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Motivational speaker Eric Termuende speaks at the 2025 Recruitment & Retention Conference in Nashville, Tenn. (Joe Howard/Transport Topics)

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NASHVILLE — Corporate coaches during an annual truck driver recruiting conference urged attendees to get to know their drivers, empower them to have agency over their work, and create cultures that lead to employees becoming the company’s greatest ambassadors.

To illustrate how fostering trust can elevate an organization, author and motivational speaker Eric Termuende during the — co-hosted by , and Transport Topics — recounted the example of Kevin Stefanski, who in 2020 became head coach of the moribund Cleveland Browns NFL team. Stefanski took over at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, so he couldn’t hold in-person practices. Instead, Stefanski hosted a series of video calls in which he encouraged players to share just one of what he called the “4 H’s” of Heroes, Heartbreak, Hopes and History. After sharing his four, he encouraged players to share just one.

While hesitant at first, players eventually began recounting experiences. For one player, it was building a friendship with a trainer who helped him recover from a debilitating injury. For another, it was the satisfaction of watching the player’s mother — who worked two jobs to raise him — help her local community by sharing the wealth her son’s football career had built.

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“His mom was an agent of change,” Termuende said.

Through it all, Termuende noted, a positive culture was built simply through the players getting to know each other. That, in turn, fostered trust among players, which led to a winning season and a playoff appearance.

This strategy of building trust, he said, can work in trucking.

“We need to get to know people around us,” he said. “Get to know who they are, not just what they do. When they trust each other off the field, they play better together on the field.”

A key aspect of building broader trust is first trusting oneself, noted FutureSight Labs CEO Seth Mattison, who in the event’s opening session recounted how former Microsoft Chief Digital Officer Jacky Wright during a pre-pandemic conference imparted a lesson that he carried to his employees and to conferences where he speaks. That lesson: Trust yourself completely.

“Stop letting others set the direction,” he said, and maintain the belief that, “Whatever comes next, I have everything I need within me. You make the decisions.”

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FutureSight Labs CEO Seth Mattison said trusting oneself is of the utmost importance. He urged attendees to take control: "The future isn't happening to us; the future is created through us." (Conversion Interactive Agency)

That’s especially important in a moment where technology is rapidly changing how work is done. A key to success, he said, is taking control in moments of great change. “The future isn’t happening to us; the future is created through us,” Mattison said. “Change isn’t something to get through. Change is our reality.”����

A brutally honest approach to an organization’s strengths and weaknesses is vital, he added, and offered two simple descriptions to help companies make the distinction.

“‘Above the line’ is where we are at our best, and ‘below the line’ is when we are at our worst,” he said. “Have the confidence to be honest about it.” Instead of complaining about the things the organization doesn’t have, seize control of what comes next. “We are the creators of our reality,” he said.

That reality can be best conveyed through a company’s staff, Termuende noted, especially in the field of driver recruiting. He played a series of social media videos that featured drivers’ firsthand accounts of why they like working for their fleets to illustrate the point. While these videos are typically shared via fleets’ official channels, those close to the drivers who share the content across their circles might connect that company to a driver the company might not otherwise have found, he noted.

“Maybe the drivers won’t share their appreciation moment, but their kids and wives might,” Termuende said. “We are all looking for the same skills; we are looking for drivers, but what if we can differentiate what attracts drivers to us?” To do so, he urged companies to identify their “unfair advantage.”

“What is the one thing that attracts or detracts drivers?” he asked. “The one thing that sets you apart? The thing you are better at than anyone?”

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