The Business of TRUST
[Music]
ladies and gentlemen
hello bonjour and may i start by saying
how honored i am to be with you all
today
and today i will focus on trust and why
trust
is such a precious asset an asset we
take for granted the value of which
is often misunderstood or worse ignored
and an asset
that in the age of exponential change is
the glue to
and key ingredient for long-term
sustainable success
let me start by introducing myself and
explaining my own personal trust journey
i am charles bowman a recently retired
pwc partner
a firm i’ve worked with for 38 years
i also carry the snappy title of a
pass lord mayor which donates the fact
that from november
17 to 18 i served as the 690th lord
mayor
of the city of london those of you
who’ve seen the pantomime dick
whittington or visited the annual lord
mayor show
will know that this meant that i did
spend part of my meryl year
traveling in a gold coach carrying a
tricorn hat dressed in velvet robes and
jabbers
and wearing pairs of 60 denier tights
but as lord mayor the principal
representative of the city of london the
square mile at the heart of the capital
where london
began i spent the majority of my time
acting as a key spokesperson and
ambassador
for the business of the city and the
uk’s financial and professional services
sector
a sector that employs 2.3 million people
across the uk
accounts for more than 10 percent of the
national gdp
and returns each year from financial
services alone 76 billion pounds in tax
that is 50 percent of the uk’s national
health care budget
in a normal year a sector that is a
national and a global jewel
and looking at the role of the lord
mayor it is that juxtaposition between
the old and the new the guardian are
both an
historic and a modern purpose which when
set alongside its political independence
makes it both unique and trusted
the world over in my first week in
office
i found myself in the hall of manchin
house the lord mayor’s glorious
palladian home
set in the heart of the city of london
wearing the historic
and extremely valuable badge of office
ready
to travel to a meeting happening one or
two streets
away only to find the official car
and its driver lyon waiting to drive me
as a person who likes to exercise i
asked leon
if i might walk to the appointment
and leon looked me in the eye and
replied
lord mayor you are perfectly at liberty
to walk
sir the badge however
will be taking the car thereby
demonstrating that ancient and historic
chains and badges of office are
irreplaceable
individual lord mayors not quite so much
and i tell this story as it reinforces
to me
the importance of the institution over
the individual
an institution that has been a trusted
constant
for 835 years
i also tell you this story because
throughout my year in office
i made the business of trust a key focus
with its
objective of developing a legacy of
better business trusted by
society why trust
well the global financial crisis of 2008
had been the catalytic moment marking
the beginning
of a seismic shift in the relationship
between business
and society and despite new regulation
and improved business practice 10 years
on
trust in financial services remained at
an
all-time low the animal and trust
barometer reported in 2018
the single largest decline in trust in
the institutions of business
government media and ngos just
43 percent of people in the uk trusted
business
and nearly 7 in 10 respondents said
that building trust was the number one
job for ceos ahead
of delivering high quality products and
services
so what do we do well first we carried
out two streams of research
we convened a trust advisory group to
focus on the business side of this
trust issue and challenge the group to
review the many pages
of existing business guidelines
standards and
codes of conduct with the aim of
distilling these
often little red documents into some
simple
guiding principles to help build
trustworthiness
simultaneously we held a series of
day-long citizens juries in cities
across the uk drawing people from off
the street so as to understand better
society’s view of the state of trust in
financial services
and we were shocked by the emotion
behind the response there was a lot
of anger and bitterness but once that
had subsided
we tasked these groups to focus on the
behaviors they felt
were required from business to
demonstrate and rebuild
trust we brought the findings from both
the
trust advisory group and the citizens
jurors together and found to our
surprise
that the recommendations from both
barring the language used
reconciled almost exactly
giving us the confidence to distill this
research
into five simple prince principles for
improving
public trust the civic principles
competence in short business must do
what they do well
integrity business must do the right
thing
value to society business must have a
wider purpose
interests of others business must focus
on the customer
and other stakeholders and clear
communication
business must communicate clearly and
transparently
and it was these principles that formed
the foundations of the program
and during the year we relentlessly
championed them and the business of
trust
across the uk and beyond
we created the leaders of tomorrow
network a nationwide community of next
generation leaders
from across financial services
empowering them to take the agenda
forward
with their firms and the sector we
developed a longer term network working
with
school children developing a trust
resource for their schools
and beyond we also took the business of
trust
abroad on each of my international
visits some 110 days
visiting 30 different countries
and given the strength of support we
began an interview program
of high profile personalities including
nicholas sturgeon the archbishop of
canterbury mark carney
and for rugby fans amongst us all black
legend
sir john cohen it may be no surprise
given public perception that most
politicians spoke cogently
of the importance of integrity mark
carney referenced the important role
business should play
in wider society in tackling climate
change
and sir john cohen a first in his sport
to speak up on mental health
recognized trust as the cornerstone of
all relationships
and a critical foundation for strong
mental health
and finally given the interest we
developed a survey for the public to
complete which reach
business leaders regulators government
officials university students and school
children
across the world everyone from the
classroom
to the boardroom well
that was a little while ago where does
trust stand today
why is it so relevant and what should we
expect
looking forward at the time of the
global financial crisis in 2008
trust was very much a financial services
issue
in the years since trust has grown into
a
global problem manifest across the world
whether
in the uk referendums and general
election results
in the usa catalonia france hong kong
and rising population worldwide most
recently
well after a year of unprecedented
turbulence the coveted 19 pandemic
with its associated economic
consequences the related uncertainty a
global outcry
over systemic racism increased
polarization
and overall political instability the
2021 edelman trust barometer revealed
and i quote an epidemic of
misinformation
and widespread mistrust of societal
institution
and leaders around the world the kobit
19 pandemic with more than 2 million
lives lost
and joblessness equivalent to the great
depression has accelerated
the erosion of trust edelman continued
by saying
that adding to this is a failing trust
ecosystem
unable to confront the rampant empademic
leaving the four institutions of
business government ngos and media
in an environment of information
bankruptcy
and with a mandate to rebuild trust and
chart a new path forward
the examples are everywhere and at the
center for our news
every day whether it’s vaccine efficacy
vaccine demand and vaccine supply chains
critical
to our safe passage out of this pandemic
or the growing tensions between west
and east or the implementation and
application
of the trade and cooperation agreement
and the related relationships beyond
that success of all these issues is
dependent
in large part upon trust
so what are we to learn and what can we
do well let me start with three
observations
firstly there exists an
intergenerational difference between the
values
and principles that underpin public
trust today
our business of trust survey asked
people to prioritize the five
civic principles and the results were
clear
those over 30 years old voted
overwhelmingly
for integrity and those under 30
voted overwhelmingly for value to
society
and these differences are beginning to
manifest themselves in changing
expectations of business
its purpose and its practice
secondly technology is part of the
problem
and must form part of the solution the
digital revolution has changed the frame
of reference
and keeping abreast of technological
developments will be
critical to earning trust in this new
age
thirty years ago a teenager growing up
in the small
rural east anglian village where i live
two hours north of london
would have built their knowledge base
from conversations around the kitchen
table
on the school bus in the village shop
from their teachers
grandparents and perhaps a bit from the
newspaper tv and radio
today that same teenager needs only a
mobile
and wi-fi and with these can access
any amount of information and worse or
better still
share their views across the world at
the press of a button
and that same teenager will build his or
her trust in the outside world
through new methods including
crowdsourcing
and the number of likes on social media
something my generation
find hard to understand technology
does not have to be something to
undermine trust instead
it should facilitate trust as one
wise fintech ceo reflected this
fourth revolution is a revolution of two
parts
a technology-based revolution and a
values-driven revolution
and thirdly success is about the long
term
winning over the short term and we
should not forget
that trust arrives on foot and leaves
on a galloping horse the coffee company
that was perceived to have failed to pay
its fair share of tax
paid dearly and quickly when its
customers voted with its feet
and left for the competition
and what next and what recommendations
again three thoughts from me firstly
purpose and a specific recommendation
for business
have a clear purpose beyond solely
profit maximization
and communicate that purpose with
clarity and authenticity
my own two daughters both at university
would rather spend
their money buying from businesses with
purpose
and every day we see best in class young
talent being attracted
to those companies and organizations
which by way of example actively promote
climate action
as part of their wider social purpose
secondly leadership business and all
organizations should recognize that
hierarchies
and leadership models are changing the
playing field
is getting flatter therefore empower
leaders
at all levels particularly the next
generation of leaders
and support leaders through education
the agenda of trust should be discussed
openly and honestly and as early as
possible indeed
i would encourage schools to consider
including it within their curriculum
and thirdly communications
clear balanced and transparent
communications
must play a role to help slow the tide
of misinformation
and help develop trustworthiness in this
increasingly polarized world
again those businesses that communicate
with authenticity
pushing their hands up when they get it
wrong are most likely to build
trustworthiness
with their stakeholders and as a final
word of encouragement
to us all today take personal
responsibility
it is through practical and individual
action that trustworthiness is built
and it should be the responsibility of
each of us as members of society
to play our part in creating a
trustworthy environment
one inspirational mentor gave me a very
helpful piece of advice
concerning personal responsibility
charles he said whenever possible use
the prana
pronoun we or i instead of they
we are living through extraordinary
change grappling with the issues of
climate change
exponential population growth scarcity
resource
inequality digital transformation and
very much more
whilst at the same time coping with the
consequences of this global pandemic
a key foundation to our successful
navigation through this
age of change will be trust
it is trust that underpins collective
responsibility
trust that is the cornerstone of all
relationships
and it is trust that acts as the glue
for the components
that deliver long-term sustainable
success
and whilst none of us have all the
answers it will be those people
businesses and institutions that put
trust
at the core of their dna that will most
likely thrive and survive
through this age of change
ladies and gentlemen it has been a huge
honor to attend today
and as a token of my thanks and
appreciation i do
have a small gift for the organizing
team
it is the same gift that i gave
throughout my meryl year to visiting
dignitaries
and to those who kindly hosted me on my
travels abroad
and it is a pepper pot um
symbolic as i explained to all because
in times past
trust was often assured in english
contracts through the exchange
of a peppercorn and it gives me great
pleasure to think
that many of my meryl guests and hosts
and finance minister in peru
the finnish ambassador a president or
two of african nations
and the head of financial services
regulation in japan
to name a few might in enjoying their
daily breakfast be reminded
of the importance of the business of
trust
and i can think of no better symbol of
my thanks
to the whole of the tedx plus museum
organizing team
for coordinating this conference and for
inviting me
to be part of it today merci
thank you