Learning To Trust

If a company mistreats its people, just watch how the employees treat their customers. Mud rolls down a hill, and the person standing at the bottom takes the full brunt. In a company, that's usually the customer.

The former head of Southwest Airlines was considered crazy for believing that it was a company's responsibility to look after its employees first. Happy employees ensure happy customers, he said. And happy customers ensure happy shareholders - in that order.

Trust does not come because a company creates reasons why the customer should buy a product or service, or because an executive promises change. Trust is not a checklist. Neither does fulfilling duties create trust. Trust is a feeling, not a rational experience. We often trust people and companies when things go wrong, and not trust others even though things have gone exactly as they should. A completed checklist does not guarantee trust. Trust begins to emerge when people perceive that another person or organization is driven by something other than their own self-gain. 

I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.