Redefiners
Leadership Lounge: How to Build Trust and Transform Executive Team Performance
Wed, 23 Apr 2025
Today's senior executives operate in an environment where trust has never been more critical, or more fragile. According to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in business leaders is at an all-time low, with people's fear that business leaders are dishonest increasing by 12% in the last year. So, as a leader, how can you cultivate trust within your team and organization? In this episode of Leadership Lounge, we talk to three of our trusted advisors—Henryk Krajewski, Emmy Melville, and Ilana Abramowicz—who share their perspectives on: How trust is evolving in today's fast-paced business environment The specific behaviors that distinguish highly trusted executives Practical strategies for building and rebuilding trust within teams How to accurately assess trust levels rather than relying on gut feeling “Don’t take somebody else’s credit. If you make a mistake, you own it. You don’t bury somebody else.”Ilana Abramowicz, Leadership Advisor, Russell Reynolds Associates Four things you'll learn from this episode:Trust is built on consistency. You need to demonstrate that you can follow through on your promises and commitments, no matter how small. Trust isn’t something that’s nice-to-have in an organization. It needs to be intentionally built at a foundational level. Transparent communication is vital for trust—sharing relevant information openly, explaining decisions clearly, and being forthright about challenges creates a culture where trust can flourish. Trusted leaders give credit, own mistakes (even if minimal), and maintain confidentiality. In this episode, we will cover: The four fundamental components that make up trust in the leadership context Why trust should be a foundational priority rather than an afterthought Why trust is critical for accelerating decision-making and enabling productive conflict The ‘1% rule’ for initiating trust repair when relationships have fractured The connection between trust and concrete business outcomes How differing trust languages can create unintended barriers within teams Why timing is critical in addressing trust breaches before they become permanent A closer look at the research from this episode: Edelman Trust Barometer How CEOs Can Build and Maintain a High-Performing C-suite | Russell Reynolds Associates The New CEO | Russell Reynolds Associates
Chapter 1: Why is trust critical for today's leaders?
Welcome to the Leadership Lounge, a place to kick back and listen as our experts dissect some of the biggest questions leaders face today. I'm Emma Coombe, Leadership Advisor in our London office. Today's senior executives operate in an environment where trust has never been more critical or more fragile.
We've seen in the latest Edelman's Trust Barometer that while trust in businesses remains higher than trust in government and journalists, trust in business leaders is at an all-time low. In the last year, people's fear that business leaders are dishonest has increased by 12%. So as a leader, how can you cultivate trust?
In today's episode, we're exploring the fundamental role of trust in high-performing leadership teams, from how to measure trust levels and implement behaviours that build credibility, to repairing trust when it's damaged.
We'll discuss how the most successful leaders leverage trust to accelerate decision-making, to enable productive conflict, and to create the psychological safety needed for genuine innovation. But before we dive in, remember to share any burning questions you want our experts to answer by emailing redefiners at russellreynolds.com.
And if you enjoy listening to our episodes, leave us a five-star review on Apple or Spotify. First up, we'd like to welcome Henrik Krajowski, Leadership Advisor in Russell Reynolds Associates Toronto office to the lounge. Henrik, welcome back to the Leadership Lounge.
Great. Happy to be here. Thank you.
Henrik, trust can often be seen as an abstract concept. What do we mean by trust in the leadership context?
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Chapter 2: What are the core components of trust in leadership?
there are many different models of trust but they all cohere around four basic ideas one being reliable that is showing up taking action being on time two being accepting and empathetic to others views that is really caring three being open to ideas and not close-minded and four being consistent in what you say and what you do
That's really interesting, Henrik. And I think all four of these are such core elements to building trust for any leader with their team and also with the stakeholders that they're reporting into. We'd now like to introduce another voice into the conversation, Emmy Melville, Leadership Advisor in RRA's Atlanta office. Emmy, welcome back to the Leadership Lounge.
Thanks, Emma. Good to be here.
Emi, in the last few years, increasing global economic and geopolitical uncertainty and huge shifts in the technological landscape has meant that leaders are under more scrutiny than ever before. This changing landscape naturally affects how trust functions within organisations. How is trust evolving in today's leadership environment?
One of the biggest variables in my view right now is just the pace of change that we see. So the speed at which businesses and markets operate, it just means that leaders are required to establish trust quickly and with many new and numerous constituents all the time. Right.
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Chapter 3: How is trust evolving in the current business landscape?
And since trust doesn't build as fast as the pace of the market, nor the succession plans that we all lay down, leaders really have to be intentional about keeping pace.
So I find that most of the executives I work with, they'll start out with a mindset in which they tend to think of trust as something to try to obtain once they've executed their business plan or accomplished their strategic priorities, almost as if it's an afterthought. Or there's sometimes an expectation that trust is built exclusively through doing great work together.
And certainly that is true. That's one way to build trust. But I really encourage leaders to embrace a mindset shift in which they're building trust as a foundational priority rather than a byproduct of teaming with one another.
You're right, Emi. Trust should be table stakes in every leadership team. But our research uncovered that only 22% of leaders felt that their C-suite team displays a high level of trust that's visible throughout the organisation. Later in today's episode, we'll hear from some of our experts on the top ways in which C-suite leaders can build trust. and how it can be rebuilt if it's broken.
But before we do, I'd like to introduce our third guest, Ilana Abramovich, Leadership Advisor in RRA's London office, into the conversation. She'll discuss some of the top behaviours that trusted leaders demonstrate. Ilana, welcome to the Leadership Lounge.
Thank you, Emma. It's lovely to be here.
So Ilana, our research has shown that there are specific patterns that distinguish highly trusted executives from their peers. Based on your work with countless senior leadership teams, what are some of the behaviours that consistently mark truly trusted senior leaders?
What we've seen through the course of the work that we've done over the last few years is the types of behaviors that really go a long way to establish those stable, connected, trusting relationships are one, give credit, don't take credit, give credit. Two, if I make a mistake, I own it. I don't bury anybody else. And this is a really interesting one, this third one, put it in the vault.
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Chapter 4: What behaviors distinguish highly trusted leaders?
Information is something that isn't to be traded. If I share, if I am talking to a leader and I hear some gossip from that leader about somebody else, I am worried and concerned that what I share with you, you share with somebody else. So that piece around the sanctity of sacred space and put it in the vaults is the way to create trust.
With trust, consistency really is key. When leaders deliver on promises predictably and repeatedly, it creates a foundation of reliability that's essential for trust. And particularly for CEOs, when they have committed to a strategy, being consistent in how they are executing on the strategy, presenting it to their teams is so important.
Given the business environment leaders are operating in today and the poly crisis they're facing, I think it's become even more important, this piece around consistency. And what continues to be critically important is how leaders show up in volatile situations.
Leaders who stay calm, are resilient, make the right judgment calls and think through their responses are often much better received than those who make knee-jerk reactions. which means that their teams lose trust, lose faith in the leadership in their business. And things start to go in rapid decline after that.
So Ilana, given that research shows that CEOs and C-suite leaders often underestimate the importance of building trust, what practical first steps would you recommend to a newly appointed CEO or C-suite leader focused on building trust in themselves as a leader?
That is a fantastic question. We do a lot of work, as you know, Emma, with CEOs that are moving into roles, either transitioning up through the business or coming externally inside. The first thing that we always suggest is be quiet and listen. Ask as many questions. It's your time to ask stupid questions. Show genuine curiosity and engagement with the leadership team.
They've been there before you. They know a lot more about the context than you do. And I'm thinking of a live example at the moment of a CEO that I am supporting on some transition coaching. Now, he is coming from a much larger company.
What the business does not want to hear is how wonderful it was at company X and how rubbish it is at company Y and how company Y's culture needs to change to company X. They want to know how he's going to adapt to make them brilliant, not how. He's constantly comparing them to something that was.
The importance of taking the time to really deeply listen to your leadership team when you join an organisation is often understated. And hearing you speak on this point, Ilana, made me think of Carol Tomei's story from my colleague Ty Wiggins' book, The New CEO. Carol Tomei, CEO of UPS, was the first outside CEO in UPS's 113-year history when she joined the firm.
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Chapter 5: How can leaders effectively rebuild trust?
How can a leader accurately assess trust levels within their team rather than relying on a gut feeling?
So some of the telltale signs to see if there is trust is... Really small things. What's the level of banter in the room before a meeting? How much personal disclosure is there? Who speaks first in a room when you're throwing in a question and you're waiting for some decision making to happen? Is it always the same people and then others follow in suit, echoing what they've already heard?
Or is there healthy debate and healthy conflict in the room? Another one is everyone says yes far too quickly and then you leave the room and you see through breadcrumbs that function X has gone off and done their own thing, function Y is doing their own thing. So those are some of the things that would give me an insight into if the leader was really trusted or not.
You've identified some clear, tangible markers for teams to look out for, Ilana, which I'm sure will be really helpful for our listeners. And I've been able to identify some of these patterns with the leaders I work with. I do a lot of work advising on non-executive director and chair appointments.
And what I've witnessed is that if just one individual on a board starts working in isolation on any of these processes, when it comes down the line and a group of candidates has been narrowed to a finalist one or two, if all the other board members haven't been included in the debate, kept updated, listened to at the beginning of a process,
there is a real erosion of trust and right towards the end, it can all fall apart. We can assess that there's a real lack of trust when maybe just one individual without allowing for that healthy debate amongst their colleagues is driving through decisions. And then towards the end of a process, things can really fall apart because the trust just doesn't exist.
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Chapter 6: What practical steps can new leaders take to build trust?
So Henrik, even the best leaders occasionally experience breakdowns in trust. When that happens, rebuilding it can be challenging, particularly at the senior leadership level. What strategies can leaders use to rebuild trust after it's been damaged?
Number one rule, go first. And in our experience, that's hard to get people to do. Usually there's been an offence and people are extremely hesitant to go first when they feel like they're owed something. But somebody needs to go first. And believe me, we encourage leaders to be the person with the courage and conviction to do so. How to start?
We would say acknowledge the breach directly and specifically. Name exactly what happened and don't minimize your role in it. A team we're working with right now has something they call the 1% rule. Even if the incident is all the other person's fault, the reality is you can find at least 1% and probably more that falls on you. Owning this 1% is critical to starting the healing dialogue.
That 1% rule is really interesting and not something I've heard before. And what I like is it creates a properly collaborative atmosphere that we're all in this together. It's about the collective, not about an individual feeling that it's all their fault. And I'd add that timing is critical in trust repair. The longer a breach remains unaddressed, the more difficult restoration becomes.
What I often find gets executives' attention is connecting these trust issues to business impact. When leaders see how trust fractures directly affect decision-making speed, knowledge sharing and innovation, it suddenly becomes a strategic priority rather than just an interpersonal comfort issue. Emi, what strategies do you see leaders use to rebuild trust?
Yeah. At the end of the day, rebuilding trust is a two-way process. Both parties have to want to evolve for themselves and for the working relationship to improve and trust to be repaired. There's one example that comes to mind that I think is actually illustrative here. So I was working with an executive team and two leaders on the team in particular had
had over a few years of working together with dramatically different leadership styles, trust began to erode. They just weren't communicating in the same way. And what we had each of them do was really reflect on their contributions to the breakdown in trust. offer some moments of vulnerability about what they've learned and how they plan to evolve for themselves.
But what also surfaced throughout those conversations was that the way in which one leader builds trust or expects trust to be extended is is different from person to person.
And I think acknowledging these differences and working through them is critical. We found that involving an objective voice can be valuable in these moments to help executives articulate these different trust languages without defensiveness. But even more importantly, leaders need to demonstrate they've learned from this breakdown in trust. So our time in the lounge today has come to an end.
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