"The Trusted Leader" author David Horsager teaches leaders worldwide about trust
MINNEAPOLIS — You've likely heard the phrase or said it yourself: "It's hard to know who to trust these days."
It turns out a Minnesota man is a worldwide expert on trust. He showed WCCO how he's trying to build it.
Whether it's election results or world conflict, the concept of trust is central.
"Actually war is a sign of a lack of trust. I simply say, 'I don't trust you want my good, so I create it by fighting. I don't trust you are listening to me so I create trouble,'" Antoine Rutayisire said.
And Rutayisire knows war well. He's an ambassador of peace in his native Rwanda, a place ravaged by war and the genocide of 1994.
"One million people were massacred by their neighbors and you have to make them live together again for the survivors. Where you get the survivors of the genocide living next to the perpetrators, you really understand why trust is so important because you can't rebuild a nation without trust," he said.
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That's why he traveled 22 hours to Minneapolis for the Trusted Leaders Summit, led by a Minnesotan and TED Talk Speaker.
"We are dealing with this issue of building trust because we believe a lack of it is the biggest cost the company, organization or family has," David Horsager said. "We are absolutely in a trust crisis. Trust has tanked. I talked about it this morning. Trust has dropped to lows. Media is low, so is government low."
Horsager has written books and extensively researched trust. He's sharing his data with CEOs, military leaders and politicians from around the world at the Trusted Leader Summit.
"We believe a lack of trust is the biggest expense in our organization. Everything of value is built and trust and we believe most people are solving the wrong issues without even intending to," he said.
Horsager has identified eight pillars of trust:
- Clarity
- Compassion
- Character
- Competency
- Commitment
- Connection
- Contribution
- Consistency
Pillars Rutayisire has been working on for years.
"Using this element of compassion, compassion for those who committed the crimes and compassion for those who survived the crimes so that they understand that the leadership is on their side both ways," he said. "Ours has been a long journey of difficulties and problems, but we are seeing the results."
In fact, he says data shows in Rwanda trust has grown from 0 to 65% of the population.
Trust, he says, is earned, and here, trust is also learned.
"People have said it tripled their sales people have said it saved their marriage," Horsager said.
Horsager''s book that explains the eight pillars of trust is called "The Trusted Leader."
