It’s All About Trust

The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. — Ernest Hemingway

In 1910, King Camp Gillette, the businessman behind the now-famous razor brand, made an audacious offer to former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. He invited Roosevelt to become the president of his company, offering an eye-popping salary of one million dollars—an amount unheard of at the time.

Roosevelt, a man known for his blunt honesty, turned him down with a sharp remark:

"I don’t trust a man who sells razors and yet wears a mustache."

At first glance, it’s a humorous quip. But beneath the laughter lies a profound truth: trust is built on consistency. If Gillette himself didn’t fully embrace the clean-shaven image his product promoted, why should customers believe in it?

Trust is the Cornerstone of Business

Every great company ultimately succeeds or fails based on trust. Customers don’t just buy products. They buy confidence, reliability, and alignment with their values. When that trust is broken, the consequences are swift and unforgiving.

Take Volkswagen's emissions scandal. For years, VW marketed itself as an environmentally responsible car manufacturer. Then, in 2015, the world discovered that the company had installed software to cheat emissions tests. The fallout was catastrophic: billions in fines, lawsuits, and, most damaging of all, a betrayal of consumer trust. Customers weren’t just angry about pollution; they felt deceived. Volkswagen had violated an unspoken contract between the brand and the buyer.

Then there’s WeWork. The company promised a revolutionary shift in work culture, fueled by its eccentric yet charismatic founder, Adam Neumann. Investors and employees believed in the vision—until cracks appeared. Lavish spending, erratic leadership, and financial mismanagement unraveled the illusion. When trust in Neumann collapsed, so did WeWork’s valuation, dropping from $47 billion to near bankruptcy in months.

Even in personal finance, trust is everything. Look at Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. Once hailed as a genius reshaping cryptocurrency, he built a brand around transparency and security. Then, like a house of cards, FTX collapsed under allegations of fraud, leaving investors and customers stranded. Once trust is broken, no marketing campaign can fix it.

The Boiling Frog of Distrust

Sometimes trust can be lost in one dramatic moment, but usually it does not. It could erode over time. Like the boiling frog effect in innovation management, small breaches of trust accumulate until the damage is irreversible.

• A company cuts corners on product quality but keeps the price the same... customers notice.

• A CEO promises a culture of openness but retaliates against internal critics... employees lose faith.

• A brand claims to champion diversity but has no diversity in leadership... consumers call out the hypocrisy.

  
  

By the time these issues reach the surface, it’s often too late. The water has already boiled over.

Trust in Leadership: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The Gillette-Roosevelt story is also about leadership. Employees trust leaders who walk the talk. If a CEO preaches innovation but stifles new ideas, employees disengage. If a manager promotes teamwork but takes all the credit, the team checks out.

Consider Satya Nadella at Microsoft. When he took over as CEO, Microsoft was seen as rigid and outdated. Instead of just talking about transformation, he fostered a growth mindset, encouraged collaboration, and embraced cloud computing. Today, Microsoft is stronger than ever, thanks to a leader who backed his words with action.

Compare that with Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. She promised to revolutionize healthcare with a device that could run hundreds of tests from a single drop of blood. Investors, employees, and even patients believed in her, until the truth came out. Technology didn’t work, and the deception shattered careers and trust alike.

So, how do businesses and leaders maintain trust?

1. Consistency – Align words with actions. Gillette’s mistake wasn’t the mustache; it was the contradiction.

2. Transparency – Customers forgive mistakes, but not deception.

3. Long-term Commitment – Trust isn’t built overnight, but it can be destroyed in an instant.

   
   

To Sum Up…

Trust isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the invisible glue that holds businesses, brands, and leaders together. It takes years to build, sometimes seconds to break, and usually a lifetime to repair.  Whether in business, leadership, or personal relationships, the lesson remains the same:

Say what you mean. Mean what you say. And most importantly, act accordingly.