Why Trust Is Your Most Underrated Strategic Advantage in 2026 ~via Jeanniey Walden
TRUST Simplified... TRUST is different from most things we earn. It is highly valued, but it can’t be bought, sometimes shared, but that window closes quickly when overused as it often is. It must be earned, but cannot be sold. Its lifespan will be as long as you are willing to nurture, respect, and care for it.
IMHO trust has a way of earning its own value and maintaining its own lifespan. Those who seek it, and want to keep it, have to live with that reality.
“REAL trumps PERFECT… because REAL creates TRUST.”
Thanks to Jeanniey Walden for the always great and timely insight leading into a New Year. Welcome to 2026 🥂 /Ted
If you read nothing else today about leadership, pause here.
Over the last 10 days, multiple studies and global news reports have sounded the same clear alarm: Leaders and brands today are struggling with trust: in technology, in teams, and in themselves.
Trust isn’t just strained between leaders and employees. It’s under pressure across your entire ecosystem: prospects who are skeptical of marketing promises, customers who are tired of being disappointed, business partners who are more cautious about where they attach their brands, and employees who are wondering how long they should stay. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found that 69% of people believe leaders deliberately mislead them, and 88% say trust is a deciding factor in what they buy.
That is not a “nice-to-have” problem. That is a business dilemma.
When you zoom out, you see the same pattern: trust moves numbers from pipeline to conversion, renewal, NPS, retention, engagement, and even lifetime value.
Yet, in too many boardrooms and leadership meetings, trust is still treated as a feeling instead of an asset. There is a way to use this as a framework to drive success in this new world of business. Check it out.
Trust + The AIR(TM) Method: How You Actually Build It
I see trust as a new trend, a new practical leadership asset, something you can build, erode, or rebuild through the way you think, decide, and show up for people every day. This trust across spans the audience who drive your business results from prospects, customers, partners, employees. But, it takes time and investment. Good thing 2026 budgets are opening up.
“Trust isn’t built in a press release or a quarterly result. It’s built in the everyday experiences your prospects and customers have when they interact with your brand.”
And trust inside your business is just as critical:
“Leadership without trust is like AI without data, directionless and disconnected.”
Why This Matters for 2026
Look at the trends we started with:
Buyers are more selective about which brands they believe and support, and they’re using trust as a filter.
Partners are more cautious about who they align with and how reputations.
Employees are re-evaluating whether their organization’s words match its actions — especially around technology, AI, and the future of their roles.
The real differentiator in 2026 isn’t how many tools you deploy, or how loudly you talk about innovation. It’s how many people outside and inside your company trust you enough to keep saying yes:
Yes to clicking “book a demo.”
Yes to renewing the contract.
Yes to co-branding the partnership.
Yes to staying, contributing, and leading from within.
That choice, again and again, is driven by trust.
What’s Next?
With the holidays approaching most of us will be spending time and energy with the people and in places we trust. People and places who make us happy. That's really important.
At some point our thoughts will shift from celebration, relaxation and rest to a sense of renewal, determination and inspiration.
When that moment happens, this newsletter will be here helping you take the reigns of success and breaking through any barriers you've experiences.
Next week, we’ll talk about how to use your holiday time to activate your “aha” moment — the one that helps you see your next move more clearly, and step into the new year already On AIR.
