The trust dividend: How credibility fuels lasting leadership

A senior executive I once coached had a quiet but powerful presence. She wasn’t the loudest voice in the room, nor the most polished on stage, but something about her made people lean in, follow through, and stay loyal, especially during organisational shakeups. One day, a younger manager asked her, “How do you get people to trust you without trying so hard?”

Her response? “Because I trust them first.”

That wasn’t just a clever soundbite. It was a leadership paradigm. In an age of information overload, remote work, and rising employee disengagement, trust isn’t just a soft skill. It’s a strategic asset.

“So, here’s the shift: modern leadership is no longer about control; it’s about credibility.”

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According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 79 percent of employees today expect their employers to be a trusted source of truth, more than government or media. Yet Gallup reports only 23 percent of employees strongly agree they trust their organisational leadership. This is the dissonance many leaders are navigating: high expectations in an atmosphere of scepticism.

Trust isn’t a nice-to-have anymore. It’s the cost of entry. It’s the operating system behind collaboration, retention, innovation, and performance. Without trust, even your best strategies stall. With it, average ideas become movements.

So, here’s the shift: modern leadership is no longer about control; it’s about credibility. And trust isn’t given, it’s built, brick by brick, word by word, decision by decision.

Real trust-building goes beyond motivational posters and open-door policies. It requires four non-negotiables, each simple to understand, yet difficult to fake.

Trust starts with consistency. Teams don’t just want visionary speeches; they want predictability. Will you do what you say? Will you show up the same way next week as you did yesterday? Leaders who swing between moods, messages, or motives confuse their teams, and where there’s confusion, trust leaks.

The second is transparency. This doesn’t mean oversharing or publicising every strategy. It means giving people clear context, especially in ambiguity. When leaders are silent in crisis, people fill the silence with fear. But when you name the challenge and narrate the way forward, even if imperfectly, you breed safety, not suspicion.

Third is competence. It may sound harsh, but people don’t trust leaders who mean well but perform poorly. Trust comes from knowing you can lead with clarity, courage, and credibility. If your team senses that you can’t deliver or worse, that you blame others when you don’t, they will smile publicly but disengage privately.

And finally, care. People trust those who genuinely care, not for the optics, but from a place of conviction. When your team feels seen, not just measured; when they sense you value their development as much as their productivity; when your leadership reflects humanity, not just hierarchy, trust flourishes.

Read also: How transparency turns leaders into game-changers

In our consulting work with global organisations, we teach what we call the 4C Model to help leaders operationalise trust in daily leadership:

Clarity: Are your expectations, values, and communication style clear, or are people guessing your intentions?

Credibility: Are your words backed by expertise, preparation, and follow-through or just charisma?

Consistency: Are you steady across seasons, pressures, and personalities, or does your team manage your moods more than your metrics?

Care: Are your people seen and supported or just supervised?

Each of these dimensions is like a dial. When all are high, trust compounds. When even one is low, trust becomes fragile.

Pause here for a moment.

What do your people say about you when you leave the room?

Do they trust your direction or merely comply with your authority?

Are you consistent in your presence, or do people feel they are walking on eggshells?

What signals are you sending when you cancel one-on-ones, withhold feedback, or avoid hard conversations?

Trust isn’t what you think it is. It’s what your team feels when you lead them. And feelings don’t lie.

Here’s how to translate trust from theory to action:

Start by choosing one area, “Clarity, Credibility, Consistency, or Care,” where you sense you are slipping. For the next 30 days, double down on that dial. If it’s Clarity, make your expectations explicit and over-communicate your “why.” If it’s Care, write a personal note to a team member weekly. If it’s Consistency, protect your rhythms even under pressure. Small shifts compound.

Read also: Why leaders must stop gripping the steering wheel

Next, host a “Trust Check-In” session with your team. Invite them to share anonymously: “What builds trust in our culture? What breaks it?” The insights may sting, but they will guide your growth.

Finally, model trust by extending it. Delegate a strategic task, empower a quiet voice, or apologise sincerely when you drop the ball. Trust grows fastest when you go first.

So, here’s your challenge: pick one relationship that matters in your sphere of leadership and do something small but intentional to build trust in it. It might be a hard conversation you have been avoiding. A thank-you you have been meaning to give. A correction delivered with dignity. A promise kept quietly.

You don’t need a title to build trust. You need integrity in motion. Because people aren’t following leaders who impress them. They are following leaders who trust them and can be trusted.

And trust, once earned, becomes your greatest legacy.

About the author:

Dr. Toye Sobande is a strategic leadership expert, lawyer, public speaker, and trainer. He is the CEO of Stephens Leadership Consultancy LLC, a strategy and management consulting firm offering creative insight and solutions to businesses and leaders. Email: contactme@toyesobande.com