2 Ways Leaders Can Rebuild It

It takes a lot to be successful as a leader—not the least of which is the ability to build, maintain and sustain trust. A new study reinforces how critical trust is, but also that trust is eroding.

You can build trust most quickly and easily with proximity—when you see someone more often and interact more regularly. But with the advent of hybrid work, distance can be a barrier to building trust. The new landscape of work requires more intentionality and more investment of time and energy to make trust happen.

Here are the considerations for building trust—no matter where you’re working.

The Trust Imperative

People have a preference for trusting others, and tend to default to trust as a starting point. This is good news when you’re building a relationship with someone. Trust develops with greater proximity. When you see someone more, you tend to understand them better and you have more data about what might be behind their behavior and choices. This creates legibility. People tend to trust those who are predictable, easy to read and logical in their actions.

Closely related to this is the exposure effect. Whether it’s art, food or people, when you’re exposed to something or someone more often, you tend to develop both acceptance and—in the case of people—empathy. And each of these are closely related to trust as well.

The Trust Problem

Unfortunately, trust is suffering. According to a recent study by video communication company mmhmm, 74% of the people said they felt distrusted by their employer. And this made a big difference to them, with 71% who felt it was ‘very important’ and 95% who reported it was important to them to be trusted and to have autonomy in their jobs.

And trust isn’t just a soft issue without repercussions for business. Fully 88% of people have left or would leave a job if they didn’t feel trusted.

Power Dynamics

As a leader, your ability to build trust is partially related to the power you have over others—the power to evaluate, pay, promote or punish. When people look to you, they want to see both competence and compassion. They want to know you’re capable as a leader, and also that you care about them and will treat them fairly.

In addition, some schools of thought suggest when people consider their relationship with you, and their level of trust, they are asking themselves three questions. First, “To what extent does this person have my best intentions in mind?” Second, “To what extent does this person feel positively or negatively about me?” And finally, “To what extent does this person have the power to do something about either of these (to help me or to hurt me)?” Be conscious of these concerns, and behave in a way that provides the best answers.

The Nature of Trust

You can think of trust in two ways: relationship trust and task trust. Or, in a pithy version, you can consider pizza and a dog.

Relationship trust is when you trust someone with your secrets. You don’t hesitate to talk about what’s bothering you and how you’re getting by. This is the person you love to have pizza with. You can relate easily, talk openly and let down your guard—knowing they’ll support you, care about you and protect you.

On the other hand, task trust is a situation where you can rely on someone to get things done, follow through and deliver on their promises. This is the person you trust to take care of your dog when you’re away. They’ll show up, be responsible and come through.

It’s possible to have great relationships when you only have one type of trust. You love to get together with a colleague for lunch, but you avoid giving them a lot of responsibility on a shared project. Or you have a colleague who never misses a step and you rely on them significantly to get things done, but you wouldn’t necessarily divulge your dreams or career ambitions to them.

Of course the most powerful trust is when you have both: You have a coworker who always comes through and does what they say—and with whom you can be vulnerable, knowing they’ll keep your confidence and have your back.

#1 – Task Trust

Trust is rarely built through talk, rather it is built through behaviors. You can establish and nurture task trust with your team members in multiple ways.

• Give people choices. One of the ways you demonstrate you trust people is by giving people as much autonomy as possible. Not every job lends itself to flexibility, but as much as possible, give people opportunities to choose when and where they will work—within the appropriate limits of the team and the organization. Provide for people to select what kinds of project they work on, or the learning they will pursue for their career development.
• Empower people with decision making. Also delegate responsibilities and decisions, demonstrating your trust. In the mmhmm study, 67% of people wanted their employer to show trust by giving them the power to make decisions. Don’t provide autonomy with abandon—just letting people flounder—but do provide development, coaching and backup as people stretch their wings in taking on increasing responsibility and decision making. Managers have a large bearing on people’s mental health—more than even their doctors or therapists, and when people have the power to make decisions, even in high stress jobs, it contributes to their wellbeing.
• Avoid micromanaging. Few things are as disempowering as micromanagement, and in the mmhmm study, 57% of employees felt a lack of trust when their employers micromanaged them. Give people freedom to get things done to the best of their ability, and check in without checking up on them. Provide the end goal and the timing and then ask people to accomplish the result as they wish. Give people increasing levels of freedom and less checkpoints based on their maturity and capability.

#2 – Relationship Trust

You can also build relationship trust with some key behaviors.

• Share openly and be vulnerable. Trust is built with reciprocity. You share something, and then someone else shares, and this is repeated over time with greater levels of openness. When you’re developing trust as a leader, it is powerful to be vulnerable. Avoid the myth that you have to have all the answers. Ask for input and demonstrate willingness to listen to people’s ideas, suggestions and expertise. You’ll build credibility when you demonstrate professional humility—not having to have all the answers or be the smartest person in the room.
• Take accountability. You can also build relationship trust when you take accountability. Admit mistakes and hold yourself to high standards of integrity, honesty and solving problems when they emerge.
• Tune In. it’s also powerful to pay attention. Tune into how people are doing and ask questions about their work, their engagement and their career desires. Manage workloads so they’re reasonable and not overwhelming. Respond when people need help and offer empathy and resources to support them.

Overall, being accessible and responsive can contribute significantly to building both strong task and relationship trust. You build positivity when you get back to people promptly with answers to their questions. You make a positive impact when you are reliably available and transparent about when you’ll be away or inaccessible.

Forward Motion

No interaction is neutral, and every interaction is an opportunity to build trust and relationships. People don’t expect you to be perfect, but when they can see you making the effort and genuinely seeking to create positive experiences, you’ll be on the path to trust and motivation—for team members and for yourself as well.