Now showing items tagged transparency

Following the recent Senate enquiry, now ex-CEO of Optus Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned with a name now tied to two of the biggest tele-communications crises of the last few years – last year’s data breach and last fortnight’s network outage.

While crises will inevitably occur, they do not need to come at the cost of credibility. However, so many leaders and companies fail to exhibit the qualities that the public expects during a crisis, and because of this they forfeit the trust that undeniably equates to currency in today’s sceptical marketplace. This most recent network outage crisis offers leaders and organisations some lessons on precisely this front.

The annuls of history make it very clear that power has generally belonged to organizations – from religious institutions to government bureaucracies and corporate behemoths. There have certainly been various ‘Davids’ who have stood up to their respective Goliaths and managed to temporarily upset the status quo and gain an upper hand. But these cases were exceptional in every sense of the word – most of the time, the individual lacked the power.

Today, the opposite is true. Recent years have seen the balance of power shift rapidly away from organizations and to the individual. There are 3 tools of empowerment that cannot be underestimated by leaders and organizations aiming to build trust in the years ahead.

A few years ago, I was running a strategy workshop with the leadership team of a global medical device firm. As we explored the disruptions that were impacting their business most, one came up that I hadn't previously considered.

An audience member shared that while increased competition and demographic changes were having a significant impact, a new trend that was proving enormously disruptive to their business was how increasingly aware their customers were of price variations across different markets. “In the past,” he said, “a customer in Spain was unlikely or unable to compare the price they were paying for a medical device with that of a patient in New Zealand. That’s all changed now. Our customers do compare and it is doing significant damage to our brand’s perceived trustworthiness.”

This challenge is far from unique. Across the board, consumers are demanding more and more information regarding the products they use on a daily basis.

“It is trust, more than money, that makes the world go around.”[1]

This statement of Columbia University economics professor Joseph Stiglitz finds new relevance in today’s circumstances. With the past year presenting unprecedented threats and challenges to society, recent measures have seen public trust in major institutions plummet to all-time lows.

Economics professor from Columbia University Joseph Stiglitz once said, “It is trust, more than money, that makes the world go around.” 

Today, this is more true than ever.

In 2017, I had the chance to meet a speaker and author I have admired since I was a teenager. Having read many of Dr John Maxwell’s 67 bestselling books, I was excited to see what the legendary man was like in person. Speaking to him backstage at a conference, I was struck by something he said and has said many times in his various books.

“Credibility is a leader’s currency,” he suggested, “With it, he or she is solvent; without it, he or she is bankrupt.”