Leadership that builds trust: A guide to successful teamwork
In today's working world, simply giving instructions or setting goals is no longer enough – leadership today primarily means building trust . In Helda Unplugged episode 2, "Leadership that Builds Trust: A Guide to Successful Teamwork," the program explores how managers in small and medium-sized enterprises, start-ups, or organizational structures can create a work environment that fosters collaboration, motivation, and performance.
In this blog article, you will summarize the key messages of the episode, receive concrete impulses for your own leadership practice, and find suggestions on how you can strengthen your team with trust.
🎥 Episode Overview
This episode will cover, among other things:
- The characteristics and principles of trust-based leadership
- What roles and behaviors must leaders adopt
- How a culture of learning from mistakes, transparency, and communication foster trust
- Practical examples from real teams
- Concrete tips and actionable suggestions for your everyday leadership life
If you want to watch the entire episode:
Leadership that builds trust: A guide to successful teamwork
Key elements of trust-based leadership
1. Authenticity & Congruence
Trust is built when leaders are credible and genuine . This means that words and actions must align. If you uphold values (e.g., transparency, openness, respect), your decisions and behavior must reflect them.
2. Transparency & open communication
Withholding information breeds mistrust. Good leadership means sharing relevant information (within reasonable limits), making decisions transparent, and communicating openly – including about uncertainties and mistakes.
3. Tolerance for mistakes / culture of learning from mistakes
Teams should dare to address mistakes, learn from them, and grow together. When mistakes are covered up or punished, fear arises – and this stifles innovation and initiative.
4. Empathy & Appreciation
Trust requires interpersonal relationships. When leaders listen attentively, treat people with respect, and address individual needs, the bond between team members and leadership is strengthened.
5. Responsibility & Delegation
Trust isn't about control – it's about giving space. When you delegate responsibility and enable genuine participation, you show the people on your team: I believe you can do it. At the same time, you strengthen their commitment and personal responsibility.
6. Consistency & Reliability
Spontaneous moods, erratic changes of direction, or inconsistent behavior diminish trust. A structured style, reliable commitments, and predictability help create secure expectations.
Specific impulses & recommendations (from the episode + my additions)
|
Leadership topic |
Practical impulse |
|
Introduction / Orientation |
Start meetings with brief updates from your perspective – including on challenges. Share your thought processes (where possible). |
|
Feedback & Communication |
Establish regular feedback sessions (e.g., one-on-one conversations). Use open-ended questions ("What's going well? What do we need?"). |
|
Mistake discussions |
If something goes wrong, discuss the mistake systematically: What was the cause? What can we learn? How can we avoid it happening again? |
|
delegation |
Don't just delegate tasks, but also grant them decision-making freedom within a clear framework. |
|
Advance of trust |
Give people on the team a chance to prove themselves – even if you can't guarantee it at first. |
|
Transparency in decisions |
Explain the "why" behind decisions, not just the "what". |
|
Team culture & ritual |
Introduce rituals, e.g., weekly "check-ins", retrospectives, team reflections. |
|
Ensuring sustainability |
Don't just pay lip service to trust, but integrate it into processes, HR practices, onboarding and evaluation. |
Specific focus: Small teams, growing companies & start-ups
In small teams and growing organizations, trust-based leadership plays a special role:
- Short communication channels and flat hierarchies enable faster impact from leadership actions.
- Growing pains are becoming more common – communication needs to grow along with them.
- Overburdening the leader is risky: trust can suffer if you juggle too many projects at once.
- A scalable culture is needed instead of a rigid leadership model – leadership concepts must grow with the organization.
Conclusion & Outlook
Leadership that builds trust is not a "nice-to-have," but essential for productive, resilient, and learning-oriented teams. This Helda Unplugged episode provides a good framework for initiating reflection and putting leadership into practice.
Would you like to talk to us? Then feel free to arrange your free and non-binding initial consultation - we look forward to meeting you.