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Edelman recently released a report with some interesting conclusions. It appears that trust in peers has dropped in the past two years (from 47% to 43%) while trust in CEOs has actually gone up substantially (from 31% to 50%). Many people think this means a return to business as usual for CEOs, with carefully crafted prepared statements and press releases.

I would say that trust is a funny thing and that what the survey really indicates is a natural (albeit surprisingly fast) rebound from being angry with Corporate America. Trust and objectivity go hand in hand. When things get really emotional (either elated or angry), objectivity falls, and trust either skews to blind faith or deep cynicism. At our best, when we are able to be objective, we maintain a healthy skepticism (e.g. moderate trust). As the economy went into the Great Recession, the natural response was fear and anger, a loss of objectivity, and a serious drop in trust in so-called “experts”. As the fear and anger have lessened, our objectivity is returning and so is a basic level of trust.

My favorite blogger is Valerie Maltoni The Conversation Agent. Valerie’s recent blog tipped me off to the Edelman survey. Her premise is that there is so much noise in the social media space that we are thirsting for experts. I agree, and I believe the source of the message and the mode of communication are very different. When I’ve told people about the survey, they are surprised, and then most let out a sigh of relief, “whew, the social media thing was a fad and I don’t have to learn something new. I can just keep buying lists on Hoovers and go back to outbound cold calling and press releases”. They are confusing the source of the message and the mode of communication.

The social media revolution has fundamentally changed the mode of business communication, and CEOs need to capitalize on this opportunity by ‘conversing’ with prospective clients in new ways that are both authentic and leverage their expert knowledge at the same time. CEOs can retain the bump in trust by being accessible and being the expert voice among a field of noise. It starts with coming up with a process that gets your content out. Not the traditional monologue style; you have to have dialogue in your content - It’s more about starting a conversation.

That’s a challenge. There is a fear amongst most of us around being accessible and vulnerable. Speaking from my own challenges with managing my fear in this new culture of being “out there”; at every meeting that I have had in the last month the conversation starts with the person saying that they read my blog. It immediately feels like it’s unbalanced, as if I’ve been left out of the loop on the exchange of information. They know more about me than I do about them. But its powerful. It starts our relationship on a deeper level. They offer their opinion, and ask a follow up question. Instead of breaking the ice with weather and sports, we’re jumping right into meaty dialog. And yet, its still as terrifying as going on stage to speak in front of 100s of people. My thoughts and being completely open to whatever comes back, and on a public platform, makes it possible to be proven as wrong as the people who insisted there was no recession.

Trust is an innate sense, a meter that we have to protect ourselves. It is like a map to safety and fears are detours. We don’t want to allow our fears to detour us from our objectives. Fear is what holds us back. Pushing through these fears and utilizing Social Media platforms to engage is critical in maintaining the growth in authentic trust.

So what are your fears with participating in Social Media, and how are you managing your fears about being accessible?