Trust
On the team of someone who leads well, people can tell the truth.
What it means
A team performs according to how its members treat each other, more than according to who is on it. Trust shows in something concrete: bad news travels up fast, and whoever brings it does not pay for it. Dissent is heard, and it changes decisions.
How to recognize it
What contradicts it
- Problems that never travel up, and late surprises.
- Replacing difficult conversations with box-ticking.
What it asks of the organization
Channels for speaking up that nobody is afraid to use, because people have already seen what happens when someone speaks.
What it rests on
Amy Edmondson (Administrative Science Quarterly, 1999), on psychological safety: in teams where people can speak up without fear, they learn and correct course sooner. Anita Woolley et al. (Science, 2010): a group’s intelligence depends on social sensitivity and on everyone getting a share of the conversation. Alan Mulally at Ford (2006), as told by Bryce Hoffman in American Icon: he applauded the first red slide, and from then on the real problems started coming in.
Sources
- Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383. doi.org/10.2307/2666999
- Woolley, A. W., Chabris, C. F., Pentland, A., Hashmi, N., & Malone, T. W. (2010). Evidence for a collective intelligence factor in the performance of human groups. Science, 330(6004), 686-688. doi.org/10.1126/science.1193147
- Hoffman, B. (2012). American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company. Crown Business.
Good Leadership (2026). Principle 3: Trust. Version 1.0. buenliderazgo.org/en/principles/trust/. License CC BY 4.0.