Trust Equity
Next to George Gallup, Daniel Yankelovich is probably the dean of public opinion polling and research. In a recent edition of the McKinsey Quarterly, Yankelovich describes the shift in expectation that the public has of business. With no pun intended, here’s the money quote from the interview:
"To the extent that business is seen as taking on global responsibilities, it will gain lots of credit. The hybrid versus the Hummer is the almost perfect symbol of that shift in outlook. You see Toyota, GE, P&G, and a number of other leading companies recognizing this new global responsibility and taking it on. It’s a way of building what my colleagues call “trust equity,” and I think it will prove to be a major competitive asset in the future."
Trust equity as a competitive asset. That’s a new way of taking an outside-in view of the entire enterprise. What are you and your leaders doing to build trust equity with your different stakeholders?