Trust is EVERYTHING
At an energy company facility in Canada, over 1,500 people learned about the critical importance of trust - after it was broken and rebuilt through considerable effort.
Trust Isn’t Part of the Work—It Is the Work
If You Don’t Have Trust, You Don’t Have a Team
We’ve heard it a thousand times—“trust is important.” But let’s be honest: trust isn’t just important. Trust is everything. Without it, strategy fails, culture fragments, and performance flatlines. With it, teams move faster, think clearly, and execute better.
Yet most organizations still treat trust like an HR buzzword—something nice to have, not something to build systemically.
Here’s the truth: trust is the single most important currency in leadership and collaboration. And it’s not built by intention alone. It’s built through consistent action. One of the most useful tools for understanding how trust is built (or broken) is the Trust Equation, made famous by David Maister, Charles Green, and Robert Galford in The Trusted Advisor.
The Trust Equation (Reimagined for Today’s Leaders)
Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Relationship Strength) / Self-Orientation
This simple but powerful formula shows that trust is earned through three key behaviors—and eroded by one.
Credibility: Speak Truth. Show Competence.
Credibility isn’t about charisma. It’s about being real. It’s your words aligning with reality. It’s saying what you believe—and backing it with integrity and skill. It’s refusing to spin facts, and instead sharing the full picture: what’s true, how you feel about it, and what should happen next.
In a world full of performative leadership, credibility is radical. And essential.
Reliability: Do What You Say. Every Time.
Reliability is trust’s backbone. You earn it by making clear commitments—and keeping them. Period.
And when something shifts (because it will), reliable leaders don’t ghost or spin. They own it. They explain what changed, why, and what they’re doing about it. That’s how you turn setbacks into deeper trust.
Want to be respected and followed? Be the person whose word means something.
Relationship Strength: Lead with Empathy and Transparency
Trust flourishes in relationships built on empathy (deep listening, genuine interest, perspective-taking) and transparency (being open about what you think, feel, and intend).
Empathy starts when you stop performing and start listening—really listening. Ask questions. Reflect back what you hear. Get curious. And stop talking long enough to understand someone else’s world.
Transparency doesn’t mean oversharing—it means being real in real time. Let people see the logic behind your decisions and the heart behind your leadership. In a high-stakes world, transparency is the new credibility.
The Trust Killer: Self-Orientation
Self-orientation is the only negative variable in the trust equation, because it’s toxic to connection. It shows up when you’re more concerned with how you look than how others feel. When you talk more than you listen. When you lead from ego instead of purpose.
At its core, self-orientation reveals a “knower” mindset—the belief that you’ve got the answers, don’t need input, and aren’t open to change. And that mindset is a trust killer.
Great leaders operate from a learner mindset. They ask more than they tell. They admit gaps. They stay open, humble, and curious. They don’t just build trust—they model it.
The Trust Equation in Action
Speak truthfully and skillfully
Follow through—especially when it’s inconvenient
Build real relationships through empathy and openness
Minimize ego, control, and defensiveness
When you live these principles, you earn what every leader wants and few achieve: deep, durable, earned trust.
Trust Isn’t a Soft Skill.
In a world where attention is fractured and relationships are fragile, trust is your most valuable asset. Build it on purpose, lead with intention, and don’t fake it—because people can feel the difference.
Want a team that’s bold, honest, and fully engaged?
Start with trust. Stay with trust. End with trust.