Trust at work

Trust at work is not a nice-to-have; it is the foundation that holds teams together and allows leaders to genuinely influence rather than control. 

Why trust is a leadership essential 

When your team trusts you, they are more likely to be honest with you, bring you problems early, and stay engaged when things get hard.  When trust is missing, people can start to question your decisions, resist change, and even quietly undermine the work you are trying to do.

The practice and the promise 

A simple way to think about trust is this: your promise is what you say, your practice is what you do.  When these two line up consistently, people start to experience you as credible, dependable, and safe to follow. 

Where leaders often get into trouble is when they: 

• Overcommit and underdeliver 
• Say “my door is always open” but are never available 
• Talk about values like respect or wellbeing but behave in ways that contradict them 

Each of these moments creates a small crack in trust, and over time those cracks add up. 

Leading by example, every day 

You earn trust much more through your daily behaviour than through any big speech or strategy document.  Some practical ways to lead by example include: 

• Doing what you said you would do, even on the small things like returning a call or sending that follow-up email
• Owning your mistakes quickly and without defensiveness
• Showing up prepared for meetings and respecting people’s time
• Holding yourself to the same standards you set for the team

These small, visible actions signal to your team that you are serious about what you say and that you are willing to live by it. 

What happens when trust is broken 

When you repeatedly fail to follow through, or when your behaviour contradicts your words, people start to pull back.  You may notice more side conversations, slower responses, or subtle workarounds as the team stops relying on you and starts relying on informal networks instead. 

Over time this can lead to: 

• Reduced respect for your leadership 
• More conflict or tension in the team 
• Slower delivery because people are second-guessing decisions 
• Good people quietly looking for other opportunities 

Once trust erodes, everything becomes harder than it needs to be. 

Building (or rebuilding) trust with your team 

The good news is that trust can be built, and even rebuilt, with intention and consistency.  A practical starting point is to choose one or two behaviours you will commit to and then deliver on them relentlessly. 

You might: 

• Be explicit about your commitments: “Here’s what I will do and by when.” 
• Track your promises so you don’t drop them. 
• Let your team know if something has changed and you can’t deliver as planned and offer a clear alternative. 
• Regularly ask, “Is there anything I’ve promised that I haven’t followed through on yet?” 

As you continue to align your practice with your promise, you steadily earn more respect and trust from your team, and that trust becomes the bedrock for better performance and a healthier workplace. 

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