"His answer cut through the noise. "Look," he said, "in the end, there's only one thing that matters, which is trust. We're all in the trust business. That is the business. And the leaders who succeed are the ones who have a reservoir of trust." That idea has stayed with me because it's old wisdom that is increasingly forgotten. We are living through an era obsessed with speed, scale, and technology."
"There's a prevailing belief that leadership today is primarily about being strategic: the right strategy, the right operational plan, the right amount of information and financial investment, the right technology. Those things matter. But they are tools and enablers, not foundations. Sorkin nailed it. Trust is the foundation. Technology can optimize decisions, but it cannot replace credibility. AI can accelerate insight, but it cannot replace faith. Hybrid work can expand access and flexibility, but it cannot replace the bonds of lived experience."
Trust is the foundational requirement for effective leadership, outweighing strategy, technology, and operational plans. AI, hybrid work, and data-driven tools enable decisions but cannot substitute credibility, faith, or lived human bonds. In times of uncertainty—economic volatility, organizational change, geopolitical disruption, reputational risk—people seek dependable anchors for where to place trust. Leaders must build and maintain a reservoir of trust with teams, partners, and customers through deliberate, consistent investment in human connection. Strategy and technology are enablers that require a trusted leader to pilot organizations through crisis and achieve objectives.
Read at Forbes
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