In today's fast-paced networked economy, professionals must work harder than ever to maintain and improve their business skills and knowledge.

But technical mastery of your discipline is not enough, assert world-renowned professional advisors David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford. The key to professional success, they argue, is the ability to earn the trust and confidence of clients. The creation of trust is what earns the right to influence clients; trust is also at the root of client satisfaction and loyalty.

The workings of trust are even more critical in the new economy than in the old. Maister, Green, and Galford enrich our understanding of trust - yet they have also written a deeply practical book. Using their model of 'The Trust Equation,' they dissect the rational and emotional components of trustworthiness.

With precision and clarity, they detail five distinct steps you must take to create a trust-based relationship. Each step - engage, listen, frame, envision, and commit - is richly described in distinct chapters.

The book is peppered with pragmatic 'top ten' lists aimed at improving advisors' effectiveness that can be put to use instantly. It also includes a trust self-diagnostic in the appendix.