Your Title Doesn’t Equal Trust—You Still Have to Earn It
There’s a dangerous assumption in leadership: that once you reach the top, trust is a given. You’ve earned the position, the office, the authority. But the truth is, trust doesn’t automatically come with the title—it has to be built, rebuilt, and reinforced every single day.
Especially in the C-suite.
The Trust Gap
When you’re the final decision-maker, people often hesitate to be fully honest. Not because they don’t care—but because they don’t feel safe. They’re watching your reactions. Reading your tone. Filtering their feedback through the lens of self-preservation.
This creates a silent trust gap.
It’s not that your team doesn’t respect you. It’s that they don’t always trust that their candor won’t cost them something.
And if your people can’t be honest with you, you’re not really leading. You’re being managed by what others think you want to hear.
Everyday Illustration: The Thermostat Illusion
Think about a thermostat. You set the temperature, and the system kicks in. But what if the sensors are off? What if the readings are inaccurate? You might think the room is 72 degrees when it’s really 65. And the longer you trust a broken system, the more disconnected you become from reality.
Your leadership culture is the same way. If the feedback loop is broken—if your team doesn’t feel safe to tell the truth—you’re leading in a false climate. Decisions get made based on flawed input. People nod in meetings but roll their eyes in the hallway.
That’s not alignment. That’s dysfunction with a polite face.
How Peer Groups Rebuild That Muscle
A trusted executive peer group gives you a place to practice receiving unfiltered feedback without the power dynamics. No titles. No politics. Just truth in service of better leadership.
You start to recognize how your reactions shape the trust equation. You get sharper at listening without defensiveness. And you learn how to build a culture where honesty is rewarded, not punished.
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” — Seneca
(And often, leaders who crave control are the ones who erode trust the fastest.)
The Real Flex: Psychological Safety
The strongest leaders aren’t the ones who intimidate the room. They’re the ones who make the room feel safer—smarter—more engaged. And that begins with trust.
Want to know how much trust you really have?
Ask yourself:
- When was the last time someone told me I was wrong?
- How do people react when I change direction?
- Do my team’s ideas get better over time—or safer?
If you’re not hearing the hard truths inside your company, you might be the reason why.
Leadership isn’t about being feared. It’s about being trusted. And that trust must be earned—over and over again.
