A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll in July 2002 that surveyed the American public about "people who can be trusted" found that only 23 percent believe that most CEOs of large corporations fit the bill. Almost three quarters, 73 percent, responded that when it comes to trust, you "can't be too careful with them." CEOs were ranked just above car dealers in trustworthiness.
That information is from Fit In, Stand Out by Blythe McGarvie, and it doesn’t surprises me. We hear about it all the time, another company, another executive caught up in some scandal or another, some creative accounting scheme. Who else could we blame but the CEOs?
The onus is on them, these CEOs, to change their status by changing their behavior, but that will be a long time coming. The only way for you and I to stay ahead of the car dealers in trustworthiness is to not be an average CEO, but to always act with integrity, to always be worthy of trust in our decisions, big and small.
