“I trust you, Dad. Now, more than ever.”
The most beautiful words you can hear from someone close.
These were my son’s words, not long ago. I hadn’t hit a big milestone. No viral win. No headline result.
But something had shifted.
My conviction in my purpose had never been stronger. He’s always known I love my work—now he could feel it.
That moment reminded me of a simple leadership truth: trust isn’t only observed; it’s felt. People don’t just evaluate your actions—they sense your intent.
Trust: leadership’s greatest force multiplier
A high-performing team isn’t built only on skill or strategy—it’s built on trust. And while trust can be hard to see on a dashboard, it shows up everywhere that matters.
- Engagement & performance. In high-trust organizations, people report 76% higher engagement and 50% higher productivity, with 74% less stress compared to low-trust cultures. (Harvard Business Review)
- Team resilience & learning. Google’s Project Aristotle identified psychological safety—the belief you can take risks without fear—as the #1 factor in effective teams (ahead of dependability, clarity, meaning, and impact). (Rework)
This builds on decades of research showing that psychological safety drives team learning and performance. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology SAGE Journals) - Speed & results. Trust reduces friction—fewer delays, less second-guessing, less invisible tax from micromanagement. Long-term market data echoes this: high-trust, high-culture companies (e.g., the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®) have outperformed the market ~3.5× over 27 years. Earlier analyses also reported that high-trust firms outperformed low-trust peers by 286% in total return to shareholders. (Great Place To Work® ChiefExecutive.net)
- Your platform as an employer. In a world of institutional skepticism, employees still trust “my employer” more than most information sources, creating a powerful mandate for leaders to communicate with clarity and care. (Edelman)
Your team can feel how much you trust them
Just as my son felt my conviction, your team feels whether you truly trust them—or not.
Ask yourself:
- Do I delegate real decisions, or do I quietly take them back?
- Do I share context early, or do I ration information?
- Do I invite risks and ideas, or do people fear mistakes?
Leadership is an energy exchange. Your belief becomes their belief.
Make trust visible: daily leadership behaviours
You don’t “install” trust—you practice it. Here are tangible behaviours that build it:
- Name the stakes, not the steps. Give clear outcomes and constraints, then let people design the path. (Autonomy fuels ownership—and performance.)
- Share context by default. Information hoarding erodes trust; transparency compounds it.
- Ritualize psychological safety. Open with 60-second check-ins, normalize “I don’t know,” and reward intelligent risks—even when outcomes are mixed. (This is exactly what Project Aristotle found matters most.)
- Repair quickly. When trust wobbles, acknowledge, apologize, and align on the next right move. Speed of repair matters.
- Recognize specifically. Tie praise to values and impact (“Your draft made the risk obvious, which saved us a week”), not just effort.
- Close the loop. When someone raises a concern, report back on what changed—or why it didn’t. Silence breeds doubt.
A 5-minute “Trust Pulse” for leaders
Score yourself 1–5 on each. Anything ≤3 is your next micro-move.
- We make and keep clear promises.
- People are safe to disagree publicly.
- Decisions and reasons are transparent.
- We delegate decisions (not just tasks).
- Leaders admit mistakes and repair fast.
- Wins and learnings are recognized weekly.
(Run the same pulse with your team for the real picture.)
Trust takes time—and every moment counts
We live in a world obsessed with measurement. Trust rarely shows up neatly in KPIs, yet it powers every KPI.
- Trust is a function of time. Not a single grand gesture, but thousands of small consistent ones.
- Trust is an invitation. Extend it first; it tends to be reciprocated.
- Trust is an investment. The compounding shows up in engagement, speed, innovation—and yes, results.
The strongest leaders aren’t those with the tightest control. They’re the ones who build the deepest trust.
And here’s the paradox: the more you trust others, the more trustworthy you become in their eyes.
One small step today
What’s one way you’ll extend more trust—this week? Delegate a decision, share context sooner, or run a 10-minute safety check-in. Drop your move below—I’d love to hear it. 🚀
Sources (select)
- Paul J. Zak, Harvard Business Review: “The Neuroscience of Trust” (engagement/productivity/stress stats). Harvard Business ReviewImmersion Blog
- Google re:Work: Project Aristotle—psychological safety as the top factor of team effectiveness. Rework
- Amy C. Edmondson (1999): Psychological safety & team learning (foundational research). Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Great Place to Work/FTSE Russell (2025): 3.5× long-term outperformance for Best Companies. Great Place To Work®
- Watson Wyatt (as cited): High-trust firms’ TRS outperformance (286%). ChiefExecutive.netForbes
- Edelman Trust Barometer (2024): Employees trust “my employer” most for credible information.
