Creating a Culture of Trust

It’s Simpler Than Most Leaders Make It

Trust is not built through slogans, posters, or one time culture initiatives. Trust is built through consistent action, especially when it would be easier to choose comfort over courage.

Research continues to show that employee trust is driven primarily by leader integrity, reliability, and open communication rather than by formal programs or surface level engagement efforts (Dirks & de Jong, 2022; Kouzes & Posner, 2021).

And the truth is, creating a culture of trust is really not that hard.

It comes down to four fundamentals:

Fairness. Consistency. Transparency. Follow through.

When leaders practice these daily, trust grows naturally. When they do not, distrust grows just as naturally.

Let’s Not Complicate This (Much of It Is Common Sense)

Leadership literature often makes trust sound complex.

In reality, much of it is simple human behavior.

Think about working on a group project in school.

Everyone in the group needs to know what they are responsible for, what the goal is, how the timeline works, and how the final outcome will be evaluated.

Now imagine showing up on presentation day and finding out one person in the group kept something important a secret that affected the entire project and everyone’s grade.

Frustrating.
Unfair.
And completely avoidable.

That is exactly how employees feel when leaders withhold information that impacts organizational direction, decisions, or outcomes.

If you would not accept that behavior in a group project, do not practice it in your organization.

Trust is not a complicated leadership strategy.
It is common sense applied consistently.

This Is Not About Perfect Leadership

This is not about flawless leadership.

It is about leadership with core fundamental principles unlocked.

Employees are not looking for perfection. They are looking for honesty, reliability, and ethical behavior. Contemporary studies on authentic leadership consistently show that leaders who are genuine, values driven, and open about limitations build significantly higher levels of trust (Kleynhans et al., 2022; Leroy et al., 2021).

Trust grows when leaders can say:

• I made a mistake.

• Here is what I learned.

• Here is what changes now.

• Here is what I will do next.

Not when they pretend to have all the answers.

When Leaders Say “Trust Is Hard” (But Quietly Create Distrust)

Some leaders constantly repeat:

• “It’s hard to build trust.”

• “Culture is complicated.”

• “People are difficult.”

But deep down, many of these leaders know they are actively creating the environment they complain about.

Through selective transparency, inconsistent standards, broken promises, and power driven control, they are choosing distrust.

In the short term, this may feel powerful.

But cultures built on fear, secrecy, and division collapse over time (Edmondson & Bransby, 2023; Wang et al., 2022).

It is like building a house on sand.

It may look strong for a moment.

But it cannot withstand pressure, change, or time.

Distrust always collects its debt.

Why Trust Feels “Hard” for Some Leaders

Trust tends to feel difficult for leaders who thrive on power struggles, ego driven control, force instead of influence, and winning instead of serving the mission.

Authoritarian leadership consistently reduces psychological safety and trust while increasing fear and disengagement (Edmondson & Bransby, 2023; Wang et al., 2022).

For these leaders:

• Fairness feels like losing control.

• Transparency feels risky.

• Consistency feels inconvenient.

• Follow through feels optional.

But for leaders who prioritize ethics and mission, trust building behaviors feel natural and sustainable (Brown et al., 2020).

The Four Building Blocks of Trust

Fairness

Employees constantly evaluate whether decisions are equitable.

Modern organizational justice research continues to show that fairness perceptions strongly influence trust, commitment, and performance (Adamovic, 2023).

When favoritism disappears, trust grows.

Consistency

Consistency creates emotional safety.

When leaders behave unpredictably, anxiety rises. When leaders remain steady in expectations and values, trust strengthens (Edmondson & Bransby, 2023).

Consistency tells people: you can rely on me.

Transparency (What It Is and What It Is Not)

For some leaders, the word transparency can feel uncomfortable.

Let’s be clear.

Transparency is not oversharing personal details.

It is organizational clarity.

It means communicating:

• What the organization is doing

• Why decisions are being made

• How those decisions impact people

• How everyone contributes to shared goals

This is still business.

But real transparency is not selective.

Leaders do not get to choose who deserves clarity.

When one employee is informed and another is left in the dark, trust fractures and division forms.

And when someone hears critical information through the grapevine instead of directly from leadership, credibility is lost.

Research shows consistent, organization wide transparency builds trust, while selective communication destroys it (Men, 2022; Yue et al., 2022).

Transparency also includes explaining limitations.

What can be done.

What cannot be done.

And why.

Honest clarity builds credibility far more than silence.

Follow Through

Trust ultimately rests on reliability.

Leadership research confirms reliability is one of the strongest drivers of trust and performance (Legood et al., 2021).

Every promise kept strengthens trust.

Every broken promise weakens it.

Alignment between words and actions sustains culture.

Trust Is Built When Leaders Remember We Are Human (But Stay Fair, Communicate Clearly, and Hold Standards)

Organizations are made up of people.
And people are human.

Life happens.

There will be days when an employee needs flexibility.
A family emergency.
A health concern.
A mental health day.
A moment that simply requires compassion.

Strong leaders not only allow for these moments, they clearly communicate to all employees that support is available.

That communication might sound like:

• “If you’re going through something personal, please come talk to me.”

• “Your well being matters. We can adjust schedules when life happens.”

• “You don’t need to struggle silently. My door is open.”

This should be communicated openly in meetings, onboarding, and regular check ins, not quietly to a select few.

Because trust is damaged when:

• Some employees know flexibility exists and others do not

• Or when only those closest to leadership feel safe asking for support.

That creates two realities inside the same organization.

Real trust is built when leaders:

• Make compassion visible and known to everyone
  Invite all employees to speak up when life happens
  Apply flexibility fairly across teams
  Balance humanity with equity

And when flexibility is guided by principles, not personalities.

If leniency is extended to one employee in a time of need, it must be available to all employees in similar circumstances.

The moment compassion becomes selective, it becomes favoritism.

And favoritism erodes trust faster than almost anything else.

Employees notice who gets grace.
They notice who gets exceptions.
They notice who gets supported.

Those patterns quietly shape culture.

When compassion is communicated clearly and applied consistently, trust deepens.

Compassion and Accountability Must Coexist

Trust does not mean the absence of standards.

Leniency does not mean a free for all.

Strong cultures are built on both compassion and discipline.

Leaders can support employees through hard moments while still holding firm to the organization’s mission, values, and expectations.

Being flexible when life happens is leadership.
Allowing repeated poor behavior, missed responsibilities, or violations of values without consequence is not.

Trust grows when employees know:

Support is available when they are struggling
And accountability exists when expectations are not met

This balance creates psychological safety without chaos.

Real leadership says:

• “I will support you through difficulty.”

• “And I will hold you accountable to our standards.”

When discipline is fair, consistent, and aligned with values, it does not erode trust.
It strengthens it.

Because people respect leaders who are both humane and principled.

When Employees Struggle to Trust

Some employees arrive guarded.

Often this is the result of past broken trust.

Workplace research shows distrust is carried forward from prior experiences (Dirks & de Jong, 2022).

Trust is rebuilt through consistency, not speeches.

It’s Never Too Late to Lead the Right Way

No leader gets everything right.

Some leaders reading this may recognize moments where they have withheld information, played favorites, avoided hard conversations, or operated from control instead of principles.

That awareness is not failure.
It is opportunity.

It is never too late to do the right thing.

Cultures can change.
Trust can be rebuilt.
Leadership habits can be corrected.

Even if you have been the leader contributing to distrust and division, today can be the turning point.

Choose fairness over favoritism.
Choose transparency over secrecy.
Choose consistency over unpredictability.
Choose follow through over empty promises.

Employees are far more willing to forgive past mistakes when they see real, sustained change.

Starting fresh does not require an announcement.
It requires new behavior.

And when that behavior becomes consistent, trust begins to grow again.

Note

Creating a culture of trust does not require perfect leaders.

It requires principled leaders.

Fair.
Consistent.
Transparent.
Reliable.

Power driven leadership creates division.
Mission driven leadership creates trust.

When actions align with words, trust becomes the culture.

References

Adamovic, M. (2023). Organizational justice research: A review, synthesis, and research agenda. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 45(2), 316–335.

Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2020). Ethical leadership and trust. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 161, 1–17.

Dirks, K. T., & de Jong, B. (2022). Trust within the workplace. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 9, 247–276.

Edmondson, A. C., & Bransby, D. (2023). Psychological safety. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10, 55–78.

Kleynhans, D. J., et al. (2022). Authentic leadership and trust. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 834168.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2021). The credibility factor. Wiley.

Legood, A., et al. (2021). Trust and leadership performance. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 30(1), 1–22.

Men, L. R. (2022). Supervisory communication and trust. Public Relations Review, 48(1), 102143.

Wang, D., et al. (2022). Authoritarian leadership and trust. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 842534.

Yue, C. A., et al. (2022). Transparent communication. Management Communication Quarterly, 36(2), 224–251.