Building and Maintaining Trust in Teams
Oct 7, 2024 · Rethinkery
Trust doesn't break in one moment. It erodes through small, repeated patterns. Here's how to spot the cracks early and rebuild them.
Trust rarely fails dramatically. It erodes, through small, repeated mismatches between what a leader says and what a leader does, what a team commits to and what a team delivers, what gets said in the room and what gets said about the room afterward.
Maintaining trust requires noticing the small mismatches early and naming them. Repairing trust, once it's gone, takes longer and requires the same precision: identify the specific behaviour that broke it, acknowledge it without spin, and demonstrate the new behaviour over time.
There are no shortcuts. Trust is rebuilt the way it was broken, one specific interaction at a time.
Written by Rethinkery
Start the conversationKeep reading
Apr 20, 2026
Perfectionism: The Story We've Been Sold
Why the relentless pursuit of perfection is costing leaders their judgement, their teams their honesty, and organizations their innovation.
Feb 23, 2026
The Hidden Costs of Hiding
What leaders lose when they don't show up authentically, credibility, connection, and the influence they think they're protecting.
Dec 29, 2025
Getting Authenticity Wrong
Authenticity has been hijacked by oversharing and personal branding. Here's what it actually looks like in a leader who's earning trust.