Good morning. Few people have their finger on the pulse of American trust—or distrust—quite like Richard Edelman. For decades, the CEO of global communications firm Edelman has tracked how workers, consumers, and citizens really feel about the institutions around them. His newest read: Americans are retreating into ideological silos. Some 42% of workers would rather switch departments than report to a boss who votes differently, and most now get their news only from outlets that echo their own views. Edelman shared the data this week at his firm’s annual Trust Summit in New York, where the question on every leader’s mind was how to build trust in an increasingly insular world. Some takeaways:
Create common ground. Bring workers into the conversation about AI. A lot of CEOs focus on training their people; few talk about working with them. Don’t try to change people’s minds. Listen. How can we use AI to reimagine the workplace to spark joy and not just productivity? How do we find common ground? The FIFA World Cup and recent NBA finals demonstrated the power of sport. Years ago, I interviewed the right-wing CEO of a fast-food chain and a left-wing organizer of migrant labor. They bonded around the importance of faith in motivating them as leaders, which created space for connection and conversation.
