Building Trust in the Workplace: Scientific Insights and Practical Strategies

Reading Time: 18 minutes

When trust is low in organizations and teams it has severe impact on employee well-being factors such as stress, energy at work, sick days, and engagement as well as company results and overall productivity. Trust is difficult to define and measure but luckily there has been quite some scientific research on this topic so that we do not have to just fall back on anecdotal evidence when talking about this topic. In this article I will cover the benefits of trust on teams and performance as well as actionable tips on how to build trust effectively.

This article is quite long so I split it into the following sections:

• Prelude / Storytime
• Definition of trust and what determines trustworthiness
• Science of trust and impact on teams
• A blueprint for building trust

Prelude / Storytime

Towards the end of a year, I usually look back and do a review with my leadership team. In one of the more recent reviews we identified a few transformative programs that did not perform as well as I would have liked to.

In the beginning of the year we identified 5 key areas that we as a team and organization should tackle and improve. Examples are driving automation to the next level, introducing a new working model, and while doing so ensuring we have a good upskilling program in place to bring everyone along.

While some of the programs performed quite well the 3 I mentioned here struggled. When discussing this with my team we identified several factors. For me the most concerning one that was raised was a lack of trust between program owners, participants and teams as well as individual leaders.

Looking back it was not completely surprising. The unit experienced a high amount of changes in organizational setup and leadership early in the year. During that year I spent a considerable amount of time providing a clear direction, building trust and transparency in the wider unit – but I totally missed looking into the challenges between the new leaders and teams. I also realised that for me many of the topics have been crystal clear but somehow no one was able to read my mind… where are the mind readers when you need them…

Anyhow, the way I see it failure happens and I it is a good way of learning and staying humble – so I thought to myself – “Good – time to refresh my knowledge around trust and building it in organizations”… so here we are…

Leadership is about people and therefore topics are often not always clear cut – however, I try to incorporate as much scientific and psychological background into my learnings as possible – luckily in the context of trust there has been quite some research… you will find sources and interesting articles at the end of my ramblings that include personal examples 😉

To make the most out of this article, let’s have a look at the definition of trust that is commonly used and as well as what determines trustworthiness so that we all have the same baseline for the following sections in the article.

Definition of trust and what determines trustworthiness

Definition of Trust: Trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, and or ability of someone or something.

In order to generate trust you need to be perceived as trustworthy. Thanks captain obvious… so what makes someone trustworthy?

From what I read and also experienced, trustworthiness is determined by your credibility which basically consists of the components character, skills and track record.

• With character I mean the values and motives that drive your interaction with your environment. Some also call this your nature instead of character. 
  
  For example: one of your core values is being compassionate – therefore you try to be a good listener and be empathic towards your interaction partner.
• Skills are either soft or hard skills that determine what you can or cannot do. 
  
  For example: being proficient in a programming language allows you to build complex software,
  being an expert at construction allows you to build houses etc, being an expert in fitness allows you to help others improve their level of fitness and health.
• Track record refers to proof that you have been able to use your skill and get results.
  In general, this is an indicator of your reliability. If you don’t produce results you cannot expect people to trust you. 
  
  For example: You completed several complex software projects in time and with good quality. You were asked to construct a house and delivered it in time and to full satisfaction to your customer. It could be also smaller things such as being regularly on time at the place where you are supposed to be.

Now that we have the same definition and understanding on what defines trust and determines trustworthiness, there is one last thing I would like you to keep in mind, namely breaches of trust and its implications. ****

Did you ever hear the saying: Trust is built in drops and lost in buckets?

Building up trust is usually a slow process. Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes trust is breached. This can lead to a loss of a lot of trust capital – however, not every breach is equal.

In general, people tend to forgive breaches of trust involving competence and skill more readily than breaches of trust involving character!

The reason is simple: People can change their competence with practice or by learning new skills. Their character or nature is more difficult to change. A violation in relationship to character is more likely repeated.

Here an example: You selected a fitness trainer because of her empathy. One day she chooses an exercise that aggravates an old injury of yours. The trainer feels bad about it and you forgive the breach because she has been a great trainer so far and know she cares about you. You know she will in the future avoid this exercise in your plan.

On the other hand, say one day you tell her a particular movement hurts, and she rolls her eyes and calls you a wimp. Her lack of empathy at that moment makes you question her empathy and her nature, and you might feel uncomfortable working with her again.

(I picked the example from the book The Speed of Trust as I think it is very concise for such a “soft topic”)

The key take away is: Avoid incongruencies in your behavior as this will cost you a lot of trust capital and can impede all the efforts you are putting forward to build trust.

That being said let’s jump into the science behind trust and team performance.

The science of trust and its impact on team performance

Before we go in the benefits of trust, keep in mind that team dynamics are extremely complex. Although trust has been identified as a critical component in enhancing team performance it must be balanced with other factors (such as giving teams a clear direction, organisational structures and processes, culture, skill set and capabilities, etc.) as well to achieve optimal performance .

There are quite many research papers and studies around trust, the below summary contains what I deem most relevant for leaders in this context.

1. Trust and Team Performance: Studies have shown that high levels of trust within a team lead to better collaboration, communication, and overall team performance. Trust facilitates the open sharing of information and ideas, which is crucial for effective teamwork.
   
   I have observed this personally in a past project that required 2 teams to collaborate to deliver a feature that was promised to a customer. The project was already behind schedule and overall progress was slow – the mood in the project was pretty catastrophic and the teams started to blame each other.
   
   When I realized what was happening I started to implement regular open forums, cross-functional pairing, and transparent decision-making (I tried to always be very clear about why we now take which decision – this helped to avoid the perception that any team or expert is favored).
   
   The biggest impact had an initial session where we brought the teams together and openly discussed the pain points and issues – I moderated it actively as the emotions were quite high already – in the end, we were able to see that everyone wanted a good outcome – which was the common ground. The increased transparency and measures then helped to get the project back on track and we were able to deliver the feature in time.
   
2. Trust and Leadership: Research indicates that trust in leadership is critical for organizational success. Leaders who their employees trust are more likely to inspire commitment and discretionary effort, leading to higher performance levels.
   
   I think the most extreme examples for this come properly from the military – I cannot remember in which book (could be Hal Moore’s book on leadership) I read it but the story goes something like this:
   
   In Vietnam, there was a platoon positioned with a leader who was not at all trusted (he did not lead from the front and in general, did not seem to care about the troopers). He regularly ordered foot patrols and reconnaissance missions. The troopers did the absolute bare minimum and often beautified reports etc.
   Those missions were usually dangerous and they were not willing to take a lot of risks. Unfortunately, this allowed the enemy to be on the forefoot and led to many raids and casualties.
   Later another leader took over the platoon and turned the mood around. The troops started trusting this leader (he cared about them, and led from the front).
   They now performed the given orders to a high standard and the raids could be minimized and casualties went down (a lot of other factors such as mood improved as well…).
   
   The military is always the most extreme example as it involves potential live and death situations – which also makes it extremely interesting when it comes to leadership lessons (at least for me :D)
   
3. Trust and Employee Engagement: There is a strong correlation between employee trust in their organization and their level of engagement and motivation.
   Engaged employees tend to be more productive and contribute positively to organizational goals
   .
4. Trust and Organizational Change: Studies have explored how trust impacts the management of change within organizations. Higher trust levels make employees more receptive to change, reducing resistance and increasing the likelihood of successful implementation.
   
   I experienced this myself – if the teams and people affected by such changes do not trust that those changes are positive for them or that the leaders don’t know what they are doing then such changes tend to go not well.
   I have seen so many re-organizations that in the end achieved nothing that it is almost ridiculous… (but I guess anyone working in corporate will make this experience.. it is our job as leaders to make this better!)
   
5. Trust and Conflict Resolution: Trust plays a significant role in how conflict is managed in the workplace.
   In environments with high trust, conflicts are more likely to be resolved constructively, contributing to organizational efficiency.
   
   Would you bring up or discuss issues, failures, or conflicts if you do not believe that this is discussed constructively and that you are treated fairly? I know I wouldn’t…
   
6. Trust and Innovation: Research has linked trust with innovation in the workplace.
   When employees trust their colleagues and leaders, they are more likely to take risks and be creative, which is essential for innovation.
   
   This one is also quite intuitive for me – to be creative and innovative you need to feel safe as the risk of failure is high. In low-trust environments, this safety is simply non-existent.
   
7. Trust and Communication: Effective communication is often tied to the level of trust within an organization.
   Trust fosters open and honest communication, which is crucial for operational efficiency.
   
8. Trust and Employee Turnover: Studies have found that low-trust environments have higher rates of employee turnover, which can be costly and disruptive.
   Conversely, high-trust environments tend to retain talent better.
   
   Why should employees feel loyal to a team or company if they feel the leader and or company is not loyal to them?
   Interestingly there have been some studies on the experience of employees in companies.
   For most, the experience and decision whether to leave is directly coupled to the team they work.
   
   This is actually good news as you as an individual can influence their experience and work on a high trust environment.
   
9. Trust and Decision Making: Trust affects how decisions are made and accepted within organizations.
   In a trusting environment, decisions are often made more quickly and are more readily accepted by the workforce and also between leaders.

Given all the benefits of a high trust environment, it should be clear that it is an area worthy of investment. The answer to the investment doggy is a clear – yeeesh!

Now let’s get our hands dirty and look into how you build trust in the different domains.

A practical guide on how to build trust in interpersonal relationships, teams and organizations

Before we go into the steps it is important that you keep in mind that building trust takes time, and it’s about small, consistent actions rather than grand gestures. By implementing these steps, you can establish a foundation of trust in your relationships and interactions.

When talking about building trust we need to keep in mind that there are domains or spheres or whatever you want to call it. I would call them building blocks as each one builds to a certain extend on another. I am talking about:

1. Trust in yourself
2. Interpersonal trust
3. Team trust
4. Reputation or trust in an organization

The benefits of trust begin within you and radiate outwards. The steps to building trust vary slightly depending on the sphere we are looking at. You need to be able to define the sphere that you need to work on and modify the steps accordingly.

To make this easy to digest I split the section into the general actions you should take that apply in most cases for building trust on a personal and team level. In the sections that cover the specific spheres I simply added the points that are relevant there.

General key levers and actions that build trust

Despite the danger of sounding like a parrot I am going to repeat it: It takes time to build trust and the only way you will achieve it is by being consistent with your behavior and values.

I believe the following points are actionable key levers to build trust successfully:

• Be as transparent as possible. 
  I found this to be one of the most effective ways to start building trust as a new leader taking over a team or when working with individuals.
  This is a great starting point as it is easy to do in the beginning. Transparency projects openness, and honesty which makes you seem more approachable.
  For leaders, transparency is a great way to earn respect, start building trust, and create an open and team-oriented culture in an organization. Another effect of being transparent is providing a sense of security. The more details you share, the more you reduce unknowns and this makes it easier to trust you.
  When you make decisions it is also advisable to be transparent about the reasoning behind it (this is not always possible, but try to follow the rule whenever the circumstances allow it).
  
  This is something that has worked extremely well for me in the past and I can only recommend it.
  I always try to be as transparent as possible and share where we are in our journey, why certain decisions are taken, what our challenges are etc.
  People are no idiots and being transparent acknowledges that. Of course, keep in mind that you need to deliver this positively. For example, if you share an issue also share how you plan to address it (if you have no clue how – then you come up with a plan to bring smart people together and do it…).
  
  When I started in my last role, I sent out an introduction email where I was very transparent and I followed up with a Q&A that was quite well received. As I came in as a new leader I also added some information about my values at the end of the email:

PS: In case this email is not already long enough for you, you can learn a bit more about me and my values below 😉

Having a new leader can be disconcerting. Therefore, I wanted to provide my thoughts on a few of my core values.

This might give you a glimpse into my quirky head and help you understand my expectations and mentality.

• Extreme ownership: The idea behind this comes from a book with the same name.
  I find this concept “extremely” powerful as it gives us control over many aspects of our life.
  The way I think about this is by first looking at myself when something goes wrong.
  In life as well as in work, things often do not go according to plan and conflicts arise. In those situations, it is natural to find fault externally and blame it on circumstances or people.
  I believe that in many situations, we can always do better. In these cases I try to look at what I could have done to improve and take action accordingly. 
• Transparency & Intent: I strongly believe that when everyone is clear on what we want to achieve, we all work in one direction.
  This is crucial to ensure we make good decisions at all levels. It is also critical to be transparent about why certain decisions are made, what boundaries we have, and the trade-offs.
  If transparency is provided, even controversial decisions can be successful. I will always try to be as transparent as possible.
• Open and clear communication: I strongly believe that communication is the fundamental power that allows us to get along and progress as a species. 
  I also believe that conflicts arise due to a lack of open communication. Therefore, you can expect that I will always aim to be clear, precise, and open in bringing up challenges.
• No blame/Solution oriented: We are a technology company and GCS is in the engine room. There will be outages and problems.
  No one expects perfection; however, we need to continuously improve and focus on solutions. I will not attribute blame.
  It is my role to hold back pressure from you and I will do my best to do this. That said, I expect you to propose productive solutions that tackle our challenges. This is the way we will win together.
• Integrity: Trust is crucial as we collaborate and engage with each other. This is true on a personal level but also on a business / LoB level. 
  For me, integrity means standing by my word, being competent, and delivering on my promises.
• Inclusive: Everyone has strong and weak points and when we bring together a diverse set of people, expertise, and viewpoints; we strengthen our team and achieve better results. 
  Yes, this makes collaboration more complex in some cases, but it also makes it more exciting and fun.
• Be easy to work with / build bridges: Being easy to work with has worked extremely well for me in the past and I aim to continue this practice. 
  When I am approached, I always try to be open and supportive. Even if I cannot help, I at least try to point my colleagues in the right direction.

• Be authentic. 
  People should come away from conversations with you with the right impression of your intentions and motivations.
  Don’t try to project someone that you are not – keep your natural voice and say things that you mean.
  People are good at spotting inauthentic communication, for example, spinning or telling only parts of the truth.
  Our evolutionary drive for self-preservation makes us attuned to inconsistencies between what people say and what they do. When people don’t mean what they say or don’t do what they say they will, we learn to trust what they say less. 
  Over time, even seemingly inconsequential fibs, inconsistencies, or omissions can diminish trust.
  
  Be willing to address taboo or unpleasant topics with open and authentic communication. Since emotionally charged or uncomfortable situations can negatively impact interpersonal interactions and productivity, addressing them within your team, organization or family can result in major trust dividends.
  
  Part of maintaining an authentic communication style involves leaving space for emotion in emotional conversations. Conversations about difficult or emotional issues are likely to make participants emotional, but stifling or ignoring these emotions for the sake of objectivity makes these conversations less authentic and potentially less productive. This is in general a common misconception.
  
  For me, it means that I will allow my passion for the topics I work on to show through – of course, you should always stay professional – but we are not robots (even if I would love to be one – terminator anyone? :D)
  
• Treat people well. 
  Everyone wants to be treated well (duh…). To build trust people need to believe that you will treat them good and fair.
  Two key components here are consideration and humility. People will question your motives and character if you only show consideration when you feel you have something to gain.
  Humility will allow you to listen and also accept your failures which in turn makes you more relatable and trustworthy.
  I see it quite often that leaders and politicians do not own up to their own mistakes – if you cannot own a mistake how can you expect others to do it?
  Let’s get concrete – these are the tings you can implement:
  • Be an active listener. 
    Being an active listener requires effort and can be harder than it sounds.
    Often, when people are talking to you, you end up focusing more on your thoughts than on what they’re saying.
    For example, if someone makes a statement you don’t agree with, you may stop focusing on what they’re saying and start thinking about your rebuttal.
    
    One way to improve your listening skills is to create a mental image of what the other person is saying.
    This exercise keeps your mind on them rather than on your thoughts and helps you process their argument.
    Another way to improve listening skills is to summarize and repeat the information in your own words once your counterpart finishes (Example: So if I understood you correctly you are saying that XYZ, did I miss something?).
    
  • Giving credit where credit is due 
    & celebrating other people’s attributes and achievements publicly or a simple thank you can go a long way in building trust.
    Never take credit for someone else’s work.
    Especially as a leader, you should be clear that if you win it is because of the team and the credit should go there.
    If you loose then you should stand in front of the team and take the “blame”.
    
  • Be Empathetic.
    Put yourself in others’ shoes and try to understand their feelings and perspectives.
    This helps in creating a supportive environment.
    It also helps to prevent or solve potential conflicts as often each side has valid reasons that should be considered and once people feel heard you can start working out a solution.
    
  • Resolve Conflicts Fairly.
    Address conflicts promptly and try to resolve them in a fair and just manner. Avoid taking sides or playing favorites.
    
  • Own your mistakes!!!! 
    The way you handle failure communicates humility and impacts people’s trust in you.
    People are more likely to trust someone who is open about their mistakes.
    Making a mistake and making excuses or trying to blame someone else for it depletes trust twice:
    first people will doubt your proficiency and secondly, they will question your character.
    
    Likewise, for people to be at their most innovative and productive, they need to feel comfortable enough to take risks and make their own mistakes (key word psychological safety anyone?? – here a link to an article that I wrote about fear in teams and impact on performance).
    
    If you make a mistake apologize and own it correctly by showing regret/remorse, offering an explanation, taking responsibility, sharing a plan to fix the issue, and asking for forgiveness. People will know if you are insincere about it.
    
  • Show Vulnerability.
    Admit when you don’t know something and ask for information.
    This shows that you’re human and helps others feel comfortable doing the same.
    (This doesn’t mean you are allowed to be incompetent – however, it is better to ask and learn instead of pretending to know everything!)
    
  • Respect Privacy and Boundaries.
    Understand and respect the personal and professional boundaries of others.
    Avoid gossip and respect confidentiality – especially as a leader you will get a lot of information that should not be shared and you need to treat this with the proper respect.
    
• Be Competent 
  The more you deliver results, the more freedom and flexibility you have in your relationships because people will trust you to get the job done with little oversight. In contrast, you pay a trust tax when you make commitments you can’t keep.
  
  Aside from being competent and delivering it is also important that you project proficiency and confidence. The reason behind this is that sometimes, demonstrating proficiency with your results might not be enough to earn people’s trust. Research suggests that projecting confidence can make people more likely to trust you even if you don’t deliver results. Our collective tendency towards confirmation bias may explain this, as we tend to look for and focus on the results we expect and use these results to reaffirm our beliefs.
  
  That being said I still believe you should mainly work on being competent and getting shit done 😉 Continuously improve your skills and knowledge. Competence in your work assures others that they can rely on you.
• Be explicit & clear. 
  Being explicit and clear around expectations is important for trusting relationships, as often many issues result from unclear communication. In this context, trust taxes often result from different ideas about what an outcome should look like. 
  
  Results might look like a success to one person and a failure to someone else if they are not on the same page before a project starts. 
  Clarifying expectations upfront builds trust and saves time and conflict down the road. This is also one reason why the mentioned transformation programs did not all work out well.
  I failed to set the expectations clearly (they were clear for me but not every participating party).
  
  To give you an example:
  I expected the upskilling program lead to work with the automation and working model program leads to build up training material specifically for the changes we would introduce with them.
  Unfortunately in the beginning I only set the expectations to start with building an overview of our two main platforms.
  I meant that to be the starting point but simply failed to articulate clearly the mid-term expectation.
  
  Well you live and learn…
  
  When you are establishing new relationships, clarity is particularly important as the other party has no context of your trustworthiness yet.
  When you’re clear about your goals from the start, people can trust your intentions (whether or not they agree with them) and can better understand your thought process and decision-making.
  
  Another way to build trust is an explicit system of accountability.
  While conversations about accountability can be uncomfortable, clear and mutually agreeable contracts/goals ultimately make people feel more comfortable and build trust because everyone knows what to expect.
  
• Be trusting. 
  Interestingly one of the best ways to get trust is to give it.
  People have a natural inclination to trust and an innate desire to be trusted. 
  When people are trusted, they almost always rise to the occasion. To implement this you need to ensure that the people you choose to trust know you trust them.
  Otherwise, they won’t extend trust back to you.
  
  For example, as an employer, you may trust your employees, but if you don’t communicate that trust to them through your words and actions, they may not even know that you trust them because they may not trust you back.
  
  Managers can demonstrate their trust in their employees by giving them control over their work process, sharing information freely, and showing their investment in employees by supporting their professional development.
  
  Choosing to extend trust does not mean you should abandon your reasoning and judgment.
  Default to trust over suspicion while maintaining a high vigilance for potential risks. (Many risks can be mitigated by being explicit on expected outcomes etc.)
  
  I have to say for me this is the one that I struggle the most with – not that I do not trust my leaders or employees – I simply struggle with extending trust for the big rocks that need to be addressed. This is going to be one of the areas that I will work on next.

Now that we got the key levers covered let’s talk about the different building blocks so that you can identify them and keep them in mind when working on this topic. One last thing I would like to mention before jumping into the spheres in more detail that as always you should lead by example. Model the behavior you wish to see in others. If you want honesty, be honest. If you seek reliability, be reliable yourself.

1. Trust in yourself

As often in leadership or any form of improvement the first step starts with you.

What I want to say here is that if you want other people to trust you, you first need to trust yourself.

Essentially, self-trust comes from behaving in a way that reflects your values. Any dissonance between the person you want to be and your behavior can erode your self-trust.

Such a dissonance will be felt by others and will make it difficult to build a strong rapport and trust level. Should you struggle with this I would recommend to look into what is called the self-concept.

Diving deep into this topic would go beyond the scope of this article as there are some core concepts of psychology that would have to be covered. In general, should you struggle here, I would recommend to start with some reflection on what your core values are and who you want to be – then you need to take action and build up your confidence by acting according to those values. Similar to training, each repetition that is congruent will help building your trust in yourself up. Remember to focus on the cores of trustworthiness: character (values and adherence to them), skills and track record.

2. Interpersonal trust

When talking about interpersonal trust, I am talking about trust between you and individuals such as your leaders, team members and colleagues. This trust is a fundamental building block and is the first area you need to focus on to build strong trust in teams. The key here is to consistently demonstrate your values. People notice and this consistency builds trust because people know what to expect from you.

3. Team trust

Trust between you and your leaders, team members and colleagues is a fundamental building block of high performing team as studies have show that groups of people — such as teams, businesses, families, school classes, and so on — function best when trust is high between members.

Aside from the key levers covered above you should put some active effort into thinking about the structures and symbols you have in place and whether they build trust or not.

Every ritual your organization has, impacts trust. For example, if your company caters a fancy lunch for management every Friday but does nothing for everyone else, that may be seen as a symbol of disconnection that erodes trust.

Having a clear collective mission for your team/organization can make people more engaged in their work. As stated with being explicit a clear mission that also contains core values that the team is aspiring to helps align everyone and will help building trust.

Bring in people you trust, and trust them. People respond to trust and rise to the occasion. When people feel trusted within a group, they think outside the box, take healthy risks, and celebrate diversity rather than being suspicious of each other.

ATTENTION: There’s a difference between being a trusting manager and a manager who is so hands-off that he or she isn’t there when employees need support. Entrusting people with a job and then “abandoning” the project by not following up on progress, not knowing or asking for details, and not asking employees if they need support can lead to loss of trust if people feel unsupported and underappreciated. While every manager will have their own style, consider striking a balance between giving people autonomy and making sure they feel supported and seen.)

Be as transparent as possible. As with individuals, transparency within an organization’s structures, norms, and operations builds trust and increases efficiency.

4. Reputation or trust in an organization

This sphere encompasses the way your organization is viewed by the rest of the world. Just as an individual gains others’ trust by consistently acting with integrity, people are more likely to trust an organization when they see alignment between its nature (mission statement, values, and so on) and its track record.

This is true for teams and their stakeholders, bigger units within companies or business in the context of their customers.

Example in the context of business: When customers share their thoughts about a brand on social media, it significantly influences the brand’s perception. Therefore, if a business fails to meet its promises, it’s a considerable risk, as word spreads quickly on social media. On the other hand, brands that consistently deliver on their promises can gain substantial trust and positive feedback from satisfied customers who post about their experiences online.

So what did I learn from this episode? Trust is key on all levels and something to work on continuously. It is well worth the investment. The things that worked best for me are being as transparent as possible and explicit in my expectations and what people can expect from me and then acting accordingly. I would be curious to hear what your experience has been? What worked well for you or what did not work?

Thanks for reading – you made it to the end

Sources:

Research and studies:

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235260441_Work_Team_Trust_and_Effectiveness
• https://chiefexecutive.net/the-business-case-for-trust/

TrustandTeamPerformance.pdf

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235300959_The_relationship_between_trust_and_team_performance
• Creating Space, Aligning Motivations, and Building Trust: A Practical Framework for Stakeholder Engagement Based on Experience in 12 Ecosystem Services Case Studies
• Trust and Team Performance: A Meta-Analysis of Main Effects, Contingencies, and Qualifiers
• Leadership style effect on virtual team efficiency: trust, operational cohesion and media richness roles
• Do Leadership Structure and Team Trust Drive Organisational Performance? Empirical Approach
• Apologising for mistakes & trust

Articles:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/your-money/why-its-not-always-good-to-forgive.html
• https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Connect-with-us/Blog/2020/March/Trust-and-Transparency
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/friendship-20/201812/7-ways-build-trust-in-relationship
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/joefolkman/2017/11/10/its-all-about-me-what-happens-when-a-leader-takes-all-the-credit/?sh=540f276e312e
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2012/11/09/10-steps-to-effective-listening/?sh=126b6a238918
• https://hbr.org/2017/05/talking-to-yourself-out-loud-can-help-you-learn
• https://news.osu.edu/the-6-elements-of-an-effective-apology-according-to-science/
• https://hbr.org/2017/07/want-your-employees-to-trust-you-show-you-trust-them#:~:text=Employees who do feel trusted,In short%2C trust begets trust.

Books (links are affiliate on amazon):

• Speed of trust by M.R. Corvey
• The five dysfunctions of teams