Your team doesn’t automatically trust you just because you have the title of “executive”. Fostering real trust requires consistent behavior, honest communication, and sincere investment in the people around you. For executives, trust is essential in order for everything else to work.
Zac Sandvig outlines five useful tips to develop trust amongst your team:
Communicate With Transparency
Teams don’t need to know absolutely everything, but they do need to feel informed. Sharing the “why” behind a decision matters just as much as the decision itself. People who understand the reasoning are much more likely to support the direction, even when they don’t fully agree with it. Honesty in the presence of uncertainty builds more credibility than polished messaging ever will.
Follow Through Consistently
Trust erodes the second you say one thing and do the opposite. Teams are always watching your actions. If they can’t trust you to follow through on the small things, you cannot then expect them to trust you on the big ones. But if you follow through on low-stakes things, it signals that bigger ones will be handled the same way. Follow-through is what separates respected leaders from those whom the team merely tolerates.
Create Space for Direct Dialogue
Executives who genuinely invite pushback signal that it’s safe to speak up. According to research from Harvard Business Review, psychological safety is one of the strongest predictors of top-performing teams. People do their best work when they are listened to rather than managed. Listening without getting defensive is a skill worth deliberately developing.
Recognize Contributions Publicly
So many executives overlook this simple act—acknowledging their team’s contributions. IT doesn’t cost you anything, but it goes so much further than most leaders realize. When executives recognize the team instead of themselves after a win, people notice. This simple habit builds the kind of loyalty that boosts retention and performance.
Zac Sandvig has witnessed it firsthand as the CFO of Tractor Zoom. A quick callout in a meeting or a direct message after a tough project goes further than most leaders expect.
Show Vulnerability When It’s Warranted
Many leaders don’t like to admit when they’ve made a mistake. But it can actually strengthen your authority rather than weaken it. If you try to get people to think you have every answer, they simply won’t believe you, and you end up losing credibility.
An appropriate amount of vulnerability actually demonstrates self-awareness and confidence. Teams respect leaders who are honest about their limitations and know when to delegate.
Final Thoughts
Trust isn’t something you can build overnight or through one big gesture. It requires ongoing effort and a willingness to put the real people on your team first. Executives who focus on trust build more engaged and resilient teams who actually want to go the extra mile when it counts.
For Zac Sandvig, trust isn’t a soft concept or a luxury. It’s a core leadership asset that directly shapes performance, culture, and long-term success.
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