Why A Trusted Business Leader Is More Important Than Ever
Whether you are a solopreneur, professional, small business owner, or even an executive business leader of a global corporation, you compete in an increasing hyperconnected and transparent global marketplace. The rate at which information technology deployment in areas such as broadband internet access or ever more powerful mobile devices has played a tremendous role in the changing the competitive rules by which success and failure are determined across all industries.
The speed at which a product or service innovation can be created and implemented today through digital disruption is mind-numbing. Your ability to compete as a solopreneur, small business, or large corporation will be largely determined by how effectively you leverage relationship capitalism and the latest information technology (software-as-a-service. mobile and analytics).
5 Steps For Building Trust And Credibility
The following steps are by no means the only ways to build trust, credibility, and relationship capital, but they are the most important.
1. Define Your Purpose and Guiding Principles
The first step is to determine what your credibility is composed of. You will need to choose which guiding principles you are willing to commit to no matter what. If you commit to the open standard principles of Relationship Capital (RC), they are the following:
- Honesty
- Accountability
- Responsibility
- Support
- Respect
- Trustworthiness
- Emotional Boundaries
How do you develop high-quality relationships? (Source: Standard of Trust)
Your ability to embed this relationship capital guiding principles into your company’s purpose will be an effective way in earning and building relationship capital with your stakeholders that will sustain long-term distinction.
For example, the Purpose of the Standard of Trust is:
To make a difference to business organizations and their stakeholder relationships through the capture, measurement, and utilization of open standards of relationship capital. To assist business leaders and their organizations to compete by out-behaving the competition.
Let me “Warn” you. Do not make superficial commitments to the relationship capital guiding principles or other principles you may select. Inauthentic behavior will be found out by the social and digitally connected tribe and your reputation and credibility will be damaged
2. Determine How You Will Demonstrate Authenticity
Look for the moments to demonstrate your authenticity. Whether it’s online with social media or your Linkedin blog, or in offline interactions with others, take the time to learn and understand your audience and permit to learn and understand you too.
3. Be Open
How far would you go to show your authenticity and credibility? Decide how you will demonstrate your guiding principles and how open you want to be. Then make a plan of action for showcasing this openness.
4. Be Consistent
Keep your communications consistent. The messages that you’re sending out through marketing, promotions and social media should be in alignment with the offline experience that you provide to customers.
5. Prepare For Resistance
Finally, get ready for the resistance. When you build a certain level of awareness, you’re going to get opposers. Don’t let this dishearten you or sidetrack you from your guiding principles and purpose. Stay committed to your principles, and you will earn respect (and relationship capital) from the people around you. Your loyal and customers, employees, partners, and brand ambassadors will defend and support you.
As we visualize the future, it is important to see where we have been. We have moved from an agrarian society thru the industrial age to the information age over the last 100 years. We have now entered the “Relationship Capital Economy”.
Much of the power that businesses have had in controlling the promotion and communication of their products and services has been transformed by the internet and related technologies. The power of connected customers, partners, and industry thought leaders and their perceptions of you, your products and services now determine your success or failure. It is too important to ignore anymore. Small business entrepreneurs and solopreneurs must adapt their business models to this reality or see more trusted, agile, and collaborative businesses take away their customers and clients. It could be a slow loss of market share or sudden and swift loss in demand.
Relationship Capital is Your Greatest Business Asset Today
The business case is being made in our hyperconnected and morally interdependent global economy that a new currency has emerged known as Relationship Capital (RC). This intangible asset will be captured on digital and social platforms through crowdsourcing people’s opinions and with algorithmic techniques. To stand out from the crowd, RC will be sought after by solopreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, and non-profits. Since we are competing in a global marketplace, whether you are a local one-man or one-woman business in a suburb of Mumbai India, a small software business in Omaha Nebraska or a global firm in Forbes Top 100 global firms list, our reputation moves at the speed of digital and social networks. Building trust and earning Relationship Capital (RC) with your relationships is a long-term differentiator for sustaining growth and profitability in an increasingly commoditized business world.
Introducing Peer SaaS
The Standard Of Trust has launched Peer SaaS or PE-ER “Performing Excellence-Engaging Recognition. A p2p commitment management and recognition platform that leverages gamification (relationship capital points, badges, and trophies).
Peer SaaS or PE-ER: Performing Excellence-Engaging Recognition
Peer SaaS is a performance and social recognition platform that enables:
- Commitment Management — Request and make commitments to your connections (customers, partners, etc).
- Gamification — Earn social recognition displayed on your Peer SaaS profile (badges, leaderboards, achievements, and points etc.).
- Appreciate Peers — Share this gratitude with your social networks.
Today, you must think and collaborate both locally and globally. In the months ahead I will be posting articles on how solopreneurs and small to medium business teams can leverage Peer SaaS to stand out from the competition in an increasingly commoditized world. Make a difference to your relationships and your business by requesting and making commitments to your customers, peers, and partners. Collaborate, co-create innovation, execute faster and build verifiable endorsements/references by earning social recognition and building credibility.
Make a difference to your relationships and your business by requesting and making commitments to your customers, peers, and partners. Collaborate, co-create innovation, execute faster and build verifiable endorsements/references by earning social recognition and building credibility.
Conclusion
To be an effective and trusted leader today requires credibility. Aligning thoughts and words with commitments and actions. How we connect, collaborate, engender trust, keep promises, deepen loyalty, and earn relationship capital is now the source of sustainable competitive advantage.
www.StandardofTrust.com
