Videos
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The Power of Trust with Sandra Sucher and Shalene Gupta
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Sandra Sucher - SPECTRA 2021
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3 Questions to Answer in an Apology
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POLL: 58% OF AMERICANS CANT NAME ONE FAMOUS ASIAN AMERICAN
Learn More About Shalene Gupta
There is a crisis of trust permeating society and businesses have no choice but to address it.
Trust issues show up in many forms. A scandal or product defect may cause customers to distrust a brand. People who feel overlooked or undercompensated in the workplace because of their skin color, gender or sexual orientation may come to distrust their employer. Citizen distrust in governments is an age-old problem. And without trust in each other, business leaders cannot successfully build an organization together.
“The good news is, trust can be cultivated and lost trust can be regained,” explains Shalene Gupta, co-author of “The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It” (Public Affairs, July 2021) with Harvard Business School Professor Sandra J. Sucher. “But it is a deliberate process that must be activated with intention and a commitment to open conversations.” Soon after its release, “The Power of Trust” was named among the best business books in July 2021 by The Financial Times.
Gupta – former research associate at Harvard Business School who previously worked as a reporter at Fortune and as a financial analyst at the U.S. Treasury Department – studies and writes about the intersection of technology, diversity, trust and the workplace. A Chinese-Indian American who studied and taught in Malaysia on a Fulbright scholarship, she has seen firsthand how a lack of trust can create a barrier to productivity, communication and innovation in the workplace, eroding both business and personal relationships. As a corporate advisor, author and journalist, she uses practical frameworks to teach leaders how they can build trust within their organizations and address behaviors and policies that may be inadvertently causing people to mistrust them or their company. And, she emphasizes, leaders must be willing to let people speak their minds.
According to Gupta, the only way for leaders to build or regain trust is to first acknowledge that it’s important, then give it a place in the decision-making process. She even recommends putting a person in charge of trust, someone tasked with deciding whether certain decisions may positively or negatively affect trust.
“Companies don’t put trust at the center of their decision-making because they don’t know what that looks like and why it’s important,” says Gupta. “Yet it affects the bottom line and studies confirm that.”
In “The Power of Trust,” the co-authors examine the science behind trust and reveal how customers, employees, community members and investors decide whether an organization or a person can be trusted. They show that creating and sustaining trust does not come from “reputation building” and PR, but by being the “real deal,” creating products, services and technologies that work, having good intentions, treating people fairly, and taking responsibility for all the impacts an organization creates, whether intended or not. The in-depth stories they share, based on twenty years of research, shine a bright light on the business, economic and societal importance of trust.
“This is about figuring out what it takes for different stakeholders to trust your organization. It’s about bridging the gap between where you are and where you should be,” says Gupta. “Ultimately, trust is a license to operate.”
As an advisor, writer, researcher and speaker, Shalene Gupta addresses issues around diversity, equity and inclusion, technology, smart cities, big data and the Internet of Things. Her work has been published in Harvard Business Review, ESPN, Fortune, Kirkus Reviews, The New Straits Times, The Jakarta Post and Mint. She previously served as an editor at MIT Horizon, an MIT-owned start-up which seeks to advance knowledge within the business community about cutting-edge technologies. Gupta was named to the Thinkers50 Radar List in 2022. In 2021, Gupta and her “Power of Trust” co-author were shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award, which celebrates a eureka moment in management thinking.
Gupta received a Fulbright grant to Malaysia in 2012, where she taught English to over 2,000 low-income high-school students. While there, she also drew source material for her book documenting the history of the Malaysian Fulbright program, “Bridging the Pacific: Celebrating 50 Years of Fulbright in Malaysia,” and ran a leadership seminar for young women funded by the U.S. Department of State.
Gupta holds a B.A. in writing and psychology from Johns Hopkins and a masters in journalism from Columbia University.
Shalene Gupta is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.
Trust as a Path to Business Growth
Trust isn’t merely a nice-to-have. It impacts everything from the economy and customer loyalty to workplace productivity and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). “The Power of Trust” co-author and Harvard Business Review researcher Shalene Gupta helps firms tackle their biggest problems by putting trust at the center of their decision making. Confronting high-stakes scandals like the Boeing crashes and the Volkswagen emissions scandal, Gupta helps organizations move from vague notions of trust toward an applicable framework. Citing case studies, including Japan’s Recruit Holdings, which rebounded from massive scandal in the 1980s to achieve over 20 billion in profits without layoffs, Gupta explains what it takes to strengthen or repair reputations and enlist the trust of stakeholders so organizations and their employees can flourish.
How Boards Play a Key Role in Building Trustworthy Organizations
According to “The Power of Trust” co-author and corporate advisor, Shalene Gupta, the only way for leaders to build or regain trust is to first acknowledge that it’s important, then give it a place in the decision-making process. The role of board members is particularly critical to trust building since values come from the top. In this presentation, she outlines key steps board members can take to become moral role models such as ensuring their board has the right members, that it is structured correctly, and that members are able to have intentional, open, honest and timely conversations where issues of accountability can be fully addressed.
How Trust Strengthens a Diverse Workplace
As racial tensions rise and inevitably enter the workplace, leaders must be willing to open the door to conversations so employees can voice their concerns. In light of a 150% spike in hate crimes and research showing that 68% of Americans expect corporations to take a stronger stance on social issues, “The Power of Trust” co-author and Harvard Business Review researcher Shalene Gupta outlines a trust-based framework for making workplaces safer and more just. Citing examples from companies like Etsy and Coca-Cola, she teaches participants how they can leverage similar initiatives so employees come to trust the organization and each other more, which ultimately leads to better communication, cooperation and productivity.
“You can’t buy it. You can’t sell it. You can’t even see it. But if you had more of it, your employees would work harder, and your customers would stay with you longer. Trust is one of the most valuable intangible assets that a company can have and this book will show you how to get more of it. Packed with wonderful stories and practical examples, this book is a great read. TRUST me!”
“The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer found business is the most trusted institution. Business has a new mandate to lead as the world combats ongoing crises and widespread mistrust. Against this backdrop, ‘The Power of Trust’ is a must-read. Both scholarly and practical, it draws on fields from ancient philosophy to modern management theory to analyze and deeply examine the core elements of business trust while taking a lively journey through real-world cases of trust won and lost (and won again). Professor Sandra Sucher and Shalene Gupta make a vital contribution to the trust conversation and provide a compelling call to action for CEOs to build trust by embracing a broader societal role.”
“Full of fresh insights brought to life by compelling examples, ‘The Power of Trust’ is a rich and rewarding read. It’s also extremely timely. With more and more companies today pledging to balance the interests of all of their stakeholders, and not always put their shareholders first, Sandra Sucher and Shalene Gupta make clear that the driving question executives should be asking themselves every time they make a major decision is, ‘Will this enhance trust among those we claim to serve—or betray it?’”
“Unveils a new understanding of the business, economic, and societal importance of trust.”
“With vibrant and compelling insights, Sandra Sucher and Shalene Gupta break important new ground about trust as a key foundation for both human relationships and business. Their illuminating and exciting exploration of what it takes to build trust, combined with vivid storytelling, make this page-turner a critical companion for any business leader.”
“Trust is at the foundation of sustainably successful enterprises in business, government, and any organization, for that matter. ‘The Power of Trust’ does a great job explaining the how and why of building trust, including fairness, one of my favorite issues.”
“Sandra Sucher and Shalene Gupta offer a comprehensive blueprint for companies and leaders who want to build or regain the trust of their stakeholders. Their work provides an insightful trust model that underpins moral leadership — looking at competence, motives, means, and impact. A brilliant resource for anyone who wants to truly understand what trust is, how it works, and what they can do to incorporate it into their leadership practice.”
