N4L 037: "The Ten Laws of Trust" by Joel Peterson with David Kaplan

After decades of doing business, Joel Peterson has distilled his most powerful learnings in The 10 Laws of Trust: Building the Bonds That Make a Business Great. At the core of all strong business relationships, we find trust. According to Peterson, it means "willingly ceding a measure of control to another.... Trust is a leap of faith rooted in optimism." This deeply held belief in the goodness of others drives us to choose trust over skepticism and negativity. Then we allow trust to become the “lubricant” for accelerating decision-making and for creating durable, flexible agreements. Trust is also at the center of our strongest personal associations. “But,” says Peterson, “trust doesn’t just happen.” Instead, creating such trust requires an investment.  In other words, “It takes initiation, nurture, evaluation, and repair. Trust is earned. Trust builds over time.” Even when we’ve built good relationships characterized by an abundance of trust, Peterson warns us to not take it for granted. With illustrative anecdotes, Peterson clarifies each of the 10 Laws of Trust: Start with Personal Integrity Invest in Respect Empower Others Measure What You Want to Achieve Create a Common Dream Keep Everyone Informed Embrace Respectful Conflict Show Humility Strive for Win-Win Negotiations Proceed with Care Peterson sums up his life of learning to trust and of becoming trustworthy by concluding that trust is worth all the risks it requires. He continues, "Indeed, living life without deeply trusting others is even riskier, a whole lot less satisfying, and much less likely to result in maximizing potential." Peterson has been on the faculty at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University since 1992, teaching courses in real estate investment, entrepreneurship, and leadership. He's the Chairman of the Board of Overseers at the Hoover Institution at Stanford and the Chairman of the Board at JetBlue Airways. He’s also the Founding Partner and Chairman of Peterson Partners, a Salt Lake City-based investment management firm with $1 billion under management. BUY The 10 Laws of Trust: Building the Bonds That Make a Business Great Music Credit Sound Editing Credit