Why Doesn't Trust Scale?

Trust doesn't scale because people decide whether to believe you long before they ever meet you. Maybe it's because the new Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer has been everywhere lately, or because Marvel keeps releasing new details about Avengers: Doomsday, but it got me thinking about something.

Millions of people are already excited about movies they haven't seen yet. They're buying tickets, watching every trailer breakdown, debating fan theories, and talking about characters months before either film hits theaters. Marvel isn't introducing those characters for the first time. It's building on years of trust people have already developed with the stories, the universe, and the people behind it. Business works more like that than most founders think.

Most people believe trust was something you earned in the room. You built it during the sales conversation, on the keynote stage, over coffee, or somewhere between the first handshake and the final decision. I don't think that's true anymore.

The more Rachel B. Lee and I work with founders, executives, and leadership teams, the more obvious another pattern has become. By the time someone finally reaches out, they're rarely meeting you for the first time. They've already been reading, searching, comparing, asking around, and trying to decide whether you're someone worth trusting.

The conversation doesn't usually create trust. More often than not, it confirms what they already believe.

When Does Someone Actually Decide to Trust You?

People start deciding whether to trust you the moment they encounter the first signal about who you are, not the moment they finally meet you.

That's one of the reasons the Marvel universe works so well. Nobody is walking into Avengers: Doomsday wondering who Spider-Man is. Or why they're supposed to care about Thor, Doctor Doom, Loki, or the Fantastic Four. Those characters have been earning trust, building relationships, and creating expectations for years. Every movie, post-credit scene, cameo, and storyline reinforces what audiences already believe about them.

By the time the next movie premieres, people aren't deciding whether they trust the characters. They're deciding whether they want to experience the next chapter. I think business works much the same way. Most of us still imagine people discover us in a straight line. They find our website, read our LinkedIn profile, and maybe schedule a call.

The reality is much messier than that.

Someone hears your name on a podcast. Another person sees one of your LinkedIn posts. Someone else lands on your website after a referral. A prospect asks ChatGPT who they should follow. An executive forwards one of your articles to a colleague. Every one of those interactions becomes another signal helping someone answer a simple question:

"Is this someone I should trust?"

None of those moments happen in the same order, but together they shape the story people begin telling themselves about you. By the time someone finally reaches out, they're usually not deciding if they trust you. They're deciding whether everything they've already seen lines up with the person they're about to meet. That's why trust begins long before introductions do.

Why Do Some Leaders Get Recommended More Than Others?

Leaders get recommended more than others because the market remembers what they're consistently known for, not everything they're know capable of doing.

There's a reason Kevin Feige's name comes up anytime people talk about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Most people couldn't tell you who directed Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy, or Shang-Chi. They probably couldn't name the screenwriters either. But mention Marvel, and Feige's name almost always enters the conversation because, over time, he's become associated with building one of the most successful storytelling franchises in history.

That kind of recognition didn't happen because of 1 movie. It happened because every project reinforced the same story about who he is and the role he plays. Rachel and I have a version of that conversation after client meetings all the time. We'll leave thinking, "They're one of the best founders we've worked with this year."

Then one of us usually asks the same question. "Why isn't the market seeing what we're seeing?" The answer is almost never expertise; it's almost always clarity.

The leaders who get recommended consistently aren't necessarily the smartest people in the room. They're the people others can explain without hesitation. If I asked you to recommend someone for executive leadership, AI strategy, cybersecurity, or company culture, I doubt you'd start comparing résumés.

You'd probably think of the one person whose name has become attached to that idea. That's how recommendations happen. The market doesn't remember everything you can do, it remembers the story it can confidently repeat.

What Are People Really Evaluating, and Why Does It Matter More Now?

People aren't evaluating you as much as they're deciding whether the story they keep hearing about you is actually true. AI has simply made that process faster.

One of the things I've always liked about Spider-Man is that no matter who's wearing the suit, you know it's Spider-Man. Tobey. Andrew. Tom. Different actors. Different directors. Same core character.

Marvel never wakes up one day and decides, "You know what? Let's make Spider-Man the sarcastic billionaire with anger issues." They've spent decades protecting what people instantly recognize about him. Founders could learn something from that.

Does your LinkedIn sound like your website? Does your website sound like you on stage? Do your clients describe you the same way you describe yourself? Because trust isn't built when someone discovers you once. It's built when they keep finding the same version of you.

AI didn't invent that. It just exposed how quickly people connect the dots. Recent research shows LinkedIn is now one of the most-cited sources in AI-generated business answers because people, and increasingly AI, are looking for consistent signals they can trust, not just more information.

That's why I don't think the goal is to become louder, I think the goal is to become unmistakable.

What Does This Mean for Leaders?

The leaders who stand out over the next decade won't be the ones creating the most content. They'll be the ones people understand the fastest and remember the longest. That's one of the reasons Marvel has lasted as long as it has. It isn't because they keep inventing new heroes every 6 months. They keep reinforcing the ones people already believe in.

I think leaders should do the same. Rachel and I have become a little obsessed with helping founders stop chasing attention and start building recognition. Not because recognition is the goal, but because people can't trust what they can't clearly understand.

That's the opportunity I see right now. Not becoming louder, becoming unmistakable.

Final Thought

I've always loved superheroes, but maybe the real lesson was never about flying, super strength, or saving the world. It was about identity. You always knew what Captain America stood for, and you always knew what Spider-Man stood for. That consistency is what made people trust them long before the next movie ever came out.

I think business works the same way. The question isn't whether you're an expert. The question is whether people immediately understand what you're known for and why they should trust you.

The leaders who win won't be the ones with the most information, they'll be the ones whose story is so clear that people and AI tell it the same way, and I have a feeling that's a future worth building.

🔵 ICYMI: What Story Are Your Trust Signals Telling?

Every founder leaves behind signals. Some build trust. Some create confusion.

The YOUmanize™ Score measures the trust signals shaping how people and AI experience your authority, then shows you where your credibility is strong, where it's leaking, and what to strengthen next.

👉 Get Your YOUmanize™ Score

🔵 ICYMI: If AI Had to Recommend You, Would It Know Why?

One of the biggest misconceptions I see right now is that AI itself is the competitive advantage. It isn't. The tools are becoming available to everyone. The real advantage is knowing how to turn those tools into trust, authority, and a business people actually remember.

That's exactly what I'll be talking about at AI Profit Con this August in Austin.

For 2 days, I'll be joining founders, operators, and AI leaders who are sharing how they're using AI to grow real businesses, create new revenue streams, and prepare for where the market is heading next.

My session is all about the human side of that equation: how to build the kind of visibility, credibility, and trust that AI can't create for you, but absolutely relies on when deciding who to recommend.

If you're serious about using AI to build something lasting instead of simply keeping up with the latest tools, I'd love to see you there.

🎟️ Tickets start at just $97 through my partner registration link:

🔗 https://aiprofitcon.com/ai-profit-con-register?am_id=joshua4662

I hope to see you in Austin on August 21–22.

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