Trust.

Have you ever stopped to think about what it means to you? The dictionary defines it as reliance on integrity, strength, ability of a person or thing, or as confident expectation of something.

If you asked me, I’d call it the most valuable business commodity of today.

According to a Golin/Harris poll, nearly 40 percent of consumers say they would purchase items or work with a company based solely on its trustworthiness. Over 50 percent say they would terminate a relationship with a company they didn’t trust. Another study – the Edelman Trust Barometer – indicated 64 percent of opinion leaders in the United States had refused to do business with someone they didn’t trust.

Trust can make or break your business.

In this week’s issue of The Pulse, we look at a video by public speaker and artist Ze Frank on the subject of trust and the dynamics of building it. Establishing trust can be tricky and delicate, and takes plenty of energy as illustrated by the Cirque du Soleil acrobats featured in the video. It’s not an easy task.

As Frank explains, building trust allows us to relax, lean back and let go. We lose the initial tension that leaves us constantly on guard at the start of a relationship and start to focus on what is in front of us. We begin to feel comfortable enough to hand over control to the person on the other side of the table.

So who do you trust and how do you grow it? Watch the video, Why Trust is Worth It.