In today's workplace, trust is essential for building successful working relationships. Workers need to have confidence in their leaders to make decisions that prioritize job security and create a safe working environment. As organizations in Eastern Canada emerge from the pandemic, it's crucial for leaders to focus on rebuilding trust with their teams.

Why Is Trust Important? 

According to Stephen Covey in his book The Speed of Trust, "Without trust, we don’t truly collaborate; we coordinate—or at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team." Building trust among team members improves morale, decreases stress and conflict, increases productivity, and fosters creativity and innovation. In addition, organizations that have earned trust tend to have less employee turnover and attract top talent based on their reputation.

To build trust among their teams, leaders in Eastern Canada can take the following steps:

Practice Transparency: Leaders should maintain transparency and honesty with their team members, explaining the reasoning behind decisions. Employees need to know why they are asked to do certain tasks and how they contribute to the organization. Leaders can also invite questions and ideas from all team members and include them in the problem-solving process to ensure they feel like part of the solution.

Trust Your Team: Trust is a two-way street. Leaders should avoid micromanaging their employees and give them the autonomy to make decisions and complete tasks in their own way. This approach fosters innovation and collaboration among team members. 

Own your mistakes.

Take Responsibility for Mistakes: Trustworthy leaders can own up to their mistakes and show authenticity. By acknowledging their mistakes and modeling how to recover from them, leaders inspire their team to do the same. When employees perceive their managers as approachable and reasonable, it creates a psychologically safe environment that encourages creativity and innovation.



Trust is an essential factor in building successful working relationships.

If you or your team is facing challenges when it comes to building trust, consider Crestcom’s Leadership Development program covering 24 core leadership topics including Trust: The Leadership Differentiator with featured expert Sylvie Di Giusto.