The Power of Trust: How to Build and Not Lose One of the Most Important Intangible Assets of a Company

A book about how to build trust in business. Based on 20 years of research and case studies from well-known companies—Uber, Honeywell, Johnson & Johnson, Pinterest, Ritz-Carlton, Tommy Hilfiger, BP, Boeing, Volkswagen, Grameen Bank, Michelin, BBC.

Trust is a powerful force that underlies the success of any business. But it’s also a rather fragile force—trust can be destroyed in an instant, dealing a devastating blow to a company’s profits and reputation. To create and maintain trust, it’s necessary to understand what clients, employees, and investors rely on when deciding whether to trust a business.

Sandra Sacher and Shalin Gupta convincingly show that trust is built from the inside. It arises because the company is initially honest with customers and employees: it creates high-quality products and services, is open to communication, treats people fairly, and takes responsibility for the consequences of the decisions it makes.

According to the authors’ concept, trust consists of four elements: competence, means/resources, motives, and actions—and they explain how to weave them into the company’s operations. They also show how to restore trust if it’s lost (yes, it’s possible).