If trust is a key driver, then how can we build trust? Research in the United States has found three drivers of trust: • Influential others: including family and friends, and credentialed experts such as farmers. • Competency: our technical capacity, science and facts. • Confidence: The perception of shared values. However, confidence – or shared values – is three to five times more important than demonstrating technical competency in building trust, according to the study. People are much more likely to make decisions on how they feel and what they believe than on simply what they know. Keeping this in mind, how can we better leverage our engagement with others on industry issues? We need to switch the historical communication equation from leading with data, to identifying and leading with shared values. Only once we have established and crossed that shared value threshold does the science matter. In the next part of the series Charlie explains how to identify and connect using shared values.