The Currency of Leadership: Trust
If your team doesn’t trust you, they’ll never give you everything they’ve got.
They might show up, meet deadlines, and follow instructions—but they’ll hold something back. Fear has that effect. When trust is missing, people protect themselves. They worry about losing the goodwill they’ve earned. They avoid taking risks that might make them look bad.
But when a team trusts its leader, the brain does something incredible. Science tells us that the mid-brain and prefrontal cortex unlock—creativity, speed, and memory all improve. People perform at a higher level when they feel safe. Trust doesn’t just make people happier—it makes them smarter.
So, before we discuss strategy or goals, we must start with trust.
Trust Builds Performance
A leader’s first job is to create an environment where people can be fully themselves—where they don’t waste energy on fear. That starts with humility, transparency, and consistency. If your team can predict your character, they’ll give you their best effort.
Trust Wins Business
Recently, I heard Marcus Sheridan speak at a conference, and his insights on trust with customers stopped me in my tracks. He built his business around radical transparency—sharing what his competitors won’t share, showing what others hide, and selling in ways most people would never risk attempting.
His philosophy is simple:
Talk openly about the hard topics.
Show what others keep behind closed doors.
Give people what they need before they ever have to ask.
It feels vulnerable. It is vulnerable. But that’s why it works. Vulnerability builds trust—and trust wins business.
This week, I challenge you to consider:
How can you create more trust in your life and leadership?
Who do you need to change for people to feel completely safe following you?
What systems, platforms, or conversations in your business could be rewritten to build greater trust?
When people trust you, they’ll give you their best. When customers trust you, they’ll choose you over anyone else. And when God trusts you, He’ll give you opportunities bigger than you could ever imagine.
Stay steady,
Schuyler
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God Bless!
~ Schuyler Williamson