Truth or Trust? What do you value more and why?

I’ve been conducting a personal experiment for the last two months. I was invited to speak at varied events, and while having a chat with my newfound acquaintances, I asked them a question. “What do you value more? Truth or Trust?”

Ethical dilemmas are a fascinating insight into what we prioritize, why we do so and how that aligns us to make choices in life. For example, many of you may know of the ethical dilemma case “Would you kill one person to save five?”, introduced by philosopher Philippa Foot in 1967. I was tied- an unthinkable choice. Harvard Business Review presents case studies of organizations that faced ethical dilemmas in the past and how that affected their core values and reputation.

Ethical dilemmas are helpful in understanding corporate culture, the alignment of values between an organization and an employee. Today’s corporate culture is vastly different from how it was twenty years ago. We’ve shifted from a tribal to a more indivdualistic thinking, and in such a scenario, I wonder. What do we prioritize more as a company and as an individual? Are we aligned in our individual and team values? Or do they diverge? Why? If they do, how can we bridge the gap?

So why Truth or Trust? I’ve seen situations in the past where said person chose one over the other. That was a personal life decision, but I wonder- do we make this choice in our professional lives as well? Do we put one over the other, or find it irrelevant? Curious to know how employees would answer this, I asked them the same.

I got a mixed bag of reactions. A general pattern was- the more senior the leadership, the more they chose trust.

So here’s my question to you. Truth or Trust: What do you value more and why?

Chosen by VIVA Magazine as one of the 400 most inspiring women in The Netherlands, Sangbreeta is an international award-winning keynote speaker on customer connection, corporate storytelling and powerful communication. She won the TEDxRotterdam jury award in 2017, and is the Dutch Champion and European Bronze Winner in public speaking championships in 2013/2014. With the belief that every individual and organization can transform their presence, impact and legacy, she gives talks and workshops at top organizations and conferences across the world. Would you like to know more? Contact her at info@sangbreetamoitra.com and visit SangbreetaMoitra.com . Watch her TEDx award-winning speech below.

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