How leaders can close the trust loop and unlock real team performance
It’s Monday morning, and the team is gathered for their weekly office meeting. Prior to the meeting, Rachel, the team’s manager, sends an email to the team with the meeting’s agenda and team members are expected to be prepared to contribute to the discussion, bringing their expertise to the table.
Rachel opens the meeting with updates and a new set of objectives from leadership. A few people speak up, but mostly, heads nod politely. The meeting wraps up on time, and everyone heads back to their workspace. Rachel returns to her office aware that her team is not on board with the new changes. She didn’t think they would be before the meeting started. In fact, when she sent the email expecting the team to come prepared to contribute, she hoped they would not make the meeting difficult by showing resistance.
Beneath that polished agenda lies something missing: trust. It could be skepticism from her team about the new set of boundaries, doubt that the right people are on the team for this project, or perhaps hesitation about Rachel’s leadership. Rachel has doubts the objectives will be embraced by most on the team. She can’t really put her finger on the reason why the team lacks trust. However, the problem is not with Rachel’s team. Rachel has a low propensity to trust, and those on her team can feel it. When she calls meetings, she really doesn’t want their contribution or questions, and perceives any discussion as a threat to her leadership.
The Distrust Gap
There is a distrust gap that Rachel may have created within her team that has nothing to do with the team’s overall capacity, competence, or personal character. It is evident by her lack of transparency, her unwillingness to practice accountability, and the personal distance she creates to keep the team away. Because of this, her team reciprocates low trust toward her. They lack organizational buy-in, they avoid honest dialogue, and contribute little more than lip service in their team meetings. The quiet resistance from her team is the evidence Rachel uses to support her distorted views that they cannot be trusted, yet she is the one who helped create that culture.
Such a culture of distrust can be as contagious as the common cold. Distrust breeds distrust, and if not treated, it works as though both parties have decided to come together to keep the distrust going, colluding with one another.
Think of the distrust gap as a tear in a pair of jeans. The gap never gets smaller, and the more the jeans are worn, the worse the tear gets. The jeans can only be repaired by stitching the tear or patching it up. Like the tear in the jeans, distrust ignored will only tear relationships and organizations further apart.
Why does this distrust gap exist, and how can leaders not only narrow that gap, but eventually eliminate it altogether, ultimately unlocking real team performance?
Extending Trust
Stephen M. R. Covey, in his book, The Speed of Trust, identified thirteen behaviors that can either build or erode trust in any relationship or organization, depending on whether the behaviors are present or neglected. One of those behaviors involves extending trust, and he believes this behavior can bring great dividends and, when properly leveraged, will create reciprocity.
Covey writes that extending trust ‘is a function of two factors – propensity to trust and analysis’. Some people have a lower propensity to extend trust than others do. It may be for cultural reasons, past negative experiences, one’s upbringing, or a variety of other factors. They are hard to get to know and guard themselves from just about everybody. Others have a high propensity to trust, sometimes blindly, and find themselves trusting others easily. They tend to think people are worthy of trust and they offer it freely.
Whether one has a high or low propensity to extend trust, this is not a fixed variable. All of us are capable of shifting our propensity one direction or the other. Life experiences play a major role in this; however, it is a tragedy when people who are truly worthy of trust are not offered it. This is why the other factor, analysis, is critically important. Analysis is one’s ability to reason, analyze, or evaluate and make logical conclusions. Without analysis, any trust extended is blind trust, making us gullible.
When strong analysis is combined with a high propensity to trust, we become capable of recognizing ways to extend trust toward others in a way that unlocks potential and performance. We are better able to recognize the competencies and character strengths of those around us and extend trust whenever possible.
Trust requires some level of risk. When we show a low propensity to trust, we manifest our distrust by limiting our risks. However, when we refuse to offer an honest analysis of the competencies of others, missing the opportunities to extend trust, we pose an even greater risk. Denying others the trust they deserve dissolves organizational and personal buy-in, stifles creativity, and pays a hefty trust tax in return. Though trust always requires risk, the greater risk is withholding trust when it should be extended.
Trust is a Process
We can improve our propensity to trust and still be vigilant in how we do it. Honest analysis is essential. But to be honest in our analysis, we must be able to distinguish between others’ good character and competencies and the negative story we often tell ourselves about people. When we assume bad intent in others, we write a story to justify our beliefs. By telling ourselves that story, we create reasons to withhold trust.
If we want to unlock real team performance, we must learn how to recognize opportunities to trust others while creating an environment where they can trust us in return. Here are a few practical suggestions on how we can increase their propensity to trust:
1. See Your Team Differently: Adopt an Outward Mindset
Too many leaders operate with an inward mindset, assuming the team should understand their vision, their pressures, and their expectations.
But the real question is: Do you understand your team?
An outward mindset shifts focus from being understood to seeking to understand. It’s about seeing team members as real people with their own goals, challenges, and perspectives – not just as roles or resources.
Instead of judging someone as disengaged, ask:
- What might be getting in their way?
- Have I created space for them to speak candidly?
Leaders who adopt an outward mindset build empathy and insight, which leads to better conversations and deeper trust. The first thing we must do is to be generous in the stories we write about others. If we are going to write a story at all, why not write a generous one?
Try this:
- In your next one-on-one, ask: “What’s something I might be missing about your day-to-day experience?”
- Run a short empathy mapping session with your team.
- Practice “listen to learn,” not “listen to reply.”
2. Push Decisions to Where the Information Is
One of the clearest ways to build trust? Give it away.
Too often, decision-making stays at the top, even when the people closest to the work have the best information. That’s not just inefficient; it signals distrust.
If every decision has to go through a leader for approval, it slows everything down and sends the message: “I don’t fully trust your judgment.”
Instead, empower the people with the clearest context to make the calls.
This doesn’t mean total autonomy without boundaries. It means giving people the authority to act and the clarity to do it well.
Try this:
- Audit your decision-making process. Where are things stuck?
- Define clear guardrails and trust your team to operate within them.
- Celebrate smart, well-intentioned decisions even when they don’t go perfectly.
Trust is like a muscle – the more you use it, the stronger it gets.
3. Push Credit Out, Own Failure In
When something goes well, shine the spotlight on your team. Name names. Celebrate wins. And when things don’t go well? Take responsibility first.
Great leaders share success but own failure.
Nothing builds trust faster than a leader who says, “That’s on me. Let’s learn from it together.”
And nothing erodes trust faster than one who says, “They dropped the ball,” in public.
This approach not only builds credibility, it shows your team that they’re safe to take risks, to experiment, and to speak up.
Try this:
- Start your next team success recap with: “Here’s who really made this happen…”
- In postmortems, reflect first on what you could have done differently.
- Keep feedback private and recognition public.
Closing the Gap Starts with You
The distrust gap doesn’t close on its own. It takes intentional effort.
You can start by asking yourself:
- Do I understand my team as well as I want them to understand me?
- Are decisions made by the people with the best information?
- Do I consistently model trust through how I handle credit and failure?
If the answer is “not yet,” that’s okay. Leadership is a process of learning and trust is a result of consistency, not perfection.
Final Thoughts
When trust flows both ways, everything changes. Trust is foundational to every healthy relationship.
Meetings become real conversations. Problems surface sooner. People speak more freely. And work feels meaningful, not just managed.
Start with one of these shifts this week. Your team will notice. And the gap? It’ll start to close – one act of trust at a time.
