At Elevate Leadership, we believe that trust is the bedrock upon which high-performing teams are built. Without it, you’ll miss out on healthy conflict, innovation, or the wonderful sense of many people acting as one unit to solve complex problems.
Instead, you get silence. You get meetings where everyone nods in agreement, only to disagree the moment the Zoom call ends. You get a group of smart individuals who are playing it safe rather than playing to win.
As HR leaders, you know that trust is essential. Whether you are supporting first-time managers or seasoned executives, "building trust" is easier said than done. It feels abstract. How do you measure it? And more importantly, how do you operationalize it?
This guide is designed to move beyond the "fluffy" side of trust and look at the science. We are going to explore the concept of Psychological Safety, coined by Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson, and break down exactly how to diagnose the level of trust on your team today.
Most importantly, we are going to give you a Manager’s Toolkit, 10 actionable, science-backed strategies to shift your team culture from protective silence to candid collaboration.
What is Trust? (And What It Isn’t)
In the context of high-performing teams, trust is best understood through the lens of psychological safety.
Amy Edmondson, Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School, first introduced this construct. She defines it as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”
That phrase, interpersonal risk-taking, is key. It means that in a group setting, people feel comfortable enough to:
- Ask questions when they are confused.
- Share new, half-baked ideas without fear of being shut down.
- Express their feelings or concerns.
- Disagree with one another in a healthy, constructive way.
- Admit mistakes and apologize.
If your team isn’t doing these things,they are withholding their best work because they don’t feel safe.
The Two Dimensions of Trust
To build this environment, it helps to understand that trust isn't a single feeling. According to research from McKinsey, trust operates on two distinct dimensions:
- Cognitive Trust (The Head): This is based on a rational assessment. Do I believe you are competent? Do I rely on your skills? Do you have integrity? This is about trusting that your colleagues can do the job.
- Affective Trust (The Heart): This stems from emotional bonds. Do I feel cared for? Do we have rapport? This is about trusting that your colleagues have your back.
High-performing teams need both. You might trust a colleague’s coding skills implicitly (Cognitive), but if you don't believe they care about your well-being (Affective), you will never be fully vulnerable with them. Conversely, you might treat a colleague like family (Affective), but if they never hit a deadline (Cognitive), the team dynamic falls apart.
Why Team Trust Matters
Leaders often view trust as an "optional" metric, something that improves morale but is separate from the business outcome. However, the research shows that trust is a hard economic driver. It is the primary variable that determines whether a team will meet its goals or miss them.
The most compelling evidence for this comes from Google’s Project Aristotle.
Google spent two years studying 180 of their own teams to answer a simple question: Why do some teams stumble while others soar?
Their initial hypothesis was that the best teams would be made up of the "best and brightest" individuals.
They were wrong.
The data revealed that who was on the team mattered much less than how the team worked together. After analyzing over 250 team attributes, they found that psychological safety was the number one predictor of team success.
When they compared sales teams, those with high psychological safety outperformed their peers by 19%. This happens because safe teams admit mistakes faster, partner more effectively, and leverage the diverse ideas of the whole group rather than just the loudest voice.
High trust doesn’t only improve output; it is the strongest lever you have for retention and engagement.
According to Gallup’s workplace analytics, the connection between trust and engagement is undeniable:
- When employees strongly trust their leaders, 1 in 2 are engaged at work.
- When trust is absent, only 1 in 12 are engaged.
Gallup reports a three-fold increase in engagement among employees who feel they can trust their organization’s leadership. If you are trying to solve an engagement problem, you have to solve the trust problem first.
How to Measure Team Trust (A Diagnostic Tool)
One of the biggest challenges with trust is that it feels invisible. You can’t track it on a dashboard like revenue or website traffic. However, just because it is intangible doesn’t mean it isn’t measurable.
To get a baseline reading of your team’s psychological safety, we recommend using the standard 7-question scale developed by Professor Amy Edmondson.
We suggest sending these out in a simple, anonymous survey (anonymity is really important here to get honest answers). Ask your team to rate how strongly they agree or disagree with the following statements on a scale of 1–5:
- If you make a mistake on this team, it is often held against you.
- Members of this team are able to bring up problems and tough issues.
- People on this team sometimes reject others for being different.
- It is safe to take a risk on this team.
- It is difficult to ask other members of this team for help.
- No one on this team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts.
- Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilized.
The Manager’s Toolkit: 10 Ways to Build Trust as a Team
So, you have the data, and you understand the theory. But how do you actually build trust on a Tuesday afternoon when everyone is stressed and deadlines are looming?
Trust can’t be built in workshops or offsite retreats. It is built in the small, everyday interactions between you and your team. This toolkit is designed to make the abstract concrete, giving you the skills to navigate everything from daily check-ins to difficult conversations.
Here are 10 actionable strategies to start building that psychological safety today.
1. Establish Clear Collaboration Norms
High-trust teams don’t assume everyone will naturally "click." They intentionally discuss how they will work together. We recommend creating a "Team Charter" or "User Manual." Sit down and explicitly discuss communication preferences (Slack vs. Email?), deep work hours, and response time expectations. When everyone knows the "rules of the road," it removes the anxiety of guessing whether you are annoying your colleagues.
2. Demonstrate Vulnerability
Trust flows from the leader. If you put on "perfect" armor, your team will do the same. As Amy Edmondson says, leaders must "invite participation" by admitting they don't have all the answers. Try using phrases like: "I missed that, thanks for catching it," or "I’m struggling with this decision and I really need your input." When you admit you are fallible, you give everyone else permission to be human, too.
{{blogcta2="/style-guide"}}
3. Be Inclusive in Meetings
Trust erodes when the same two loud voices dominate every conversation. Inclusion ensures that every person feels safe enough to contribute. We suggest actively managing the airtime. You might try "silent starts" (giving everyone 5 minutes to write down ideas before speaking) to level the playing field for introverts. If someone is interrupted, intervene gently: "Hold on, I want to hear the rest of what Mina was saying."
4. Frame Mistakes as Learning Opportunities
In a knowledge economy, we are rarely doing repetitive assembly line work. We are solving complex, novel problems. Therefore, a mistake is part of the process. When things go wrong, avoid the "Who is to blame?" trap. Instead, ask: "What did we learn from this?" and "How can we build a system so this doesn't happen again?" This shifts the team from self-protection mode to problem-solving mode.
5. Encourage Risk-Taking
Innovation requires risk. If your team only sees you rewarding "safe" wins, they will never stretch. Celebrate the attempt as much as the outcome. Throw out "half-baked" ideas yourself and ask the team to critique them. Reward people who try a new approach, even if it doesn't land perfectly. This proves that the team is a safe container for experimentation.
6. Communicate with Transparency
Information is the currency of trust. When managers withhold information, it breeds suspicion. Adopt a "share by default" mindset. Even when you don't have all the answers, share what you do know. Say, "Here is what I know, here is what I don't know, and here is when I expect to know more."
7. Share Credit and Recognition
Trust thrives when team members feel seen. Make it a practice to give specific, public positive feedback. Don't just say "Good job." Say, "I really appreciated how you stepped in to help the sales team yesterday. That behavior is what keeps us moving fast." Encourage peer-to-peer recognition in your weekly syncs. It eliminates the fear that someone else will steal your thunder.
8. Be Consistent and Follow Through
Every commitment kept (big or small) is a brick in the wall of trust. Reliability is the foundation of trust because it proves integrity in action. If you promise to review a document by Friday, do it. If you can't, communicate early that you will be late. This consistency is how you build a culture of accountability. In a chaotic work environment, being a predictable leader is a superpower.
9. Ask for Feedback
Most managers wait for performance reviews to give feedback, but rarely ask for it. Asking for feedback lowers the power gradient and shows humility. But stop asking, "Do you have any feedback for me?" It’s too broad and puts people on the spot. Instead, ask specific questions: "What’s one thing I could have done to support you better on that last project?" or "Am I giving you enough autonomy?"
10. Demonstrate Engagement and Presence
Nothing kills trust faster than a manager who is checking their email while a direct report is pouring their heart out. In meetings (especially remote teams), close your other tabs. Put your phone away. Make eye contact with the person or camera. Listen to understand, not just to respond. It signals, "You are the most important thing I am doing right now."
Trust is Built in the Small Moments
Building a high-trust team doesn't happen in a single workshop or through a trust-fall exercise. It happens in the hundreds of micro-interactions you have with your team every single week.
It happens when you admit you made a mistake. It happens when you ask a quiet team member for their opinion. It happens when you deliver bad news with transparency and kindness.
Creating psychological safety is a skill, not a personality trait. It takes practice, intention, and yes, a little bit of courage to go first. But the payoff is immense. When you build a culture where people feel safe to bring their full selves to work, you are creating an environment where people actually want to be.
