By Helen Vollmer, President, Southwest“The people when rightly and fully trusted will return the trust."
-Abraham Lincoln
With Daniel Day Lewis impersonating Lincoln to sweep all major acting awards happening this month, and Obama offering up his State of the Union while Congress regroups and the Administration reinvents itself, this seemed an appropriate quote for the times. Even more so considering that Edelman’s 2013 Trust Barometer findings show that less than one fifth of the general public believes government and business leaders will tell the truth when confronted with a difficult issue.
We know why the public doesn’t trust government—corruption, wrong incentives driving policies, cronyism and partisanship, but maybe we should also ask why elected and appointed officials don’t seem to Trust their constituents? Perhaps the answer lies in a lack of real dialogue between those who want to hold office and those they represent. I’m not talking about political rallies. I’m talking about a give and take in real conversations about concerns, issues and opportunities that aren’t hair-sprayed to perfection in advance. Perhaps the listening skills of those involved on both sides are partly to blame. Instead of shouting to be heard, maybe we all should listen to better understand the complexities of issues and why solving problems to a mutually beneficial end is just plain hard.
But I am hopeful. In this new age of public engagement, there is more opportunity for dialogue and information than ever before. Both the public and officials now have the opportunity to express themselves in real time via social media. They can also respond rapidly and ask for more rationale or share differing points of view. Also, new media channels demand transparency making it harder to cover up the facts for long. And finally, third-party media, while still incredibly important, is now just an added voice, not the only voice in imparting wisdom to the masses.
Without a doubt we all have a lot to work on when it comes to mutual Trust. In the end, maybe it was Shakespeare and not Lincoln who had it right. To quote the Bard, “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
We trust you’ll enjoy our musings on Trust and credibility in this issue. Enjoy.
With Daniel Day Lewis impersonating Lincoln to sweep all major acting awards happening this month, and Obama offering up his State of the Union while Congress regroups and the Administration reinvents itself, this seemed an appropriate quote for the times. Even more so considering that Edelman’s 2013 Trust Barometer findings show that less than one fifth of the general public believes government and business leaders will tell the truth when confronted with a difficult issue.
We know why the public doesn’t trust government—corruption, wrong incentives driving policies, cronyism and partisanship, but maybe we should also ask why elected and appointed officials don’t seem to Trust their constituents? Perhaps the answer lies in a lack of real dialogue between those who want to hold office and those they represent. I’m not talking about political rallies. I’m talking about a give and take in real conversations about concerns, issues and opportunities that aren’t hair-sprayed to perfection in advance. Perhaps the listening skills of those involved on both sides are partly to blame. Instead of shouting to be heard, maybe we all should listen to better understand the complexities of issues and why solving problems to a mutually beneficial end is just plain hard.
But I am hopeful. In this new age of public engagement, there is more opportunity for dialogue and information than ever before. Both the public and officials now have the opportunity to express themselves in real time via social media. They can also respond rapidly and ask for more rationale or share differing points of view. Also, new media channels demand transparency making it harder to cover up the facts for long. And finally, third-party media, while still incredibly important, is now just an added voice, not the only voice in imparting wisdom to the masses.
Without a doubt we all have a lot to work on when it comes to mutual Trust. In the end, maybe it was Shakespeare and not Lincoln who had it right. To quote the Bard, “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
We trust you’ll enjoy our musings on Trust and credibility in this issue. Enjoy.
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