This is a note of gratitude in memory of a man who recently died.

After coming home from the office on Monday, July 16, while decompressing from my day and listening to the radio, I heard a news story that unexpectedly gave me a moment to pause and reflect. The news was that Stephen Covey had passed away.

Our annual research, Building Trust in Business 2012, yielded an important finding about how high-performing companies are focused increasingly on employee and customer relationships as a key component for driving business results.

In this brief podcast, Chief Innovation Officer Andy Atkins offers important insights into the connection between focusing on relationship and building trust -- especially for retaining key employees and valuable customers in tough times.

What is the state of Trust in Business this year?

Since 2009, Interaction Associates has surveyed companies to discover how they are faring in the areas of trust, leadership, and collaboration. In 2012, our Building Trust in Business research study found that overall trust levels have not recovered from the hit they took in 2009. With the economy struggling, it's important to understand what top-performing companies are doing to drive revenues and grow, despite the grim economic headlines.

CEO Linda Stewart and CIO Andy Atkins sat down with our partner Aubrey Wiete, a Senior Analyst at the Human Capital Institute (HCI) to discuss the findings of the 2012 Building Trust in Business Report. (You can download the full report here.)

While a key takeaway is that while trust is at very low levels across many businesses, there is some good news, too. Some high-performing companies are leveraging trust-building leadership practices and collaborative acumen to achieve financial success.

In our June LeaderLens, Ashley Welch interviewed Elana Yonah, Co-Founder of Rise, who shared her perspective on Virtual Collaboration: Best Practices for Global Teams.

LeaderLens guest host Demetra Anagnostopoulos will join Mike Woodard to discuss the topic, "Insights to Action: Leaders Thinking Strategically."

Mike Woodard has an insider's knowledge of the Consumer Package Goods (CPG) industry, where he worked for many years. Mike will share a way to analyze and leverage vast amounts of data to think differently --- and make better decisions about products, marketing, spending, and more. Don't miss this dynamic presentation about leaders changing the game in the CPG industry!

Our annual survey of trust and leadership, Building Trust in Business, will be released early next month, and we’ll have a lot to say about the findings then – but I wanted to highlight some top-level findings briefly.

This is the third in a series of blog posts for leaders about overcoming obstacles to collaboration.

The need for high-impact customization in learning programs has never been greater. So has the pressure to reduce content development cycle times and the cost of large-scale training deliveries. But how do you most effectively determine the need or purpose of learning content? And then how do you most efficiently structure the content and to create learning experiences that address the unique needs of the audience?

On March 28, Ashley interviewed Ken Pucker on the topic of "Leadership, Investors, and the Triple Bottom Line." What does it mean to lead in an organization committed to doing well financially, socially, and environmentally? What are the trade-offs and complexities? And what type of company leadership makes an investment advisor sit up and take notice?