Building Trust as a new Executive Leader

 

Table of Contents

1. The Trust Deficit: Why New Leaders Start Behind
2. The TRUST Framework for New Leaders
3. Transparency: The Foundation of Executive Credibility
4. Reliability: Doing What You Say You’ll Do
5. Understanding: The Power of Deep Listening
6. Strength: Decision-Making That Builds Confidence
7. Time: Investing in Relationship Capital
8. The Trust Accelerators
9. The Trust Killers
10. Measuring Trust
11. Your Trust-Building Action Plan
12. The Long-Term Dividend

 

You’ve landed the executive role. The congratulations have been exchanged, the announcement has gone out, and now you’re sitting in your new office facing a uncomfortable reality: the people you need to deliver results don’t actually trust you yet.

They’re watching. Waiting. Testing whether you’re the real deal or just another executive who talks a good game but can’t deliver when it matters. As the new person in charge, you’re starting from an even lower baseline.

Here’s what most leadership advice gets wrong: trust isn’t built through grand gestures or inspiring speeches. It’s earned through small, consistent actions that demonstrate competence, character, and genuine care for others. And as a new executive, you have roughly 90 days to get this right before perceptions harden.

 

The Trust Deficit: Why New Leaders Start Behind

Every new executive inherits what researchers call the “trust deficit”—the natural skepticism that comes with leadership transitions. Your team has likely seen leaders come and go, each promising change that never quite materialized. They’ve been disappointed before, and they’re not eager to be disappointed again.

Dr. Amy Edmondson’s research at Harvard Business School reveals that teams with low leader trust show 76% lower engagement and are 2.5 times more likely to experience voluntary turnover within the first year of a leadership change. The math is brutal: without trust, even your best strategies will fail because your team won’t fully execute them.

But here’s the opportunity: new leaders who intentionally focus on trust-building in their first 90 days create what organizational psychologists call “earned authority”—influence that goes far beyond what their title provides.

 

The TRUST Framework for New Leaders

After coaching dozens of executives through their first 100 days, I’ve identified six critical elements that determine whether new leaders earn trust or squander their credibility. I call it the TRUST framework:

T – Transparency in Communication
R – Reliability in Actions
U – Understanding Through Listening
S – Strength in Decision-Making
T – Time Investment in Relationships

Let’s break down each element with specific strategies you can implement immediately.

 

Transparency: The Foundation of Executive Credibility

Transparency isn’t about sharing every detail of your decision-making process—it’s about being clear about what you know, what you don’t know, and how you’ll find out. New executives often feel pressure to appear omniscient, but attempts to fake expertise destroy credibility faster than admitting knowledge gaps.

What transparency looks like in practice:

“I need to be honest with you about the budget situation. We’re facing a 15% reduction, and I don’t have all the answers yet about how this will impact our team. Here’s what I know for certain, here’s what I’m still figuring out, and here’s my timeline for getting you more information.”

Rather than: “Don’t worry about the budget rumors. Everything will work out fine.”

Your team knows there are challenges, acknowledging them builds credibility.

Practical transparency strategies:

• Weekly “What I’m Learning” updates: Share one thing you’ve discovered about the business, the market, or the team
• Decision context sharing: When making changes, explain the reasoning behind your choices
• Mistake acknowledgment: When you get something wrong (and you will), address it directly rather than hoping it goes unnoticed
• Timeline communication: Be specific about when you’ll have answers to questions you can’t answer immediately

 

Reliability: Doing What You Say You’ll Do

Trust is built one kept commitment at a time. As a new executive, every promise is a test. Miss your first few commitments, and your team will mentally file you under “just another executive who overpromises.”

The challenge for new leaders: you’re eager to make a positive impression, which often leads to overpromising. You agree to review processes you don’t understand, commit to timelines you can’t control, and make assurances about outcomes you can’t guarantee.

Marcus Chen, recently appointed VP of Operations at a logistics company, learned this lesson the hard way: “In my first week, I told the warehouse team I’d have their overtime policy reviewed by Friday. I had no idea how complex our approval process was. When Friday came and went with no update, I could see the eye rolls. It took months to rebuild credibility from that simple broken promise.”

The reliability protocol for new executives:

1. Under-promise initially: Give yourself buffer time on all commitments while you learn organizational rhythms
2. Confirm understanding: Before committing, repeat back what you understand the request to be
3. Set interim checkpoints: For longer commitments, provide progress updates even when there’s little progress to report
4. Keep a public commitment tracker: Use your assistant or a simple system to ensure nothing falls through the cracks

Script for managing initial commitments: “That’s important, and I want to give you a thorough response. Let me understand our current process and get back to you by [specific date with buffer]. If I run into any roadblocks, I’ll update you by [interim date] with a new timeline.”

 

Understanding: The Power of Deep Listening

Most new executives talk too much and listen too little. You’re excited about your vision, eager to share your experience, and anxious to prove you deserve the role. But your team doesn’t need another speaker—they need someone who understands their reality.

The best new executives I’ve coached spend their first 30 days in what I call “learning mode”—they ask more questions than they answer and listen more than they speak.

The Understanding Audit: Four Critical Conversations

Within your first 30 days, have these specific conversations:

1. The Reality Check: “What’s one thing about this role/team/company that you think I should know but might not hear in official briefings?”

2. The Success Definition: “When you think about our team being successful six months from now, what would that look like specifically? What would be different?”

3. The Obstacle Identification: “What’s currently getting in the way of you doing your best work? What friction do you experience that I might be able to address?”

4. The History Lesson: “What’s been tried before in this area that didn’t work? What can I learn from those experiences?”

Advanced listening techniques for executives:

• The pause practice: After someone finishes speaking, count to three before responding. You’ll be amazed what additional information comes out in that silence.
• Assumption testing: When you think you understand, say “Let me make sure I’ve got this right…” and repeat back what you heard
• Emotion acknowledgment: “I can hear the frustration in your voice about this process. Help me understand what’s most frustrating about it.”
• Follow-up questions: “What else should I know about this?” or “What am I not asking that I should be?”

 

Strength: Decision-Making That Builds Confidence

Here’s a counterintuitive truth: your team wants you to make decisions, even when those decisions are difficult or unpopular. What destroys trust is indecision disguised as collaboration or “gathering more information” when everyone knows you’re just avoiding a tough choice.

Strong decision-making isn’t about being authoritarian—it’s about being decisive when decisions need to be made and collaborative when input genuinely improves outcomes.

Sarah Rodriguez, new CEO of a mid-size manufacturing company, describes her approach: “I learned to distinguish between decisions that benefit from team input and decisions that just need to be made. For the first type, I’m genuinely collaborative. For the second type, I make the call quickly and explain my reasoning clearly. My team respects both approaches because they know which one they’re getting.”

The Decision Strength Matrix:

High Input Decisions (seek broad perspectives):

• Strategic direction changes
• Cultural initiatives
• Resource allocation between competing priorities
• Policy changes that affect daily work

Low Input Decisions (decide quickly and communicate clearly):

• Personnel decisions
• Crisis response actions
• Vendor/supplier choices
• Process efficiency improvements

Scripts for strong decision-making:

For collaborative decisions: “I want to make sure I’m considering all perspectives on this. I’m planning to decide by [date], so please get me your input by [date]. Here are the specific questions I’m wrestling with…”

For executive decisions: “After considering the available information, I’ve decided to [decision]. Here’s my reasoning: [rationale]. I know this may not be everyone’s preferred option, but I believe it’s the right choice because [specific benefits]. Questions?”

 

Time: Investing in Relationship Capital

Trust requires relationship, and relationship requires time. But as a new executive, your calendar is already packed with “urgent” meetings and “critical” priorities. The temptation is to postpone relationship-building until you “get caught up.”

You never will.

The executives who build trust fastest treat relationship-building as urgent as financial reviews or strategic planning. They understand that all business results flow through relationships, and strong relationships are investments that compound over time.

Leaders who invest significant time in one-on-one relationships see significantly higher team performance than those who primarily interact in group settings. The time investment pays measurable dividends.

The Relationship Investment Strategy:

Week 1-2: Schedule 30-minute one-on-ones with all direct reports
Week 3-4: Meet with key stakeholders outside your direct team
Week 5-6: Spend time with frontline employees who deliver your core work
Week 7-8: Connect with customers or end-users of your team’s work

But here’s the critical part: these can’t be agenda-driven business meetings. They need to be relationship-building conversations.

Relationship-building conversation starters:

• “What brought you to this company originally? What’s kept you here?”
• “What’s energizing about your work right now? What’s draining?”
• “If you could change one thing about how we operate as a team, what would it be?”
• “What do you wish I understood about your role that most executives miss?”
• “What questions do you have for me—about my background, my approach, or my plans?”

 

The Trust Accelerators: Advanced Strategies for New Leaders

Once you’ve established the foundation through the TRUST framework, these advanced strategies can accelerate trust-building:

The Vulnerability Moment: Share a specific story about a time you made a mistake and what you learned from it. This signals that you’re human and that mistakes are learning opportunities, not career killers.

The Credit Redistribution: When your team achieves success (and they will), be overly generous in sharing credit. When things go wrong, take responsibility publicly and address individual issues privately.

The Advocacy Action: Find opportunities to advocate for your team members with senior leadership, other departments, or external stakeholders. When people know you’re fighting for their interests, they’ll fight for yours.

The Future Investment: Make decisions that benefit your team’s long-term success even when they cost you short-term political capital or budget allocation. This demonstrates that your commitment goes beyond immediate results.

 

The Trust Killers: What Destroys Credibility Fast

Avoid these trust-destroying behaviors that new executives often stumble into:

The Comparison Trap: Constantly referencing how things were done at your previous company signals that you don’t value what’s already working here.

The Credit Stealing: Taking credit for work that was already in progress before you arrived or that your team executed without your direct involvement.

The Closed Door: Making decisions without input when that input would genuinely improve the decision and when people expect to be consulted.

The Favoritism Signal: Showing obvious preference for team members who remind you of yourself or who agree with your approaches.

The Information Hoarding: Withholding information that would help people do their jobs better because you’re not sure if they “need to know.”

 

Measuring Trust: How to Know If It’s Working

Trust is often treated as a soft metric, but it has measurable indicators. Track these signals to gauge your progress:

Quantitative Indicators:

• Voluntary turnover rates in your first 90 days
• Employee engagement scores (if measured regularly)
• Number of proactive ideas or suggestions you receive
• Response rates to your communications
• Meeting attendance and participation rates

Qualitative Indicators:

• People bringing you problems before they become crises
• Team members disagreeing with you constructively rather than just going silent
• Informal conversations happening before and after meetings
• Other departments reaching out to work with your team
• Your calendar filling with relationship requests rather than just crisis management

The 90-Day Trust Check: After your first quarter, conduct informal conversations with key stakeholders using this simple question: “What’s working well about how we’re working together? What could be even better?” The honesty and specificity of their responses will tell you everything about your trust-building progress.

 

Your Trust-Building Action Plan

Starting tomorrow, implement these three immediate actions:

Week 1: Schedule one-on-one conversations with each direct report using the relationship-building questions provided. Don’t combine these with business agenda items.

Week 2: Identify one commitment you can make and keep within seven days. Something small but visible that demonstrates reliability.

Week 3: Find one decision you’ve been postponing and make it. Communicate your reasoning clearly, even if the decision isn’t popular.

Then, track your progress using both quantitative and qualitative measures. Adjust your approach based on what you’re learning, but don’t abandon the effort when progress feels slow. Trust builds incrementally, then compounds dramatically.

 

The Long-Term Trust Dividend

Leaders who invest in trust-building during their first 90 days create what researchers call “relationship capital”—a reservoir of goodwill that sustains them through inevitable challenges and changes. When you need to make difficult decisions, deliver disappointing news, or ask for extraordinary effort, this capital makes the difference between compliance and commitment.

The executives who thrive long-term aren’t necessarily the smartest or most experienced. They’re the ones their teams trust to make good decisions, fight for their interests, and create environments where people can do their best work.

Trust isn’t a nice-to-have soft skill for executives—it’s the foundational capability that determines whether your other skills matter. Without it, your strategic thinking, industry expertise, and leadership experience become irrelevant because people won’t fully follow someone they don’t trust.

Your first 90 days as a new executive leader aren’t just about learning the business or implementing quick wins. They’re about earning the trust that will determine your effectiveness for years to come. The question isn’t whether you’ll face skepticism as a new leader—you will. The question is whether you’ll respond to that skepticism by building bridges or putting up walls.

Start building tomorrow. Your future effectiveness depends on it.

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