Metrics that build community trust and agency

If your PR report looks impressive with big numbers but still feels empty, this post is for you. Most agencies still sell visibility KPIs — impressions, mentions, share of voice, AVE, reach. These agencies aren't wrong in doing it, as these metrics are can be measured with ease. But these metrics lack meaning for clients. These numbers tell you how often your name showed up, not whether your story landed or your reputation strengthened. What you should be tracking instead are Trust Signals — the real indicators of reputation movement. Trust Signals look like this: - A journalist quoting you without you pitching them. - A client repeating your messaging unprompted. - An investor referencing your thought piece in a meeting. - Employees sharing company news with pride. These are lagging indicators of belief. They don’t fit neatly in a dashboard and that's why most agencies avoid them. But if your PR work doesn’t move trust, it’s just paid noise management. PR done right builds confidence in your name, not just coverage reports. So next time you get your monthly report, ask one simple question: “Which of these numbers tells me people trust us more than last month?” Which metric did your PR agency report last month?

👀 What signals are you tracking this year—beyond test scores and budgets? Here are 3 system indicators superintendents should be watching closely. Each one points to deeper system health and long-term sustainability: 🔹 1. Student Engagement & Belonging Why it matters: Chronic absenteeism and disengagement quietly erode both achievement and culture. Attendance, behavior, and student voice are early indicators that your system is (or isn’t) resonating with kids. What to watch: Daily attendance trends (especially the “first 20 days runway”) Survey data on belonging, safety, and relationships Early-warning systems flagging participation drops or behavior spikes 🔹 2. Workforce Stability & Morale Why it matters: Teacher and principal turnover, plus classified staff shortages, put strain on daily operations. Burnout often surfaces before resignations. What to watch: Retention and vacancy rates by role and school Mid-year feedback loops (pulse surveys, focus groups) Sub fill rates + overtime costs = early burnout signals 🔹 3. Community Trust & Public Confidence Why it matters: In a polarized climate, trust is a protective factor and a driver of change. What to watch: Parent/caregiver satisfaction + communication feedback Participation in board meetings, advisory groups, and school events Media narratives and social sentiment about your district ✅ Takeaway for leaders: The most effective superintendents this year will treat these as more than just metrics—they’ll read them as stories about system health. When engagement, workforce stability, and trust are moving in the right direction, academic and operational outcomes follow. #K12Leadership #Superintendents #EducationalLeadership #SchoolCulture #StrategicLeadership #WholeChild #SystemsThinking #EdLeadership

🕸️ Your Referral Strategy Isn’t Linear—It’s Organic Hospice liaisons aren’t just “doing sales.” They’re building trust ecosystems—one quiet endorsement, one connection, one belief transfer at a time. But here’s where we go wrong: We track calls and visits like they’re fuel. (They are.) But we forget to ask—how far did the car actually go? 📉 “How many calls?” 📉 “How many drop-ins?” 📉 “How many referrals?” These matter. But they only tell part of the story. Because in hospice, access isn’t just activity—it’s: ⚡ Trust velocity 🌐 Network depth 💬 How fast belief spreads—and how deep it roots. Let me show you: 🔗 Referral Chaining → Wellness Director → NP → Palliative MD → Case Manager → Weekly Referrals Each door opens the next. Because trust travels. 🌱 Network Seeding → Weekly in-services or grief groups at ALFs → You support staff—no pitch, just wt. clinics → You’re already trusted when decline comes Because you were already there. 🔄 Trust Cascade Prospecting → SNF night nurse → weekend charge → DON → IDT invite This isn’t cold access. It’s trust-based acceleration. 🕸️ Web Expansion via Nodes → MA + NP + office manager → “Who do you know across the street?” → MA group texts dialysis center Your reputation hops facilities. That’s lateral growth through shared credibility. 📣 Access Through Advocacy → You guide a daughter through crisis → She introduces you to her mom’s PCP → That physician becomes a referrer You didn’t pitch. You earned it. 📏 How Do You Measure This? ✅ Still track: calls, drop-ins, referrals, conversions. But layer in the metrics that map trust flow: 🔄 Trust Velocity (TV) 📊 • # of unsolicited intros/week • Time: first contact → 2nd-degree intro • % of referrals from downstream staff (e.g., MA → NP) 🌐 Network Depth (ND) 📊 • Avg. # of distinct roles per source • # of departments touched (SW, MD, CM, DON) • Tier 1 = 4+ nodes | Tier 2 = 2–3 | Tier 3 = shallow access 📈 Tie to Conversions • Which roles convert most consistently? • Which access points have highest ROI? • Where does trust depth = sustainable admissions? 🎯 What Does This Mean? If you’re a liaison: You’re not chasing referrals. You’re cultivating networks. You’re planting trust that blooms when the time is right. If you’re a sales leader: 📌 Stop tracking surface metrics alone. 📌 Start measuring influence density and credibility transfer. Your territory map shouldn’t look like a funnel. It should look like a living mycelial network—rooted, expanding, and nourished by relationships. Because in hospice: We don’t sell services. We transfer belief. And belief spreads faster than any script ever could. #Hospice #LiaisonLeadership #TrustBasedOutreach #ReferralChaining #NetworkSeeding #SalesPsychology #AccessThroughAdvocacy #CompassionateSales #HospiceGrowth #PolarisSupportGlobal

🧵 How Do You Measure a Relationship? In neighbourhood health and cross-sector work, we often ask: How do we know it's working? Not just the outputs, but the relational glue that holds it together. I’ve been in projects where a cohesive team just gets stuff done. No fanfare. Just trust, understanding, and movement. It’s something I believe I bring as a neurodivergent dyslexic wired to read people, respond communicatively, and know when to act or step back. But how do we measure that? 📊 Emerging practice across BNSSG suggests: 1)Trust & engagement indices between citizens and services 2)Narrative interviews and storytelling-based reflections 3)Social network mapping to track who connects with whom 4)Developmental evaluation that measures learning, not just outcomes 5)Ethnographic observations of service interactions These aren’t just metrics, they’re lifelines. They surface subconscious bias, adaptive capacity, and the human messiness that makes collaboration real. 🧠 Leadership in Cross-Sector Teams: Top 5 Conditions for Collaboration i) Psychological safety – people must feel safe to speak, challenge, and be vulnerable ii)Shared purpose – not just aligned goals, but co-owned meaning iii)Adaptive space – the “in-between” zone where ideas move from periphery to core iv) Enabling leadership – catalysing conditions, removing barriers, connecting people v)Relational infrastructure – time, tools, and rituals that allow trust to grow This is the work. Messy, human, and deeply creative. If you’re working in neighbourhoods, systems, or cross-sector spaces, how do you measure trust and relational glue? Let’s build the evidence and the story. #AdaptiveSpace #CreativeHealth #NeighbourhoodLeadership #RelationalGlue #ComplexSystems #DYCP #BNSSG #CultureAndCare

Your social media KPIs are lying to you. 🫠💸 I’ve been tracking something across my client campaigns: the brands with the biggest budgets aren’t always winning. What separates the winners from the big spenders? TRUST. We’ve been measuring the wrong things. Likes, shares, and reach are vanity metrics. The real KPI that predicts success? Trust score. Here’s how I measure it for my global brand clients: → Authenticity Rate: Comments that feel genuine vs. generic → Consistency Index: Brand voice alignment across all touchpoints → Community Loyalty: Repeat engagement and user-generated content → Crisis Resilience: How your audience defends you when challenged 🕵️The internet has created millions of detective-consumers. They spot greenwashing from miles away. They call out pinkwashing instantly. They can smell a trend-chasing brand that stands for nothing. The brands winning today? They stopped chasing viral moments and started building relationships. 🫂They don’t copy-paste every trend. They create their own waves with authentic storytelling that connects their values to their audience’s lives. Here’s what most marketers miss: You can’t fake authenticity on social media if it doesn’t exist in your company culture. Trust isn’t a social media strategy - it’s an organizational commitment. When trust becomes your North Star, something magical happens: Your budget works harder, your content resonates deeper, and your community becomes your best marketing team ✨ The question isn’t whether you can afford to build trust. It’s whether you can afford not to. Building authentic brands that create real connections is what I do as a creative strategist. If you’re struggling to translate your brand’s true voice into social media success, let’s talk about how strategy beats spending every time! 💥