In this WiLD Conversation Podcast, Dr. John Blakey joins Dr.Rob McKenna and Sabeth Kapahu to challenge one of leadership’s most common assumptions: if trust is the most important currency in leadership, why aren’t organizations measuring it?

Drawing from his research, executive coaching experience, and his recent Harvard Business Review article, Blakey argues that trust must move beyond inspirational language and become a measurable strategic asset. Leaders cannot build cultures of trust by intuition alone; they must develop the courage to expose blind spots, measure what matters, and intentionally cultivate the habits that create trust over time.

Together, the conversation explores:

Why trust is the foundation beneath performance and culture
The difference between talking about trust and operationalizing it
How measurement builds self-awareness, shared language, and strategic alignment
Why leaders consistently overestimate their own trustworthiness
The role of kindness, courage, and behavioral habits in trusted leadership

Blakey also shares the pivotal career moment that sparked his life’s work, being told by a CEO that he was “too nice” to succeed in corporate leadership, and how that challenge ultimately led him to prove that leaders who rely on the power of trust can outperform those who rely on power itself.

For leaders navigating a moment when trust is eroding across institutions, this episode offers a clear call to action:

Stop treating trust like a feeling and start treating it like the leadership system it truly is.

For more on the WiLD Trust Index: https://www.wildleaders.org/wild-trust-index

For more on The Trusted Executive: https://trustedexecutive.com/