#27 – Harnessing Trust To Elevate Team Performance

In today’s business environment, team performance often falls short of expectations, leaving us as leaders and business owners feeling frustrated and confused. What’s the missing link? It’s trust—one of the most essential, yet frequently overlooked, elements of a high-performing team. In this blog post, I’ll delve into the role of trust in organisational success and offer insights into how we can harness trust to elevate team performance.

Why Trust is the Foundation of Team Success

As I often emphasize, trust acts as the lubricant that keeps the wheels of an organisation turning smoothly. Without trust, things grind to a halt. Trust issues cause dysfunction, lack of engagement, and a drop in productivity. In contrast, when trust flourishes, teams become more engaged, more productive, and capable of delivering exceptional results.

Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, emphasizes that trust is the number one cause of dysfunction in teams. If trust isn’t present, collaboration and communication break down, ultimately hampering team performance. Trust is, quite simply, the foundation upon which everything else in business is built. When it’s missing, even the best strategies, tools, or processes will fall short.

The Impact of Trust—Or Lack Thereof

Imagine a team where employees don’t trust their managers, and managers, in turn, don’t trust their employees. In such an environment, communication becomes superficial, creativity is stifled, and morale plummets. Unfortunately, this is the reality in many organisations today.

The Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that employee trust in their employers has declined in recent years, especially after the pandemic. In 2022, only 67% of employees reported trusting their employer, and that number is falling. Disengagement, quiet quitting, and dissatisfaction with management have all become more prevalent, further eroding trust. As leaders who are frustrated with underperforming teams, we need to ask ourselves if our company has a trust problem.

Lessons from Equine-Assisted Leadership: Trust in Action

Building trust doesn’t happen overnight—it takes time, patience, and deliberate effort. Drawing a parallel from my experience working with horses, I’ve seen firsthand how trust is built in the animal world, and I apply those lessons to the workplace.

When I first rescued my ponies, Bracken and Thistle, they were terrified of people. It took months of patient work to build a relationship based on trust. I spent time with Bracken, simply “hanging out” with no expectations. Over time, trust developed, and the pony eventually became comfortable and cooperative. This same principle applies to the workplace: trust is built through consistent, small actions over time.

Many leaders expect their teams to deliver high performance without investing in relationships. They focus on meeting deadlines, hitting targets, and managing tasks, without realising that it’s the relationship with their team that holds the key to unlocking higher performance. Just like with my ponies, trust can’t be forced—it has to be earned through patience, respect, and consistency.

The Ripple Effect of Broken Trust

The impact of broken trust is profound. When trust between leaders and their teams is compromised, it affects not just internal dynamics but also external relationships with customers, partners, and other stakeholders. For example, I recently experienced a situation where my local feed store abruptly closed, giving employees just a few days’ notice. The store’s lack of transparency and respect for its staff not only destroyed employee trust but also left me questioning whether I, as a customer, could trust the company.

This illustrates a critical point: trust is not just an internal issue—it influences every aspect of a business. Customers, investors, and partners will notice how an organization treats its employees. If we cannot foster trust internally, we risk damaging our external reputation as well.

How Trust is Lost in the Workplace

Trust can be eroded in many ways, often unintentionally. Common behaviors that destroy trust include:

• Corporate politics and favoritism: When employees feel that certain individuals are favored based on relationships rather than performance, trust quickly dissolves.
• Lack of transparency: If leaders withhold information or fail to communicate openly about changes, team members become wary and disengaged.
• Broken promises: Failing to follow through on commitments is one of the fastest ways to lose trust.
• Inconsistent policies: Frequently changing rules or policies without clear explanations can leave employees feeling uncertain and undervalued.

On the flip side, employees can lose the trust of their leaders through behaviors such as taking credit for others’ work, not meeting deadlines, or flouting company rules. Both sides have a role to play in maintaining a trusting environment.

Rebuilding Trust: A Roadmap for Leaders

As leaders, we must be proactive in creating an environment where trust can thrive. This starts by cultivating psychological safety within the workplace. Team members need to feel secure enough to share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns without fear of retribution.

Here are practical steps for rebuilding trust within your team:

1. Be transparent: Share information openly with your team. Whether it’s good news or bad, being honest about what’s happening in the company builds credibility
2. Keep your promises: Do what you say you’ll do. Even if fulfilling a promise becomes difficult or inconvenient, follow through. Consistency is key to building trust.
3. Foster open communication: Create spaces for informal conversations where team members can express themselves freely. Sometimes, trust is built in the “off-the-record” moments.
4. Focus on results, not activity: Especially in remote or hybrid work environments, leaders should measure performance based on outcomes rather than time spent on tasks. This shows trust in your team’s ability to manage their work.
5. Lead by example: As leaders, our behaviour sets the tone for the entire team. If we want to foster trust, we need to model integrity, accountability, and respect in every interaction.

The Role of “Hanging Out” in Building Trust

One of the most unique insights I’ve gathered over the years is the importance of “hanging out” without an agenda. In our fast-paced work culture, we often spend time with colleagues only when we need something—whether it’s to solve a problem or complete a project. However, trust is built during moments of connection that aren’t tied to work. Just as I spent time with my pony Bracken without any expectations, we as leaders need to create opportunities for team members to connect on a human level, without the pressure of a looming deadline or task.

The Cost of Disengagement and Lack of Trust

The consequences of a lack of trust go beyond interpersonal friction—they have a tangible economic cost. Employee disengagement is estimated to cost the global economy as much as $7.8 trillion annually in lost productivity. Workers who feel undervalued, mistrusted, or unsupported are less likely to contribute to the organisation’s success, resulting in underperformance and higher turnover rates.

Conclusion: Trust is the Key to Unlocking Performance

For those of us struggling with underperforming teams, the answer might not lie in stricter policies or more performance reviews—it could be as simple as rebuilding trust. Trust is the foundation of engagement, productivity, and innovation. Without it, no amount of strategy or operational efficiency will lead to sustainable success.

As a leader, ask yourself: what are you doing today to build trust within your team? Take the time to foster relationships, communicate openly, and model the behaviours you want to see. Only then can we create an environment where our teams can truly thrive.

Show Notes:

Here are the highlights from this episode: