Introduction: Why trust is so central to leadership
In today's working world, it's no longer enough to simply give instructions or set goals – leadership today means, above all, building trust . Helda Unplugged Episode 2, "Leadership That Builds Trust: A Guide to Successful Teamwork," explores how managers in small and medium-sized companies, startups, or organizational structures can create a work environment that promotes collaboration, motivation, and performance.
In this blog post, you'll find a summary of the episode's key messages, concrete ideas for your own leadership practice, and suggestions on how you can strengthen your team with trust.
🎥 Overview of the episode
This episode covers, among other things:
- The characteristics and principles of trust-based leadership
- What roles and behaviors managers must adopt
- How error culture, transparency and communication promote trust
- Practical examples from real teams
- Concrete tips and action impulses for your everyday leadership
If you want to watch the entire episode:
Leadership that Builds Trust: A Guide to Successful Teamwork
Essential elements of trust-based leadership
1. Authenticity & Congruence
Trust develops when leaders are credible and genuine . This means that words and actions must align. If you represent values (e.g., transparency, openness, respect), your decisions and behavior must reflect them.
2. Transparency & open communication
Withholding information creates mistrust. Good leadership means sharing relevant information (within reasonable limits), making decisions transparent, and communicating openly—including about uncertainties and mistakes.
3. Error tolerance / error culture
Teams should dare to address mistakes, learn from them, and grow together. When mistakes are covered up or punished, fear arises—and this inhibits 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 doesn't mean control—it means 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 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.
Concrete impulses & recommendations (from the episode + my additions)
|
Leadership topic |
Practical impulse |
|
Introduction / Orientation |
Start meetings with brief updates from your perspective—including any challenges. Provide insight into your thinking (if possible). |
|
Feedback & Communication |
Establish regular feedback sessions (e.g., 1:1 meetings). Use open-ended questions ("What's going well? What do we need?"). |
|
Error discussions |
When something goes wrong, discuss the error systematically: What caused it? What can we learn? How can we avoid it happening again? |
|
delegation |
Don’t just delegate tasks, but also freedom of decision with clear framework conditions. |
|
Leap of faith |
Give people on your team the 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 such as weekly check-ins, retrospectives, and team reflections. |
|
Ensuring sustainability |
Don't just pay lip service to trust; 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 paths and flat structures enable faster impact of leadership actions.
- Growing pains occur more frequently – communication must grow with them.
- Overtaxing the leadership personality is risky: trust can suffer if you juggle too many projects at the same time.
- A scalable culture rather than a rigid leadership model is more necessary – leadership concepts must grow with the organization.
Conclusion & Outlook
Leadership that builds trust isn't a "nice-to-have," but rather a key component for productive, resilient, and learning-minded teams. The Helda Unplugged episode provides a good framework for stimulating reflection and practicing leadership.
