Roughly half of all managers don’t trust their leaders . Levels of trust across industries have been steadily decreasing in the past decade, and took a precipitous downturn in 2009 with the economic crisis . Uncertainty fueled by downsizing, and complexity resulting from outsourcing and mergers creates a breeding ground for distrust. Yet, as we move to a more transparent interdependent global reality, trust is more essential than ever.

Trust gives leaders an advantage, because it leads to loyalty and stability in a turbulent world; it is the foundation of empowering relationships between leaders and their employees. Trust takes time to build, but will produce speed in achieving results. Global companies must bridge distance, language and culture with cross-border collaboration. Employees’ readiness to trust one another is critical to sharing information, taking calculated risks, surfacing innovative ideas or bringing problems to light as soon as they occur.

Research makes it clear that trust is a pivotal value that can significantly improve a company’s performance in the global market. Higher levels of trust are linked to cooperation and collaboration, competitive performance, higher knowledge transfer, increased levels of productivity, innovative thinking, leadership effectiveness, and achieving engagement and retention of our greatest resource, human capital.