Why Employees Don’t Trust Leaders — and How to Rebuild It
- pdwalters
- Apr 28
- 3 min read
A few years ago, I was working with a large, global organization, delivering leadership development programs to their middle management. The sessions were energizing—managers were engaged, open, and eager to apply what they were learning.
But a consistent undercurrent started to emerge in our conversations:
"This is great... but why isn’t senior leadership going through this too?"
The middle managers were doing the work. They were reflecting, growing, changing. But it was clear they felt something missing: reciprocity from the top.
The message—unintentional, but powerful—was: "This development is for you, not for us."And slowly, the impact set in: skepticism, disengagement, hesitation.
It was a reminder I’ve never forgotten:
Trust isn’t built in isolation. It has to be modeled at every level of leadership—or it quietly starts to erode.
Why Trust Breaks Down
Research shows that trust is less often lost in dramatic moments and more often worn away by small, repeated missteps. According to Gallup, a lack of trust is one of the biggest factors contributing to employee disengagement. And Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends reports consistently highlight that employees' trust in leadership is a key predictor of organizational resilience during times of disruption.
So why does trust falter?Here are a few common reasons:
Lack of Transparency: When leaders withhold information—or present overly polished narratives—employees start to wonder what else they aren’t being told.
Inconsistent Actions: Saying one thing and doing another erodes credibility faster than any formal announcement can repair.
Neglecting the Small Moments: Trust isn’t just built during town halls or major initiatives. It’s built—or broken—in everyday conversations, decisions, and follow-ups.
Self-Orientation: Leaders who appear focused more on their own image, success, or comfort than on the needs of their people create distance. (This ties directly to David Maister’s Trust Equation: the higher the perceived self-orientation, the lower the trust.)
In leadership, it’s rarely one catastrophic event that breaks trust. It’s the accumulation of tiny signals that tell employees: You’re not safe to believe in this person.
The Impact of Broken Trust
When trust in leadership is low, the effects ripple through an organization in ways that are hard to immediately quantify—but easy to feel:
Turnover rises as employees seek stability elsewhere.
Discretionary effort—the willingness to go above and beyond—drops sharply.
Psychological safety disappears, making teams slower to raise risks, share ideas, or challenge assumptions.
Organizational change initiatives stall, because people no longer believe leadership is acting in their best interest.
According to a 2023 Gallup report, employees who strongly trust their leadership are five times more likely to be engaged than those who don’t. Trust isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a performance multiplier.
How to Rebuild Trust (The Path Forward)
If trust is shaky—or if you simply want to strengthen it—here are five practices to focus on:
Communicate Openly (Even When It’s Uncomfortable): People would rather hear a difficult truth than be shielded from reality. When you can’t share everything, explain what you can share and why. Transparency builds credibility.
Deliver on the Small Promises: It’s easy to underestimate the power of follow-through. Returning a call when you said you would, honoring a one-on-one meeting, acknowledging an idea someone shared—these small acts compound into trust.
Show Appropriate Vulnerability: Admitting when you don’t have all the answers isn’t weakness—it’s leadership. Leaders who show humility foster psychological safety, making it easier for others to speak up.
Recognize Effort, Not Just Results: Employees want to know their hard work is seen, especially when outcomes are uncertain or uncontrollable. Recognition builds emotional connection, which is a core part of trust.
Prioritize Others Over Self: Before making decisions, ask: How will this impact my team? What signals am I sending? Visible selflessness fosters loyalty far more effectively than any motivational speech ever could.
The Leadership Choice That Matters Most
Trust doesn’t rebuild itself. It’s earned through presence, consistency, and care.
It’s in the daily conversations. It’s in the decisions you make when no one’s watching. It’s in the way you show people, over and over again: You matter here.
In leadership, trust isn’t a checkbox. It’s a choice—and it’s one you make every day.
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