Why do some teams perform well while others slog along or fail? Research keeps pointing to the same answer: trust at work.

Key Takeaways

  • Trust at work is the single biggest driver of team performance.
  • Cultures of fear erode motivation, creativity, and collaboration.
  • Expectations are contagious—belief builds confidence, doubt breeds hesitation.
  • Research shows high-trust organizations are more productive, engaged, and resilient.
  • Day-to-day trust is built through small actions: listening, context, promises kept.

Cultures of trust don’t just correlate with results; they cause higher performance. When people trust their leaders and each other, information flows, collaboration rises, and execution speeds up. When fear and control take over, effort shifts to politics and self-protection—and performance drops.

Build Trust to Increase Team Performance

Over half a century of research confirms that trust is the defining characteristic of high performing teams. When you build relationships of trust at work within your team, motivation soars and productivity rises.

For many managers, this is counterintuitive. Many think that telling people what to do is what a boss does. Many even believe that a little fear is a good thing. However, an authoritarian approach to leadership actually destroys trust and erodes performance. Command-and-control leadership erodes trust, which lowers effort, creativity, and follow-through.

Trust is the basic building block of human experience and belonging. It encourages people to put the needs of the team over the needs of the individual. Without trust at work, people naturally compete, moving into defensive or offensive modes even within their own team, creating all kinds of distractions. When employees trust their leaders to support learning, define clear goals, and recognize effort and success, performance soars. Only in a culture of trust do employees willingly participate in the flow of information, innovation, and change, all of which are crucial to team success.

The Expectations Effect

Expectations are contagious. When leaders convey “I believe you can do this,” people take smart risks and persist—what psychologists call an expectations effect. Doubt creates the opposite loop: hesitation, self-protection, and stalled progress.

Psychologists have long observed that if you tell your children you believe in them, they will build confidence and resilience. Similarly, psychologists have also found that if you doubt your children, they will doubt themselves. As a result, that doubt will distract them from active efforts to achieve. Sometimes, they will quit trying, feeling when they fail that they have performed to expectations already.

Trust Causes High Performance: A Research Roundup

Numerous studies have found that this same dynamic operates in the boss-employee relationship. Ryan and Oestreich found that fear and authority return only minimal compliance from employees. Gallup has found that traditional command-and-control performance management doesn’t work.

Furthermore, Gallup’s years of research have shown that employee engagement, not satisfaction, is what improves organizational outcomes. According to Harvard neuroscientist Paul Zak, the difference between high and low engagement teams is trust. Zak’s research found that high-trust organizations show higher productivity, collaboration, retention, and lower stress.

Furthermore, Amy Edmondson‘s extensive research shows that psychological safety predicts learning and performance, whereas fear reduces results.

What Trust Looks Like Day-to-Day

In practice, trust at work looks like leaders sharing context, keeping small promises, explaining decisions, inviting dissent without penalty, and recognizing progress. Every time you explain the “why” behind a decision, change, or process, you build trust. Every time you listen to your team and validate their ideas and feelings, even when you disagree, you build trust. Those everyday signals tell people it’s safe to speak up, take ownership, and move faster.

Trust at work is an outgrowth of emotional intelligence—especially two foundational skills: self-regard and self-awareness. Together, they provide the base for building relationships of trust.

Trust is the foundation of great leadership. With it in place, the other skills for effective leadership—confidence, respect, alignment, and decision making—are much easier to develop.

Keep Learning

Learn more ways to build real trust and psychological safety at work.

Want to build this muscle live? Join my free workshop, One-on-Ones that Motivate.

Do you have the skills to build trust? Take my Leadership Skills Audit to find out.

FAQs: Trust at Work and Team Performance

Why does trust at work matter so much?

A: Trust is the foundation of collaboration and human connection. When people feel safe and supported, information flows faster, creativity increases, and execution improves.

Can fear-based leadership still get results?

A: At best, fear creates short-term compliance. Over time, it lowers motivation, engagement, and retention, while eroding overall performance.

How can leaders build trust every day?

A: Share the “why” behind decisions, keep small promises, invite honest input without penalty, and recognize progress consistently.

What does research say about trust at work?

A: Studies by Gallup, Harvard, and others show that high-trust organizations have higher productivity, stronger retention, and less stress.

How is trust connected to other leadership skills?

A: Trust amplifies confidence, alignment, empathy, and decision making. Without it, those skills can’t stick.

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