Trust is the most important ingredient in every relationship. It’s the most difficult element to develop, the easiest to lose, and the toughest to ever regain.
Trust is the critical first step to building a winning team and launching and sustaining a profitable business. Without trust, every relationship is shallow and fleeting. Because we are human beings living in a global society, trust is our most important connector.
Of all the billions of people living on this planet, the vast majority are striving for success. They work hard, they put in the time and many of them have obtained a level that the world would regard as “successful.” But what does that mean? Does success mean just finding and obtaining wealth and status?
My definition of success is getting what you want and finding happiness on a superficial level. Success is achieving goals without having much purpose behind those goals. Success is creating the life you want, but leaving no legacy.
What does “Do right” mean to you? Doing what’s right is often difficult, but always simple. We naturally know what’s right by looking inward and honestly consulting our consciences. A man who does what’s right because someone forces him to is less significant than a man who willingly chooses to do right.
During a visit with U.S. and coalition combat troops in Southwest Asia in 2005, I gave 23 speeches on 12 bases, and on the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier to more than 30,000 of our bravest soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar.