Should Businesses Accept the Role of “Trust Brokers” in a Troubled World?
1/21/26 – – The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer was released yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The annual international survey by the world’s biggest PR firm found declining trust in institutions, fueled by polarization, grievances and insularity: “People are narrowing their world to smaller, familiar circles that reflect their views.”
This is the 25th year Edelman has interviewed thousands of people in 28 countries to measure public trust in four institutions: government, NGOs, media and business. Of these, Edelman believes business has the best opportunity to bridge divides through what they’re calling trust brokering: “A Trust Broker helps to create a path for progress and cooperation despite insularity by surfacing common interests and translating realities.”
Survey Finds Obstacles and Opportunities
Given the survey’s findings, it’s not going to be easy for business to have success in this role:
- 70% of respondents said they are hesitant or unwilling to “trust someone who is different from me.”
- 42% agreed with the statement “I would rather switch departments than report to a manager with different views than me.”
- And only 35% of U.S. respondents (down 6% from 2025) said they “get information from sources with a different political leaning than mine at least weekly.”
What can business do to reverse the planet’s scourge of insularity? Edelman encourages business leaders to embrace and “scale” trust brokering, which it characterizes as “a strategy and skillset.” Here’s Edelman’s advice:
- There must be frank discussions in the workplace led by the CEO or other leaders.
- Promote a shared identity and culture so that employees are reminded of what unites them rather than divides them.
- Build teams that will require people with different values to work together to succeed.
- Provide mandatory employee training for engaging in constructive dialogue amid conflict.
- Ensure CEOs consult people with different values and backgrounds when making business decisions.
- Have CEOs constructively engage with groups who criticize or distrust the company.
Beware of Unintended Consequences
In general, these seem like laudable, modern-day management precepts.
But the fourth bullet above stirred my crisis counselor instincts. I have three problems with requiring employees to attend training sessions on how to “engage in constructive dialogue amid conflict”:
- The sessions themselves are likely to create workplace conflict and potentially harden divides (companies experienced this with poorly designed, destructive DEI trainings).
- Mandatory training could have the unintended consequence of encouraging way too much contentious non-business discussion, interfering with people trying to do their jobs. (“They’re training me, so I guess they want me to do more of this.”)
- Institutions not measured by Edelman, especially religions, families and schools, are more appropriate and better equipped to make a dent in the human failings of xenophobia and closed-mindedness.
As you may recall, in 2021 project-management software company Basecamp banned employees from participating in “societal and political discussions” at work. Generous severance packages were offered to those who found the prohibition to be an unacceptable condition of employment. About one-third of the company’s 60 employees quit.
Here’s how Basecamp CEO Jason Fried in his message to employees announcing the policy change characterized the toxic environment he was addressing:
Today’s social and political waters are especially choppy. Sensitivities are at 11, and every discussion remotely related to politics, advocacy, or society at large quickly spins away from pleasant. You shouldn’t have to wonder if staying out of it means you’re complicit, or wading into it means you’re a target. These are difficult enough waters to navigate in life, but significantly more so at work. It’s become too much. It’s a major distraction. It saps our energy and redirects our dialog towards dark places.
Handle With Care
Insularity is an increasing problem around the world. And I’m not surprised that respondents to the Edelman survey expressed more trust in business addressing it than government, NGOs and media. That’s a low bar of expectations. But with all due respect to my Edelman friends, that trust should not push companies to accept a responsibility for which they are ill-suited at best.
There’s a lot business leaders can do (and are good at) to build trust and make the world a better place. I didn’t do a survey, but here are some suggestions: Nurture a culture that expects all workplace discussion, contentious or not, to be respectful; hire and advance people in your company fairly, on merit, assuring all have the opportunity to succeed; make safe, quality products/services that add value and enjoyment to life without damaging the environment; be good neighbors, creating jobs and contributing to the prosperity of the markets you serve; and give your employees the time and opportunity to vote and otherwise participate in the political process.
Don’t let my criticism of Edelman’s advice keep you from reading the report. The Edelman Trust Barometer (linked below) is highly respected from Davos to Detroit. You’ll find its findings insightful and thought provoking.
Trust me.
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