The Potential of Trust, 1 September 2014

Five panellists from across the world and different fields discussed trust-related issues in a panel moderated by Ms Ajša Vodnik, the Executive Director of AmCham Slovenia. They explored a number of trust issues; how to gain trust in the corporate world, trust issues in the banking sector, the society and trust issues related to the generation gap.

Ms Akriti Bhalla, MBA Candidate at the Indian School of Business, who has experience from the NGO sector, said she believed in leading by example. Once people see you work toward a good cause and in a transparent way, they will follow.

Ms Sonja Jost, CEO at DexLeChem GmbH, from Germany moreover underlined that to gain trust in the corporate world, startups must make their processes transparent and be honest.

Mr Janko Medja, Chairman of the Management Board of NLB, talked about the issues of trust in banking, saying that people in Slovenia still do trust their personal bankers. Touching on his relevantly young age for a bank boss, Medja said that he was not aware of his age being used against him, however he admitted that it would have been better if he had ten more years of experience. However, those who gave him the job obviously trusted him, he said, adding that he in turn also showed a certain level of trust by taking the job.

Ms Ioanna Efthymiou Fotopoulou, Founder and President of The Activests from Greece, contradicted Mr Medja, saying that people in Greece no longer trusted banks. The Greek no longer trust their neighbours or immigrants, because they might steal your job. There is no trust in the society and for the politicians. She added that she would never work with politicians who are on the far right or the far left; extremism does not lead to improvement, she underlined.

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