Rebuilding trust in your team
Trust is a leader’s most valuable asset. Building it takes time but losing it can happen in an instant. A broken promise, a lapse in judgment, or a careless email can quickly erode trust. When trust is broken, your response is crucial. Be ready to repair and rebuild.
Understanding trust
Trust in a team means believing that your colleagues are reliable, accountable, and will deliver quality work. Without trust, teamwork suffers, resulting in chaos or inferior performance. High-performing teams thrive on trust and psychological safety, where members feel safe to bring in ideas, criticize constructively, and ask for help when needed.
Signals of trustworthiness
When deciding whether to trust you, people look for signs of:
Competence: Do you have the necessary experience and expertise to deliver what you promise?
Benevolence: Do you consider others’ interests and care about the impact of your actions on them?
Integrity: Do you adhere to principles and communicate transparently? Do you walk the talk?
Building trust
To build trust, be the kind of person you would trust.
Simple? Yes. Easy? No. It takes consistent, concentrated effort.
Demonstrate competence. Follow through on your commitments and avoid making promises you can’t keep.
Show positive intent. Consider the impact of your decisions on all stakeholders, even those with little power.
Maintain high ethical standards. Never cut corners. Uphold your values in everything you do, especially when no one is watching.
Rebuilding trust
When someone with whom we otherwise have a good relationship breaks our trust, many of us adopt a “watch and wait” strategy. We observe carefully how the person responds before we are ready to forgive them and move on.
When trust is broken, follow these steps to rebuild it:*
Acknowledge. Address the issue openly. Admit that trust has been damaged and express your commitment to rebuilding it.
Apologize. If your actions contributed to the loss of trust, apologize sincerely and personally. Show that you understand the pain and difficulty caused.
Amend. Commit to making it right. Take immediate action to correct the situation and create a better future for the team. You don’t have to have all the answers on your own. Ask the team what they need to do their jobs and then act on it.
*In their book “Credibility,” James Kouzes and Barry Posner outline steps a leader can take to restore lost credibility. They work equally well to repair broken trust. I have simplified the process into three steps.
Sam messes up, then fesses up
Consider the following example. Sam, a project leader, made a promise to the project sponsor without involving the team. This caused significant pain and difficulty as team struggled (and failed) to meet an unrealistic deadline. Sam meets with the team to try to make things right.
Sam: "I failed you guys, and you’re right to be upset. I'm not here to make excuses—I messed up. I’m really sorry."
Team Member 1: "It sure threw us all for a loop. What happened?"
Sam: "I felt pressured in the meeting with the sponsor. I agreed to the request without checking resources. It won't happen again. From now on, I'll check in with you before making any commitments."
Team Member 2: "Sounds good but how will you withstand the heat next time?"
Sam: "I'm open to any ideas you have."
Team Member 2: "Well, it could help if we had more frequent check-ins. Then at least you’ll know where we stand and can argue back. Maybe once a week?"
Sam: "I can definitely agree to that."
Team Member 1: "That would be a good start. Let's see how it goes."
Sam: "Thanks for giving me a chance to set things right. We’re going to nail this!"
Reward trust, not just performance
Recognize trust builders
The best way to develop trust within the team is to reward those who build it. These individuals may not always be the top performers, but they are the ones who keep the team fire burning when times are tough. Trust builders are often overlooked in favor of high performers, but they are the glue that holds the team together.
Define and measure trust
Kickstart trust-building in your team with a workshop to agree on what high trust looks like, how to recognize and measure it, and where you currently stand. Identify behaviors that demonstrate trust and record them in a team charter which includes your team’s purpose, goals, roles, and expectations of each other. Ensure that everyone commits to these standards.
Celebrate success and learn from failure
After the workshop, highlight success stories that demonstrate trust in action. When trust falters, use it as a learning opportunity rather than punishing those involved. Reflect on what went wrong and how you can improve.
Lead from the outside in
Shift your perspective from What should I do? to What does my team need from me?
What does each team member require to perform?
How does each person prefer to communicate?
What motivates each individual?
Leading from the outside in can become your superpower for building strong relationships and high levels of trust within the team.
Reflection questions
Have I considered others’ perspectives and needs when making decisions?
When have I failed to keep a commitment? Why did this happen? How can I avoid it in the future?
When have I lost trust in a leader? What caused that?
What did that leader do / what could that leader have done to rebuild trust?
How do I recognize, measure, and reward trustworthiness in my team?
What are my principles and personal standards as a leader? What are the non-negotiable behaviors that I uphold?
References
Edmondson, A. C. (2018). The Fearless Organization. John Wiley & Sons.
Ernst, C., & Magellan Horth, D. (2022). What is this team for and why am I here? Center for Creative Leadership.
Frei, F. X., & Morriss, A. (2020). Everything Starts with Trust. Harvard Business Review, May–June 2020.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2011). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it. Jossey-Bass.
Sinek, S. (2019). Performance vs Trust. YouTube.
Zak, P. J. (2008). The Neurobiology of Trust. Scientific American.
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