such an important issue in all aspects of business and relationship building. I enjoyed reading the other posts!

Steve Miller

[Dan McCarthy]

Ann -
Thanks for hosting this and for including my post! I just put up a post promoting the carnival:
http://greatleadershipbydan.blogspot.com/2008/09/september-carnival-of-trust.html

[Ann Bares]

Steve:

You're certainly welcome - and thanks for stopping by to check out the rest of the Carnival!

Dan:

You're welcome as well, and thanks for the plug - we appreciate!

Ann

[Steve Roesler]

Ann,

I'll echo the others' sentiments.

Trust is a fundamental issue in our lives and is certainly magnified quickly in the daily workplace give-and-take.

Really appreciate being included. . .

[Lisa]

What a unique and interesting carnival theme!

[Ann Bares]

Steve:

So glad to have you here - I really liked your post!

Lisa:

Glad you stopped by!

[Nina Simosko]

Ann,
Great carnival. I would like to have contributed, but somehow missed this one. Anyway, a recent entry of mine would fit right in:

http://ninasimosko.com/blog/2008/09/03/tell-it-like-it-is/

Love this idea...keep up the great work of informing the masses of these important concepts.

[Gopi Padakandla]

Ann,

Great compilation. Especially I enjoyed Darren Gorton call to nurture the culture of trust to deter fraud. With the difficult economy driving the urgent need to bring out the best in people (with trust) and reduce the cost (of controls and fraud), there is no better time than now for organiazations to create, develop and nurture the culture of trust and transparency.

[Ann Bares]

Nina:

Thanks for sharing the link - please keep it in mind for the October Carnival of Trust - more information forthcoming on Charles Green's site.

Gopi:

So well said - thanks for the thoughts. Clearly Darren's post has struck a widespread chord.

[Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC]

Ann:

Thanks so much for mentioning my blog and posting. I didn't even know you tracked my blog, so this is very cool!

Rebecca Morgan
http://www.GrowYourKeyTalent.com