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Aug 2026
The Leadership Lens - Edition 14
Sharpen your view, elevate your impact—one edition at a time.
Trust Is Built Before It Is Tested
In my previous edition, we explored how leadership influence extends far beyond formal authority. The ability to influence colleagues, peers and stakeholders doesn't begin when you need support for an important initiative or when you face a difficult conversation. It begins much earlier.
It begins with trust.
One experience from my manufacturing career reinforced this lesson in a way that has stayed with me ever since.
As part of a production excellence initiative, we introduced weekly alarm review meetings. The objective was straightforward: reduce nuisance alarms so console operators could focus on alarms that genuinely required their attention.
The methodology was robust. The technical guidance was clear. On paper, everything made sense.
Yet the initial response from the operators was one of quiet skepticism. To be fair, they had seen similar improvement initiatives before. Some had generated plenty of discussion but very little lasting change.
Their hesitation wasn't resistance. It was experience.
Instead of trying to persuade them with presentations or lengthy explanations, we focused on consistently delivering improvements. Week after week, the team reviewed alarm limits, removed unnecessary ones and improved alarm quality. Within a couple of months, the results spoke for themselves. Console operators who had previously dealt with thirty-five to forty alarms during an eight-hour shift were now responding to only three or four genuine alarms requiring action.
The improvement was visible. More importantly, it made a meaningful difference to the people doing the work.
Confidence grew. Operators who had initially attended the meetings with caution became active contributors. They began identifying additional improvement opportunities and taking ownership of the process.
The project itself had not fundamentally changed. People's trust in it had.
Looking back, I realized we had not built trust through persuasive communication.
We had built trust by consistently delivering value. Every meaningful improvement became a small trust deposit. Over time, those deposits accumulated into credibility, confidence and commitment.
That experience reinforced a lesson I continue to carry into my leadership and coaching work today
Trust is rarely built through what leaders say. It is built through what people repeatedly experience.
Leading Beyond Authority
- Influence, Stakeholder Management and Organizational Impact
Series 2/6: Building Trust Before You Need It
When leaders talk about influence, they often focus on communication skills, stakeholder management or executive presence.
While these are important, they all depend on a more fundamental leadership asset.
Trust.
Trust is the invisible force that determines whether people willingly follow your leadership or simply comply with your authority.
When trust is high, conversations become easier, disagreements become constructive, and change gathers momentum.
When trust is low, even the most logical proposal is questioned, every decision is scrutinized and every request feels like an uphill battle.
Many leadership challenges that appear to be communication problems are, in reality, trust problems.
We often discover this only when trust is needed most.
A restructuring announcement.
A difficult performance conversation.
A major transformation project.
An operational crisis.
By then, it is usually too late to start building trust.
Trust is not created during these moments. It is revealed.
When Communication Isn't the Problem
I was coaching a senior executive in the banking sector who had recently been promoted into a larger leadership role. Along with the promotion came a new reporting manager. Technically, he was well qualified for the role and deeply committed to making a positive impact. Yet every meeting with his new boss seemed to follow the same pattern.
He would walk into the room optimistic, prepared to discuss ideas and contribute thoughtfully.
More often than not, the conversation would end in disagreement.
What began as a discussion frequently escalated into a heated debate. Both left the room frustrated, and over time their relationship became increasingly strained.
When he brought this challenge into our coaching session, we explored the conversations, the disagreements and the emotions surrounding them. Then I asked him a question that brought the discussion to an unexpected pause.
"Do you trust your boss? And do you believe your boss trusts you?"
He sat quietly for a few moments before replying, almost hesitantly,
"I'm not sure."
That moment shifted the entire coaching conversation.
Until then, he had been trying to improve the quality of his communication. But perhaps communication wasn't the real issue. The relationship simply didn't have enough trust to support open dialogue.
Together, we explored practical ways to make trust deposits before trying to win difficult discussions. Instead of focusing on convincing his manager, he began investing in understanding his manager's priorities, delivering consistently on commitments, seeking alignment before presenting alternative views, and creating more opportunities for constructive conversations rather than only interacting when important decisions had to be made.
The relationship didn't transform overnight. Trust rarely does.
But over the following weeks, something began to change.
The conversations became less defensive.
Disagreements became more respectful.
His manager started inviting his views more frequently and giving him greater space to contribute.
Nothing dramatic had happened. No major communication technique had been introduced.
What had changed was the level of trust between them.
It reminded me once again that many leadership challenges that appear to be communication problems are, in reality, trust problems.
When trust is low, every conversation feels like a negotiation.
When trust is high, even difficult conversations become opportunities to strengthen the relationship.
The Trust Equation
One of the biggest misconceptions about trust is that it is a single quality. It isn't.
Over the years, through operational leadership and executive coaching, I've come to believe that trust is built on three interconnected elements.
Trust = Competence × Consistency × Intent
The multiplication sign matters.
Unlike addition, multiplication reminds us that weakness in one area cannot simply be compensated by strength in another.
A leader may possess exceptional technical expertise, but if people cannot rely on them consistently, trust erodes.
A leader may be dependable and well intentioned, but if they repeatedly make poor decisions, confidence disappears.
Similarly, a leader may be highly competent and remarkably consistent, but if others believe every decision serves personal interests rather than organizational success, trust eventually collapses.
If any one of these three factors becomes zero, trust becomes fragile. Let's explore why.
Competence - "Can you deliver?"
Competence is the foundation upon which credibility is built.
People naturally place their trust in leaders who demonstrate sound judgement, solve meaningful problems and create positive outcomes.
Competence doesn't mean having every answer.
In today's organizations, no leader has all the answers.
Rather, competence is demonstrated by asking thoughtful questions, making balanced decisions, learning quickly and enabling others to succeed.
When leaders consistently demonstrate capability, people begin to feel safe placing confidence in them.
Without competence, confidence gradually gives way to doubt.
A leader may be approachable, genuine and well liked.
But if their decisions repeatedly create confusion or poor outcomes, trust inevitably weakens.
People may appreciate the individual. They hesitate to follow the leader.
Consistency - "Can I rely on you tomorrow?"
If competence earns initial trust, consistency strengthens it.
Trust rarely develops through one outstanding act.
Instead, it grows quietly through repeated experiences.
Keeping commitments.
Following through.
Being fair.
Showing respect regardless of hierarchy.
Responding predictably under pressure.
One of the questions people constantly ask themselves, consciously or unconsciously, is:
"Can I rely on this person?"
Notice that reliability has very little to do with charisma. It has everything to do with predictability.
People don't expect leaders to be perfect. They do expect them to be dependable.
Consistency creates psychological safety because people begin to understand what to expect.
That predictability reduces uncertainty and encourages openness.
Intent - "Whose interests are you really serving?"
This is perhaps the most underestimated dimension of trust.
Every leadership decision is interpreted through the lens of intent.
People silently ask themselves:
"Why is this leader making this decision?"
"Whose interests are really being served?"
"Can I trust their motives?"
Intent is revealed less through words and more through behaviour.
Leaders who genuinely listen, seek win-win outcomes, acknowledge different perspectives and make decisions that balance organizational goals with people's needs gradually build confidence in their intentions. This is why trust grows much faster when people believe that a leader genuinely wants them to succeed. Intent transforms authority into influence.
When One Element Is Missing
One reason I think of trust as an equation is that it reveals an important leadership truth: strength in one area cannot compensate for weakness in another.
A leader may be brilliant but inconsistent—full of great ideas but unreliable in keeping commitments. People may admire them, but they stop depending on them.
A leader may be consistent but incompetent—dependable and supportive, yet unable to make sound decisions. People appreciate the effort but hesitate to follow their judgement.
Perhaps the greatest risk is being competent but self-serving. Results may be delivered, but if people believe decisions are driven by personal ambition rather than shared success, trust quietly disappears.
Only when competence, consistency, and intent reinforce one another does trust become resilient. And resilient trust is one of a leader's greatest competitive advantages.
Closing Reflections
Trust is not built through a single grand gesture.
It is accumulated through hundreds of small moments where our actions consistently reinforce our words.
Those small deposits become the trust capital we draw upon when difficult conversations arise, change becomes necessary or uncertainty demands leadership.
The best leaders understand that trust is not something to earn when they need influence.
It is something they invest in every day, long before they need to make a withdrawal.
"The next time you ask someone to trust your judgement, pause for a moment and ask yourself: What deposits have I made in this relationship before making this withdrawal?"
A COOL RESOURCE - Trust Capital Builder
Trust is rarely built during difficult conversations, organizational change, or moments of crisis. Those situations simply reveal the strength—or weakness—of the trust that already exists.
The Trust Capital Builder™ is a practical planning tool designed to help you invest intentionally in the relationships that matter most. It encourages you to identify your key stakeholders, assess the current level of trust, recognize opportunities to make meaningful "trust deposits," and strengthen relationships before they are tested.
Use this planner regularly—not just when challenges arise. Over time, you'll discover that trust isn't built through one grand gesture but through many small, consistent actions that demonstrate competence, consistency, and genuine intent.
Because the strongest leadership influence is built long before you need to use it.
In our Next Edition - Managing Stakeholders without losing yourselves.
Building trust is essential, but trust alone doesn't eliminate the complexity of leadership. As leaders grow in responsibility, they often find themselves balancing competing priorities, differing expectations, and sometimes conflicting agendas across teams and stakeholders.
In the next edition, we'll explore how to navigate these relationships with confidence and authenticity. You'll discover practical approaches to mapping stakeholders, managing upwards, sideways, and downwards, influencing without becoming political, and striking the right balance between authenticity and diplomacy.
Because effective leadership isn't about pleasing everyone. It's about building trusted relationships, making thoughtful decisions, and creating alignment without compromising your values.
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CONNECT WITH ME
As a Leadership & Career Coach, I help professionals like you go from stuck to strategic.
If the content of this Newsletter resonates, share what you are reflecting on by booking a complimentary "Discovery Call" to explore your path forward.
Until next time,
~ Amazing Coach Sri
Transforming Lives through Coaching
✉️ Email: contact@amazingcoachsri.com
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