Tips to Build Team Credibility

86% of executives believe employee trust is soaring. (Yet only 67% of employees actually trust their leaders.) I remember confidently walking into our quarterly review. Our metrics were up. Our strategy was clear. I thought trust was high. I was wrong. Here's what was really happening: → Top talent quietly updating their LinkedIn. → Real feedback staying buried in private chats. → Innovation dying in "yes" meetings. → Engagement surveys hiding hard truths. After losing three star employees in one month, I realized: Trust isn't built in fancy workshops or team events. It's cultivated through consistent moments that matter. 10 science-backed trust builders that transformed my team: (And won us an award!): 1/ Kill Information Hoarding (It's Hurting You) ↳ 85% trust transparent communicators. ↳ WHY: In the absence of clarity, fear fills the gap. ↳ HOW: Share board meeting notes company-wide. ↳ Pro Tip: Share bad news faster than good news. 2/ Own Your Mistakes (Like Your Career Depends On It) ↳ Leaders who admit errors gain 4x more trust. ↳ WHY: Perfect leaders are feared, not trusted. ↳ HOW: Share mistakes in weekly all-hands. ↳ Pro Tip: Add what you learned and your fix. 3/ Master Active Listening (Beyond The Basics) ↳ 62% trust leaders who truly hear them. ↳ WHY: Everyone knows fake listening from real attention. ↳ HOW: Block "listening hours." No phone, no laptop. ↳ Pro Tip: Summarize what you heard before responding. 4/ Show Real Empathy (It's A Skill, Not A Trait) ↳ 76% trust leaders who understand their challenges. ↳ WHY: People don't care what you know until they know you care. ↳ HOW: Start meetings with "What's challenging you?." ↳ Pro Tip: Follow up on personal matters they share. 5/ Invest In Their Growth (Play The Long Game) ↳ 70% trust leaders who develop their people. ↳ WHY: Investment in them is an investment in trust. ↳ HOW: Give every team member a growth budget. ↳ Pro Tip: Help them grow, even if they might leave. The Results? Our trust scores jumped 43% in six months. Retention hit an all-time high. Real conversations replaced surface-level meetings. Your Next Move: 1. Pick ONE trust builder. 2. Practice it for 7 days. 3. Come back and share what changed. Remember: In a world of AI and automation, trust is your ultimate competitive advantage. ↓ Which trust builder will you start with? Share below. ♻️ Share this with a leader who needs this wake-up call 🔔 Follow me (@Loren) for more evidence-based leadership insights [Sources: HBR, Forbes, Gallup]

Trust is the bedrock of any high-performing team. As someone who has led multiple organizations and coached executives across industries like real estate and nonprofits, I’ve seen firsthand how trust—or the lack of it—can make or break a team. Drawing from my experiences, failures, and lessons learned, here are three key strategies to build trust within your organization, inspired by insights from Patrick Lencioni’s *The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team*. 1. Set the Tone as a Leader Trust starts at the top. As a leader, you cannot expect your team to foster trust if you’re not actively modeling it. This means creating a culture where openness and collaboration are valued over perfection. I’ve failed in this area before, believing I had to have all the answers. But I’ve learned that projecting invincibility sends a message to your team: “I don’t need you.” That kills trust. Instead, lead by example. Ask for input, listen to your team’s ideas, and show them their voices matter. Building trust isn’t about being flawless—it’s about being authentic and approachable. 2. Embrace Vulnerability Patrick Lencioni emphasizes that trust is rooted in vulnerability, and I couldn’t agree more. For many leaders, admitting mistakes or sharing challenges feels counterintuitive. We’re conditioned to think we need to appear perfect. But perfectionism builds walls, not trust. When you make a mistake, own it. Share it with your team, not to dwell on failure, but to highlight that errors are part of growth. By openly discussing your challenges and uncertainties, you create a safe space for your team to do the same. This vulnerability fosters a culture where learning from mistakes is celebrated, not hidden, strengthening trust across the board. 3. Invest in Relationships Trust doesn’t happen by accident—it requires intentional effort. One of the most effective ways to build trust is by getting to know your team members as individuals. Take time to learn about their lives, families, hobbies, and aspirations. This shows you value them beyond their job titles. A simple way to start? Engage in meaningful conversations. On a Monday morning, don’t just ask, “How was your weekend?” and move on. Listen actively and ask follow-up questions. For example, if a team member mentions trying a new restaurant, ask what they ordered or how they liked it. These small moments signal that you see and appreciate them as people. Over time, these interactions build a foundation of trust, showing your team they’re valued and understood. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Whether you’re a leader or a team member, what’s one experience where trust was built well in your organization? Share in the comments below! 20/20 Foresight Executive Talent Solutions #Leadership #BuildingTrust

5 tips from my 50+ years of experience that help you build trust within 5 seconds: 1. Build Psychological Safety — Fast: "Tell me where my assumptions might be wrong." Trust grows when people feel safe to challenge power. By inviting correction, you flip the power dynamic — signaling security, not ego. 2. "In this room, truth outranks titles." Hierarchies kill honesty. Great CEOs make truth-telling an institutional habit, not a heroic act. 3. "We will make mistakes — our job is to find them fast, not fear them." Fear of mistakes paralyzes organizations. By normalizing imperfection, leaders accelerate learning and de-risk innovation. 4. "Your input isn’t a favor to me; it’s oxygen for our survival." Trust collapses when people feel disposable. Positioning team contributions as mission-critical drives ownership, not compliance. 5. "If you have bad news, bring it early — you’ll never be punished for honesty here." In high-stakes environments, delay is death. Creating a no-shame culture around bad news preserves speed, agility, and resilience. Leadership without trust is like architecture without foundations.You can decorate the facade... but the first storm will expose everything. Trust is not emotional fluff. It is an operational system. It decides: -How fast problems surface. -How quickly decisions happen. -How fiercely teams stay committed under pressure. If you're a CEO building a high-performance leadership culture, trust must be engineered, not assumed. 🚀 Elite CEOs build speed through trust. Without trust → Speed dies. Without speed → Growth dies. If you're scaling your leadership team and want a sharper edge in trust-driven culture building, DM me. I help leaders hardwire trust into the DNA of their organizations. #ExecutiveCoaching #CEOLeadership #TrustBuilding #LeadershipDevelopment #BusinessGrowth

Early in my career, I experienced firsthand the devastating effects of a leader who eroded trust. Despite her position of authority, my manager consistently demonstrated behaviors that destroyed any sense of security or confidence in her leadership. She harbored a hidden agenda, deliberately withheld crucial information, and set me up for failure. Perhaps most painfully, she seized every opportunity to humiliate me in front of my colleagues to say the least, I was "too nice" from her perspective, so she said I would never be an HR Manager. The impact was profound. My productivity plummeted, creativity withered, and my once-enthusiastic approach to work transformed into constant anxiety. Despite my deep love for my job and loyalty to the company, the toxic environment created by this lack of trust became unbearable. Ultimately, I made the difficult decision to resign, sacrificing a position I had once cherished. This experience taught me a valuable lesson: trust is not a nice to have in leadership—it's essential. Why Trust Matters: 📈 Increases productivity 🤝 Enhances team collaboration 💡 Fosters innovation and creativity 💌 Improves employee retention 😀 Builds a positive company culture Tips to Build Trust: 📌 Be transparent: Share information openly and honestly. 💫 Follow through on commitments: Do what you say you'll do. 😢 Show vulnerability: Admit mistakes and ask for help when needed. 👂 Listen actively: Give your full attention and seek to understand. ⭐ Recognize and appreciate: Acknowledge contributions and efforts. 🎯 Delegate meaningfully: Trust your team with important tasks. 📐 Be consistent: Align your words and actions consistently. Are you actively building trust with your team? Choose one trust-building action to implement this week and watch how it transforms your leadership impact. If you've experienced the effects of low-trust leadership, share your story and how it shaped your approach to leading others. Let's learn from each other and create workplaces built on trust and mutual respect. #LeadershipTrust #CareerSuccess #TeamBuilding #EmployeeEngagement #AuthenticLeadership #WorkplaceCulture #ProfessionalGrowth

Leaders: create an environment where your team doesn't second guess themselves. Failure is okay. Difficult conversations need to happen. Worthwhile work is hard. But here's the thing: your team will fail to execute according to your standards when you've built a system around fear (whether intentional or not). And even worse, the standards they can achieve. Here's how I try (and fail at times) to build a culture of trust on the marketing team: Encourage Transparency: Make it safe for your team to share challenges, ask for help, and voice concerns. Have monthly or quarterly meetings with every team member, make it a safe space to share their concerns. Show Your Vulnerability: Lead by example, show your own vulnerability. Admit your mistakes, and model how to learn and move forward. Get Agreements: Fear often arises from uncertainty. Be clear about goals, priorities, and what success looks like. Share Before Ready: Encourage your team (and yourself) to share work-in-progress ideas, drafts, and projects. Waiting for "perfect" never works. Give Feedback With Empathy: Feedback should be constructive, not destructive. Focus on the behavior, not the person. Fear can stifle even the most hardworking and intelligent. It also blunts creativity, slows your team, and severely limits trust. It's your job to remove the barrier.

Trust isn't built overnight. It's the compound interest of consistent leadership. Think of trust like a muscle. You can't get strong by lifting weights once. You can't build trust with a single grand gesture. Here's what I've learned about authentic leadership: 1. Actions Echo → Your team mirrors your behavior → If you lie, they'll lie → If you yell, they'll yell back 2. Strength in Vulnerability → "I don't know" is not weakness → "I made a mistake" shows humanity → Admitting nervousness while showing resolve 3. Supporting Growth → Create space for honest mistakes → Celebrate those who speak up → Turn struggles into learning moments The real power of leadership isn't in appearing perfect. It's in showing up consistently, authentically, day after day. Your team doesn't need a flawless leader. They need a human one.

"Nothing fails you as a leader more than gossiping about your own team member to others." A strong leader builds trust, not breaks it. The moment you engage in office gossip about your own people, you send a message: no one is safe from criticism behind closed doors. 1. Want a high-performing team? Address issues directly, not through whispers. Face problems head-on. If someone struggles, I address it with them, not about them 2. Want respect as a leader? Speak with integrity, not in secrecy. Build trust like it's my most valuable asset—because it is. Praise in public, correct in private, always 3. Want a culture of trust? Coach in private, praise in public. Coach instead of complain. If I see potential, I nurture it—not tear it down in frustration. Talk about your people like they’re in the room—because word travels faster than speed of WiFi. 📢 A weak leader gossips. A strong leader speaks with integrity. Your team is always watching. Will they see a leader who builds or one who breaks? 📢 Great leadership starts with discipline in words and actions. Make sure they see a leader who uplifts, not one who undermines. A leader’s whispers today become a team’s silence tomorrow—trust dies in the echo. Every whisper behind closed doors writes the story of your leadership—choose your words wisely. 👉 What’s your take on leadership gossip? Have you seen it damage trust in organizations? Let’s discuss. #SaturdayMantra #Leadership #Trust #TeamCulture #Integrity #GrowthMindset

The early days of a leader-team relationship set the foundation for everything—collaboration, performance, and most importantly, trust. My philosophy has always been to give trust freely as a gift for the recipients to lose. I’ve personally found that most people are not like this. Many believe trust must be earned first before it’s granted. Neither approach is wrong, but both have consequences. Giving trust freely can empower and motivate, but it also carries risk. Requiring trust to be earned can ensure reliability, but it may slow down relationship-building. So how do we build it in the first place? ✔ Be consistent – Follow through on what you say and do. ✔ Communicate openly – Transparency fosters confidence. ✔ Show vulnerability – Admit mistakes and ask for feedback. ✔ Hold yourself accountable – Trust grows when people see fairness and integrity. Whichever approach you take, one truth remains: When trust is lost, it’s incredibly difficult—if not impossible—to regain. What have you uncovered as a leader about building trust with your team? #Leadership #Trust #WorkplaceCulture #TeamBuilding

Want to build trust quickly in a new role? Focus on demonstrating ownership through specific actions rather than making broad promises. I've noticed that the fastest way to earn trust isn't through words - it's through consistently delivering small wins while being transparent about challenges. Find something concrete you can improve in your first week, no matter how small. The key is to combine action with honest communication. Don't just identify problems - propose solutions. Don't just highlight challenges - show your thought process for addressing them. Remember: Trust isn't built through grand gestures but through the accumulation of small, consistent actions that show you're invested in the team's success.

Building a high-performing team isn’t about fancy titles or big speeches—it’s about trust. Without trust, you’ll always struggle to lead. With trust, your team will go above and beyond for you. So how do you build real trust? Here’s what I’ve learned: ✅ Keep your promises. If you say you’ll do something, DO IT—every single time. ✅ Be transparent. People respect honesty, even when the truth is tough. ✅ Give credit, take responsibility. A true leader takes the blame when things go wrong and gives recognition when things go right. ✅ Lead by example. Never ask your team to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. If you focus on these, your team won’t just work for you—they’ll believe in you. What’s one leadership lesson that helped you build trust? ----------------- Hi, I'm Johnny. I'm a veteran business owner. I help high income earners break the golden handcuffs and take control of their finances.