Future of Work Briefs

Trust in companies — which collapsed during the financial crisis — has improved in most countries, but according to our Edelman Trust Barometer, this recovery of confidence has stalled. CEOs are trusted by a mere 43% of the survey’s respondents; only government officials fared worse (36%).

The JP Morgan Chase board of directors has vexed the world with its terse announcement in a recent 8-K filing that CEO Jamie Dimon would receive a big pay raise — $20 million in total pay for 2013, up from $11.5 million for 2012, a 74 percent increase.

America is bursting at the seams. Two-thirds of adults and more than one third of kids and teenagers are overweight or obese. For children, obesity has more than doubled in the past thirty years, making it one of the biggest public health concerns in the United States.

A few years ago, I was interviewing a candidate for a substantial position in our firm. Although the candidate and I had exchanged a number of emails, this was our first meeting. Something unexpected happened: She looked me in the eye and said that she struggled with “mental illness.”

Imagine a towering, sheer cliff. Imagine a deep canyon below, full of ruined cities. Now imagine, on the canyon’s other side, a bountiful plain, rippling in the breeze, stretching into the sunset. Welcome to the economy of the twenty-first century.

There are numerous lessons from the Chris Christie “bridgegate” scandal for people in high-profile leadership roles. Here are a few. First, power comes with a) visibility and b) envy. If you are working at a minimum wage job, few people are going to want to trade places with you.

The belief that there is a direct connection between the board of directors and organizational success has been gaining ground lately, evidenced by the pressure shareholder activists have been exerting on boards for transparency.

As group president of enterprise growth at American Express, Dan Schulman is trying to expand the brand to serve non-affluent customers who he says are paying too much for existing financial services.

What are the key external forces shaping your organization? How do perspectives differ among members of your C-suite? What role will C-suite collaboration play in your company’s success? How do organizations that outperform their peers differ from other organizations?

The founder of the Khan Academy, a nonprofit dedicated to providing free online education to students around the world, talks with HBR senior editor Alison Beard. For more, read the Life’s Work section in the January-February issue of HBR.