Building Trust Through Leadership

If you’re leading a team right now, are people not speaking up as openly as they could? Instead of team members sharing what is really going on, are they telling you what they think you want to hear? It may seem as if everything is fine, but you just sense that something is not quite right.

 

These are often signs that people don’t fully trust what’s going on around them. They may be unsure about decisions, unclear about expectations, or uncertain about how they are doing.  They hesitate or hold back on what they are really thinking or agree to things then never follow through. Conversations stay at the surface level rather than being open and honest.

 

In most cases, this isn’t deliberate. It’s usually the result of how day-to-day interactions are experienced over time. People build trust, or lose it, based on what they consistently see, hear and experience from those around them. Trust doesn’t break overnight - it gradually erodes through everyday things we do.

 

As a leader it’s worth taking a closer look at what people are experiencing day to day, that could be building or breaking trust.

 

 

Why Engagement Often Feels Lower Than It Should

Today the pace of work has increased significantly. We are all are making decisions more quickly, juggling multiple priorities, and often communicating under pressure. In that environment, it becomes easy to not fully understand what’s required.

 

When people don’t fully understand why decisions have been made, or what is expected of them, they start to fill in the gaps themselves. And those assumptions are not always helpful. They can lead to uncertainty, second-guessing, or frustration that’s not always shared.

 

Many leaders focus heavily on outcomes, which is understandable. Targets, deadlines and performance measures all matter. Yet when the focus stays only on results, the thinking and feelings that drive those results are often overlooked.

 

People don’t just respond to what you ask them to do. They respond to how they interpret the situation, how they feel about it and how confident they are in what’s happening around them. If they don’t trust what’s happening engagement can begin to drop, which eventually affects performance.

 

 

Why It Matters More Than Ever

In business people are now looking for something they can rely on and that tends to come less from process and more from how they experience the people around them.

 

When that confidence isn’t there, everything takes more effort. Decisions take longer because people are not fully aligned. Work is repeated because expectations were not clear the first time. Leaders often find themselves checking, chasing, and clarifying far more than they should need to.

 

When they feel confident in what’s happening, and in the people leading them, you see a noticeable difference. Conversations become more straightforward. Issues are raised earlier. People are more willing to take responsibility rather than waiting to be told what to do.

 

Over time, that affects not just performance, but energy. And energy is often the first thing to drop when people don’t trust what’s happening around them. 

 

 

How You Can Change This

The good news is that trust is built through practical, observable behaviours. Small shifts, applied consistently, can make a significant difference.

 

In my work with leaders, I use my TRUST framework: being truthful and transparent, showing respect in how you communicate, taking time to understand how others think, supporting people to trust their own decisions, and being consistent in what you say and do.

 

Start with truthfulness and transparency. Aim to leave people with a clear understanding of what is happening and what is expected. If something changes, explain why. If you don’t yet have all the answers, say that. People can handle uncertainty far better than they can handle confusion.

 

Pay close attention to how you listen. When someone speaks to you, are you fully focused, or dividing your attention? Do you listen to understand, or to respond? People quickly pick up on the difference, and it influences how willing they are to speak openly next time.

 

Take time to understand how individuals in your team think and process information. Some people need time to reflect before responding. Others will think out loud. Some will focus on detail, others on the bigger picture. When you adjust your approach to the person in front of you, communication becomes easier and more effective.

 

Support you team members to make their own decisions and take responsibility for their own objectives. Be aware of how you respond when things don’t go to plan. These are the moments people remember. If the focus immediately turns to fault, people will naturally become more cautious. If instead you create space to understand what happened and what can be learned, you encourage openness and accountability.

 

And then there is consistency. Doing what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, is one of the simplest ways to build trust and confidence over time.

 

 

A Shift That Changes the Quality of Your Leadership

One of the most useful shifts you can make is to look beyond behaviour and become more interested in what is driving it.

 

When something goes well, or when it doesn’t, take a moment to explore what was happening beforehand. What was the person thinking at the time? How were they feeling? What influenced the action they took?

 

When you understand that, you’re no longer just reacting to outcomes. You’re influencing the thinking that leads to those outcomes. And that’s where you start to see more consistent improvement.

 

 

The Impact on Your Business

This isn’t just about creating a better working environment, although that is an important outcome.

 

When people trust what’s happening around them, they tend to act more decisively. Communication becomes clearer, which reduces errors and rework. Issues are addressed earlier, before they grow into bigger problems.

 

Ownership improves. Instead of waiting for direction, people start to take responsibility for moving things forward. That, in turn, frees up leaders to focus less on checking and chasing, and more on thinking ahead and developing their people.

 

Over time, this leads to stronger performance, better collaboration and a more engaged team.

 

 

Bringing It All Together

Trust is not built in one conversation or one decision. It is earned by the ongoing experience people have of working with you. 

• In how you communicate
• In how you listen
• In how you respond when things go well, and when they don’t. 

If you have a sense that something in your team is not quite right, it is worth pausing and asking yourself what people might be experiencing day to day.

 

Because when that experience becomes clearer, more consistent and more supportive, you will start to see the difference - not just in how people feel, but in how they perform. 

 

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Fiona Campbell Arrand is the founder of The Professional Growth Company; her book Working with Trust was published in March 2026

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and Prostock-Studio