🔹Rachel Botsman suggests that trust, like energy, transforms rather than vanishes; it's about where trust is vested. Today, trust is transitioning from institutional to "distributed," shifting authority from leaders to peers, which is often overlooked and perpetuates trust issues.

🔹Trust dynamics have changed. Botsman defines it as “a confident relationship with the unknown,” while many social scientists view it as the assurance that someone will fulfill expectations or that outcomes will be predictable.

🔹If trust is predictable, it isn’t needed – is it? If the inner workings of AI, government, and the media were just more transparent, if we knew how they worked, we think we wouldn’t really need to “trust” so much. It would be more predictable.

“Transparency and risk controls can reduce the need for trust or increase people’s confidence in the unknown.”

🔹Deep trust is rooted in people’s behavior, primarily integrity. Confidence in individuals stems from the belief in their competence and understanding of their motives. Ultimately, trust is built on not just action but ethical action.

🔹The fear of missing out and falling behind is real, but leaders should be (more) cautious about moving too quickly due to the potential negative outcomes of missteps.

🎯WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

Because trust is the foundation of stakeholder relationships, connection comes down to the individual and how we behave. It’s often through low-tech interventions like data strategy, data governance, policy, compliance, data literacy learning, and development that we gain awareness and insight about another function and how it contributes to the organization. That awareness helps us become effective advocates. Building the trust and empathy needed to build bridges can be easier with awareness.