Loyalty earns you the opportunity to make a second mistake. I learned this working at USAA, a financial services organization famous for its member loyalty. During one particularly isolated system outage, I called a member who had banked with USAA for over 50 years to apologize. He said, "Don't worry about it," he said, "you guys are normally so on top of things, so this must be a tough one to crack. I trust you."

That experience stuck with me — not because it made loyalty sound transactional, but because it revealed something deeper: true loyalty isn't about perfection, it's about trust. And trust is built over time, mistake by mistake. It's a lesson I've carried with me into business. After 20 years in leadership roles, and now as CEO of Boardroom, a national upscale men's grooming salon, I believe loyalty hasn't vanished — but it has evolved. Today's clients, employees, and partners are loyal because you earn that trust over and over again. Here's how you should approach that challenge.

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