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I just finished reading a new book The Trusted Leader by Robert Galford and Anne Seibold Drapeau. A few weeks ago I attended one of those networking breakfasts. You know the type…muffins, croissants, and bananas with OJ and bad coffee. This was the first breakfast of this type that I attended in over five years. I chose to attend to listen to the speaker, author Robert Galford. I got a free copy of his book. (Free that is, if you value the breakfast at $50.) Enough cynicism.

The session was quite good. Galford touched on the high points of the book, took questions, and did a fine job working the crowd. I left with the intention to read the book. The road trip with my son to Colorado offered the perfect opportunity.

First, take the trust test. It's free. I've had 2 doz people take the test and all are reporting they learned from it. Having said that, I expected more from the test. The authors could have done a better job with the descriptors.

The book offered numerous useful distinctions. One is a formula for trustworthiness:

Where:

T = trust

C = credibility

R = reliability

I = intimacy

S = self-orientation

Of course trust is not a formula. However, the authors have done a good job of showing the complex nature of trust. Try assessing your trustworthiness. Assign a value of 1-10 for each of the above variables where 1 is low and 10 is high. Make a note of where you are today. Then come back and do the rating again in a few months after you've given your attention to becoming more trustworthy.

Overall I think there are better books on trust. Robert Solomon's and Fernando Flores' Building Trust in Business, Politics, Relationships, and Life is my standard for comparing all other works. Against this standard, The Trusted Leader gets 4 out of 5 stars.