America has a real trust problem. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with the point.

We've lost trust in our institutions and in each other, and the ramifications for society is huge.

Recently, a senior partner at Pricewaterhouse Cooper wrote in the Harvard Business Review about how businesses should start building trust with their customers.

The survey showed Americans are wary of trusting companies on things like cybersecurity security, employee relations, and transparency. And a crutch for many

businesses, said the author, is that they don't have a dedicated employee or department

charged with building trust, and they should. Some of the advice was helpful, but the

piece could have been distilled into a much more effective message. If you want to be trusted,

you have to be trustworthy. That goes for individuals, businesses, and the state.

All are comprised of fallen people,

and there's been a temptation to hide our missteps

and protect our image since Eden.

Shouldn't take a dedicated employee in the C-Suite

or a checklist from the Harvard Business Review

to learn how to act virtually.

But in the end, virtue is the only secret sauce to building

real trust. I'm John Stone Street.