Good leaders constantly think of ways to help their teams be more effective. They try new tools, experiment with better workflows, and reorganize responsibilities until everything clicks. These things do help produce better results—but good results aren’t the goal. You don’t want to be a good leader. You want to be a great one. And great leaders take a different starting point: they build trust.
A great leader doesn’t begin by asking, “How can I get better results?” Their first question is, “How can I cultivate greater trust?” They recognize that truly great work is the byproduct of trust-filled relationships. Trust is the oil that keeps the engine running. It minimizes friction, strengthens connection, and keeps your team moving mile after mile. You can have the best apps, smoothest systems, and sleekest structure—but without trust, you end up with burned-out people. You might still accomplish impressive things, but if everyone is exhausted and frustrated at the end, what have you gained?
Trust gives you both: the highest long-term results *and* healthy, life-giving relationships. There will always be friction, but the goal is to spend as little energy as possible managing dysfunction so you can invest fully in the mission that matters most.
Here are 5 ways to build trust with your team:
1. Learn to Translate
Communication is the foundational building block of trust. Just because everyone speaks the same language doesn’t mean they truly understand one another. As leaders, part of our role is to “translate”—to look at areas where friction occurs and seek to understand each person’s perspective. This builds trust between you and your team and helps them trust one another. Tools like CliftonStrengths can create a shared vocabulary and help people understand why their teammates respond the way they do, replacing conflict with collaboration.
“Communication is the foundational building block of trust.”
2. Say “No” to Your Last-Minute Ideas
Communicating early is one of the simplest and strongest ways to build trust. Last-minute changes—especially brilliant ones—may feel exciting in the moment, but they exhaust your team. They’ll run with you for a while, but eventually they’ll burn out. If you want trust, you must do the harder work of thinking ahead, planning well, and communicating early. Yes, there are moments when the Spirit leads spontaneously—but Spirit-led preparation matters too. When your team knows you respect their time, they’ll follow you anywhere, even when that rare truly-last-minute idea comes.
3. Check Your Inbox
Your inbox may be your single greatest untapped source of trust. Every unanswered email represents someone waiting, wondering, or feeling ignored. Email isn’t going away anytime soon—it’s still the primary communication channel in most organizations. Getting better at email shows reliability, care, and clarity—all of which strengthen trust with your leaders, peers, and team.
“If you want to build trust with your leaders and your team, commit to getting better at email.”
4. Expectations and Accountability
These two must travel together. Expectations without accountability weaken your leadership—your words lose weight. Accountability without clear expectations is manipulation. It’s like enforcing rules you never explained. Both extremes erode trust. Great leaders create cultures where expectations are clear, fair, and consistently followed up on. When both are present, trust grows quickly and teams thrive.
“Expectations without accountability undermine your leadership and empty your words of their power.”
5. Start Now
Trust doesn’t grow by accident. Yes, it *can* develop organically over time, but great leaders don’t leave something this important to chance. Trust is like a harvest—you don’t plant seeds the night before and expect a field of crops in the morning. You invest early, consistently, and patiently. If you want trust tomorrow, start cultivating it today. The time will come when you need the harvest, and the seeds you’ve planted now will sustain you later.
The people you lead—including your volunteers—already want to trust you. They’re giving you that gift. Be intentional. Invest in trust. It will always pay off, and its return multiplies over time.
