Trust as a Performance Indicator

Trust is emerging as the most critical and most fragile element of today’s workplace culture. When trust is strong, teams move with clarity, confidence, and speed. People speak up sooner, solve problems faster, and navigate challenges with more shared ownership. When trust is low, leaders spend more time managing resistance, confusion, and rework, and even simple decisions begin to feel heavy.

Across the U.S., recent trends reveal a growing trust deficit that is directly affecting engagement and performance. Employees are becoming less confident in the consistency, transparency, and intent of organizational decisions. Leaders often believe they are communicating clearly, yet many employees feel misaligned, uninformed, or unsure of what to expect. This gap is now one of the primary reasons teams hesitate to fully commit to plans, changes, or new initiatives.

By the Numbers
According to Gallup’s 2025 U.S. Leadership & Management Indicator, only 19 percent of employees strongly agree that they trust their organization’s leadership, a striking trust deficit.

What Leaders Can Do
Start small and focus on behaviors that build reliability and transparency:

• Make intent explicit before delivering feedback or decisions.
• Share the “why” behind priorities to reduce uncertainty.
• Close communication loops quickly to demonstrate follow-through.

Trust grows through repeated, observable actions, not messaging.

Reflection
How would you rate the current level of trust on your team on a scale of 1 to 10?

Take Action
This month, choose one trust-building habit and practice it consistently. Small shifts, reinforced over time, create meaningful cultural change.