The Math of Trust - and How Leaders Can Get It Right

Written By Scott Levy

While 55% of CEOs recognize that lack of trust threatens their organization's growth (PwC Global CEO Survey), most haven't taken concrete steps to build it, mainly because they aren't sure where to start.

Most of what is available on trust skips over the interactions where trust is really built: day to day work. This six-part guide on trust is here to fill that gap.

We introduce the idea that trust is a simple equation, and you can take simple steps to build it. The intent is to cut through fluffy ideas and provide concrete, actionable steps. To do that, we want to make sure you understand the whats and whys along the way. You can drill in to any section but you’ll get the most out of this guide if you go through in order.

IMPORTANT: You can scan all of the article headings to get the logic and main ideas in about 7 minutes (all 5 articles). If you want more detail or justification, you can read the full paragraphs. It’s a 20 minute read if you want the details.

The Math of Trust: A Leaders Guide

Featured
Leading Success: How the Math of Trust Is Already Transforming Your Teams

Trust is fundamental to any team working to get things done. This statement is true for any size team, from startup to enterprise. Trust is the factor that either accelerates or blows up a team's ability to deliver results. Leaders must become intentional in their treatment of trust.

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The Trust Equation: Why It Hits Your Bottom Line

As a leader, trust is one of the simplest levers at your disposal when you want to elevate your teams and their results. I’ll introduce a simple, powerful equation: Trust = Time + Consistency. The research is clear on what happens when teams have trust, and what happens when they don't. Both circumstances impact your bottom line. Get clear on how this works. Ignore it at your peril.

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10 Ways Leaders Erode Trust Without Realizing It

We've made the case for leaders taking ownership of trust in their teams and organizations. We've laid out trust as an equation of time + consistency. Here are 10 ways leaders erode trust without realizing it. Use these as anti-patterns.

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How Vendors and Tools Get Trust Wrong

Many tools exist in the "productivity" and "teamwork" space. Many vendors of these tools break the trust equation by building on outdated management concepts that no longer serve people in modern businesses. This section breaks down how those trust breaks happen so you can be aware and recognize better alternatives.

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How Leaders Can Get Trust Right (Simplified)

There are many approaches to trust building. Most of these focus on doing things away from work, or they use complicated and abstract techniques. This section of our Guide to Trust for Leaders provides concrete, simple-to-implement methods to build trust across your teams, including actionable techniques you can apply today.

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The Trust Equation: Your Next Steps

Take action now to build trust in your team - and put trust builders on autopilot. The easiest way to think about trust is to start with the trust equation. Then, keep score on whether you add or lose points. We'll look at some tools that help.

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Acknowledgments

You can skip this to "get right to it."  Read this section to understand my intent with copyrights and trademarks, and my desire to make this series into something meaningful and valuable to you.  I introduce and assert ownership of the Math of Trust(TM) and the Trust Equation(TM).  A discussion of trust by Steve Sarkisian inspired the equation of trust itself. With so many companies slapping trademarks on simple ideas they didn't invent and the power of some AI to support this practice, I assert trademark and copyright ownership over some of the terms to protect the ideas.

Please use any ideas that help. We appreciate you directing people back here in citations and giving credit.  Don't be grabby. 

Likewise, I intend to appreciate people with credit when appropriate.  I want to acknowledge those contributing to this body of knowledge.  So, if you see something you believe came from somewhere else, let us know. If our diligence supports it, we'll happily acknowledge it if appropriate.

Scott Levy
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