People trust the truth^®

But trust is an outcome, not an action. In fact, it's an outcome of specific and consistent actions. To suggest anything else is to live in a fantasy land.

Because where we actually live is in a world where trust feels increasingly fragile. For 25 years, international communications agency Edelman has published its Trust Barometer, charting changing levels of trust in institutions, politicians and corporations.

In 2026, Edelman identified a growing tendency towards 'insularity', with people becoming less willing to engage with those whose views differ from their own. But its findings also highlight the importance of the people and institutions closest to us, including our workplaces.

For company heads, that presents an extraordinary opportunity. In a world of decreasing trust, organisations can become places where people find it, experience it and help it grow.

Why does that matter?

Quite simply, trust buys us freedom. Freedom to JFDI, without people breathing down our necks. Freedom to innovate. Freedom to mess up, once in a while.

And believe me, if you're not messing up occasionally, you're probably not innovating hard enough. If you're not innovating hard enough, you're standing still. And if you're standing still in the modern world, you're going backwards.

Trust makes organisations easier to lead.

People who trust, and are trusted by, their leaders are more willing to take responsibility and make decisions. Customers who trust a business are more likely to give it the benefit of the doubt when things go wrong, and return to it. And when people trust one another, they can devote more of their energy to doing useful work and less to protecting themselves.

So how do you earn trust?

I build my work around one simple and glaringly obvious insight: People trust the truth^®.

People who have a remarkable capacity to contribute when they feel their contribution matters.

And to realise that potential, we have to listen to them. Really listen. Because people see things we don't, know things we haven't considered and experience the consequences of decisions we may never witness.

We can lose sight of the truth accidentally, by using the wrong language, having insufficient curiosity or making over-hasty decisions. Sometimes organisations deliberately obscure it. At every point on this scale, trust suffers.

Think about the organisation that says its people are its greatest asset whilst tolerating appalling behaviour from its highest performer. Or the business that claims to put customers first but always makes decisions for its own convenience.

Of course, we could debate for hours what exactly can be described as truth. The more we think through this, the more interesting that question becomes. In my work I draw on a very specific set of criteria: Essential Truths.

Essential Truths and trust

Every organisation has Essential Truths and a story, but sometimes they have been hidden over time. These aren't nebulous concepts. They're specific things and they sit in your business already. But they can be surprisingly difficult to recognise, particularly when you've spent years living and working amongst them.

I work with five Essential Truths:

Together they form the foundation of your story.

Your heritage is something to build on, not hide behind. Your vision must be worth working towards, your purpose worth believing in and your values worth living by. And your soul? That's what makes the whole thing unmistakably yours.

But there's a trap. What you believe to be true about your organisation isn't necessarily what other people experience.

You might be fiercely proud of your heritage, but your customers feel you've lost your way. You might have a compelling vision that nobody outside the boardroom understands. You might have values - proudly displayed on every wall - which cause your people to roll their eyes. And you might not know any of this.

The stories organisations tell themselves can become so familiar that nobody questions them. And the truth can be uncomfortable, particularly when it challenges decisions you've made or assumptions you've inherited.

That's why Essential Truths must be more than things we talk about. They must be recognisable in the decisions you make, the way you behave and the experiences you create. The British Army leadership code puts it well: 'When values are declared and followed, they form the basis of trust. When they are stated and not followed, trust is broken.'

So when your Essential Truths are reflected in what people actually experience, they've got something real to believe in and you've got a practical toolkit for making good choices.

Inside out

An outsider has a particular advantage here. I can ask questions that people inside the organisation have stopped asking, notice contradictions and follow unexpected answers. I have no established position to defend and no personal investment in preserving the status quo.

My responsibility is to discover what's true and supports the strategy, then help my clients put that understanding to work. That requires research and insight, commercial acuity and intuitive sense, creative skill and the courage to speak the truth.

When a founder came to me planning to hand his business to his daughter, the questions went far beyond succession.

What was it about this business that people valued? Which qualities were worth preserving, and which assumptions might be holding it back? The answers weren't always where we expected to find them. Customers, for example, often recognise qualities an organisation itself barely notices.

Saying no to the menagerie

You can't tackle something of this magnitude without some ground rules. These are mine.

Yes, that takes trust right from the start. I recognise that. For my clients not just to be honest with me, but to allow their colleagues, clients and partners to do the same takes real guts. And I ask my clients to accept that without truth we can never build the trust that they need.

So on this one, they might have to take a leap of faith. Trust me and trust the process. Trust your people to speak the truth, and trust me to recognise it, harness and express it. Ultimately, you cannot serve people you don't understand.

But what about those hares?

Well, these things take time. People need the space to say what they really think, to question assumptions and sometimes to change their minds. And even the most compelling organisational story is worth little unless it becomes part of the way people actually work.

If one of your values is respect, what does that mean when a brilliant but difficult colleague repeatedly undermines others?

If your purpose is to improve people's lives, how does that influence the way you design services or respond to complaints?

And if your vision requires significant growth, how will you achieve it whilst protecting the qualities that made the organisation successful in the first place?

These are the questions that turn Essential Truths into practical tools for leadership. They help people make decisions when priorities compete or circumstances are difficult, and establish a shared understanding of the behaviour expected of everyone.

For principles to become part of the warp and weft of an organisation, people need to be involved in putting them into practice. Those closest to the daily workings of the business are often best placed to recognise what needs to change. And when they help shape that change, they have a much greater reason to make it happen.

Those with overarching responsibility have a particular duty to lead by example. Other people will judge the organisation's values by the decisions its leaders make, especially when those decisions are uncomfortable or costly. And never forget that your future leaders are watching and learning, too.

There's an old saying: Not the cry, but the flight of a wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow. When people see those principles reflected in consistent actions, not just words, their confidence grows.

People trust the truth is a virtuous circle. When people feel able to speak honestly, and see that their views are taken seriously, trust grows. That gives them the confidence to take responsibility, make decisions and contribute more fully.

And when those decisions reflect the principles the organisation claims to live by, trust grows stronger still.

And ... what if it works?

The results can be far more substantial than a clearer organisational story: though that, of course, is nice. When leaders understand what matters and give people a shared direction, something shifts. Decisions that once required endless discussion become easier. People stop waiting for permission and start taking responsibility. And leaders find they can spend less time managing difficulties and more time building the future.

For the founder and his daughter, discovering and sharing the business's Essential Truths brought the wider team into the handover, reassured customers and delivery partners, and helped repair a strained boardroom relationship.

A newly appointed Managing Director, now leading former peers, established a shared direction that helped rebuild relationships and a sense of responsibility throughout the business. Customer loyalty rose with it.

A CEO facing an abrupt change imposed by the business owners used a clearer understanding of the organisation's purpose and direction to turn HR into a strategic people-development function. The business retained and attracted talent, grew more profitable and encouraged its owners to stand back and let him lead.

Different businesses, different challenges. But in each case, a clearer understanding of what mattered helped people make better choices, strengthen relationships and move forward with greater confidence.

Chapeau to the leaders of those businesses for trusting me to help them. None of these changes happened simply because we found the right words. They happened because people were prepared to act on what they discovered, even when that required difficult decisions.

The best is yet to come

Of course I hope that dear old John Lewis finds its feet. Their story reminds us how much can be lost when an organisation's commercial direction becomes disconnected from the things that made people value it in the first place.

Every organisation has something special embedded in its history, its people, the contribution it makes and the qualities that distinguish it from others. The task in hand is to recognise those strengths, build on them and make sure the glory days lie ahead rather than behind.

Trust is earned when people recognise the truth in what they are told, what they experience and what they see others do. That's the thread running through my work with organisations, the people who lead them and the next generation preparing to take their place.

If this has made you think about an organisation you lead, work with or care about, I'd love to hear your thoughts. And if it brings someone else to mind, please do pass it on. These are conversations worth having.

People trust the truth^®. Use it well.