Trust has become the crisis CEOs can't ignore at Davos, as new data show 70% of people turning more 'insular' | Fortune

"Everywhere you turn in Davos this year, people are talking about trust. And there's no one who knows trust better than Richard Edelman. Back in 1999, Edelman was on the cusp of taking over the PR firm founded by his father Daniel. Spurred by the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle, he decided to try and measure the level of trust in NGOs compared with business, government and media, Edelman surveyed 1,300 thought leaders in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Australia, and the Edelman Trust Barometer was born."

"This year's findings are grim: About 70% of respondents now have an "insular" mindset: they don't want to talk to, work for, or even be in the same space with anyone who doesn't share their world view. And "a sense of grievance" permeates the business world, Edelman finds. At Davos, debating such findings have spawned a series of dinners, panels, cocktails and media briefings on site. What better place to bring people together than the world's most potent village green?"

"I moderated a CEO salon dinner with about three dozen leaders last night to discuss what they're seeing and doing when it comes to building trust. Before the dinner, I asked Edelman what he'd like to see this year, after 26 winters of highlighting the erosion of trust. "Urgency," he said. "A sense that time is running out.""

A global trust index began in 1999 by surveying thought leaders about trust in NGOs versus business, government and media. The survey sample expanded to about 34,000 respondents across 28 nations and remains a prominent annual gauge at the World Economic Forum. Current results show roughly 70% of respondents exhibiting an insular mindset and a pervasive sense of grievance within business. Davos convenings generated panels and gatherings focused on rebuilding trust. Respondents and leaders promoted trust-brokering strategies, including nonjudgmental communication and polynational business models that invest in long-term local relationships, and called for urgency.

Read at Fortune