How founders can build trust without clear KPIs

One of my client companies recently made a bold shift: They replaced their Engagement KPI with a Trust KPI. And it’s one of the smartest moves I’ve seen. Why? Because trust is not a byproduct of engagement - it’s the precondition. 📚 Research backs this up: A meta-analysis by De Jong et al. (2016) found that team trust is a strong predictor of performance, especially in high-interdependence teams. Yet we treat trust like something we either have or don’t. 👉But trust isn’t a mood but rather a design decision. To start with, we need to understand 3 types of trust: 1. Cognitive 2. Affective 3. Swift Most leaders focus on cognitive or affective trust - built over time. But there’s a third type they don’t know about: Swift Trust. 📍Swift Trust forms quickly in temporary, remote, or fast-moving teams. It doesn’t require deep familiarity, it requires structure. And here’s how leaders can engineer it: ✔️ Start with clearly defined roles and expectations ✔️ Align fast around shared goals and purpose ✔️ Create quick wins that build early credibility ✔️ Model openness and ask for input from day one ✔️ Name the importance of trust explicitly In other words, trust isn’t “earned slowly” in every context. It can be catalyzed intentionally if you know how. That’s what I’m helping this client do: not just educate about trust but build it inside the team with psychological safety and my method, one behavior and ritual at a time. Because when trust becomes a designed feature, not an accidental outcome - performance, inclusion, and engagement follow. P.S.: Which type of trust is most alive in your team right now?

Nobody talks about this hardest part of being a founder: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Being cheated is part of the every founder journey. And it didn't happen to me just once - it happened often 𝐀 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬. We kept delivering because I thought "relationship matters more than contract." The cheque never came. 𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. The real damage was fixing trust with clients. 𝐀 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 spent his time convincing my team to leave and join him in Delhi. 𝐀𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 after months of due diligence. We faced our team the next morning with no funding news. Each time it hurt because I had “𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅”. For a while, I thought maybe I shouldn't trust people at all. But that wasn't the answer. Every big win at Supersourcing and EngineerBabu also came from trust. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 23-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 500 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝? I stopped trusting blindly. Trust without structure is just hope. And hope doesn't scale businesses. Now I trust with systems: - Contracts that protect both sides - Milestone-based deliveries - Regular check-ins - Transparency as standard I still trust people. But now I also, give autonomy with clear expectations. I stay empathetic but watch for red flags "Believe in second chances, not third ones" 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: Trust first, protect later 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: Trust and protect simultaneously The founder who never trusts stays safe but small. The founder who trusts everyone grows fast but crashes hard. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦. Being cheated taught me that trust isn't weakness. Blind trust is. To fellow founders: Don't stop trusting. Just trust smarter. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬. Have you faced something similar? How did you handle it? #founderlife #leadership #startup #success

A 17 year old just taught me something about business that most founders forget. Last week, I needed some yard-work. A neighbor recommended Paxton - who’d done some work for him. He’s a high-school senior who plays football for his school team and spends his free time hauling gravel and trimming hedges. Every dollar counts when you're chasing a dream. He came over, looked around, and quoted me $450. $89 per yard, plus labor and gas. I nodded and we shook hands. Deal done. Two days later, my phone buzzed with a text: "Mr. Vineet, my quote was inaccurate… (I’m expecting him to charge me more, but he goes on) …the yard only needed 3 yards of mulch. After fuel and cleanup, your total is $285." I stared at my screen for a moment. He could have kept the extra $165. I would never have known the difference. But this teenager chose honesty over easy money. And that one text message did something remarkable - it earned him my lifelong trust in under 10 seconds. In my 20 years as an entrepreneur, I've seen companies spend millions on building customer trust through marketing campaigns, fancy presentations, and lengthy sales processes. But Paxton achieved it with transparency and integrity. Sure, he made a little less money. But he immediately secured my business for life, and 3 referrals from me in the next week. This reminded me of a fundamental truth I share with every healthtech founder I mentor: Your competitive advantage isn't your technology - it's the trust people place in you. Anyone can copy your features. But they can't replicate your character. Never compromise it for cash. Do you think Paxton made the right call? #entrepreneurship #startup #leadership

Most founders I coach don’t have a control problem. They have a trust problem… masked as control. You don’t micromanage because you’re a control freak. You do it because the stakes are high. Because you've been burned before. Because letting go feels risky when everything rests on your shoulders. But here’s the paradox: The more you try to control, the more you signal weakness. Control says, “I don’t trust you to get this right.” And over time, people live down to that message. Founders who build high-trust teams? They lead with phrases like: – “Take the lead, I’ll support you” – “Your approach makes sense” – “How can I help you succeed?” – “Work where you're most effective” These aren’t just nice-sounding lines. They’re cultural coding. Trust builds speed. Trust builds accountability. Trust builds leaders. So, if you want to grow fast without burning out or burning bridges? Start here: → Trust before proof → Support over supervision → Growth over control → Impact over presence What's one thing you could delegate today - without checking up on it tomorrow? Try it. And watch what happens. - - - - 1. Like this ❤️ 2. Follow for more 🙏 3. Repost to your network 🥰 4. Subscribe: https://lnkd.in/dguy4WfX 🤗

    🔍 The Real Trust Killer: It’s Not Poor Performance, It’s Poor Communication As someone deeply involved in the startup ecosystem, I’ve seen firsthand that the primary reason funds and startup founders lose the trust of their stakeholders isn’t due to poor performance—it’s due to poor communication.   When you raise funds, you are essentially borrowing money with the promise of making it work. It’s a partnership, not a transaction. Here are some key points to keep in mind to maintain trust and transparency:   🔹 Regular Updates: Keep your investors and stakeholders in the loop with consistent and honest updates. Whether the news is good or bad, they deserve to know the state of the business.   🔹 Transparency: Be open about challenges and setbacks. No startup journey is without its bumps, and your backers will appreciate your honesty.   🔹 Respect the Partnership: Remember, the funds you raised are not yours to use as you please. Treat them with the respect and responsibility they deserve.   🔹 Engage in Dialogue: Foster an open line of communication where stakeholders feel heard and valued. Their insights and feedback can be invaluable.   🔹 Accountability: Own up to mistakes and outline your plan to address them. Demonstrating accountability builds credibility and trust.   After all, the foundation of any successful venture is built on trust and mutual respect.   #StartupSuccess #TrustBuilding #EffectiveCommunication #InvestorRelations #Entrepreneurship