How trust impacts performance

I’ve been thinking a lot about trust lately and the role it plays in performance.

The word trust comes from the Old Norse word traust, meaning confidence, help, protection, and safe abode. It traces back to the Proto-Germanic root traustam, meaning strong, solid, or reliable. What strikes me most about the origins of the word is its physicality. It points toward something stable enough to hold weight. Something you could stand on. And I think we instinctively understand trust this way.

Capilano suspension bridge

Imagine standing at the foot of a wooden bridge. There’s a moment before you take your first step where you instinctively assess the stability of the structure. Is there rot? Are there large gaps? Will it hold me?

The stability of the structure determines how the person proceeds. If it feels unstable, they take tentative steps, slow and cautious, eyes focused downward, paying close attention to every movement. But if it feels stable, they walk at a steady pace, eyes on the horizon, taking in the experience instead of bracing against it.

When people don’t trust the structure beneath them, a huge amount of energy gets redirected into self-protection. And the same behaviour shows up in the workplace.

When there isn’t trust, people become more cautious. They hold ideas back or second-guess themselves before challenging something or taking a risk. They become more focused on avoiding mistakes than discovering what’s possible.

When there is trust, teams contribute freely. They challenge ideas without worrying about the consequences of getting something wrong. There’s a steadiness in the culture that allows people to move forward without bracing themselves against the environment around them.

Now, there is a tendency to intellectualize trust in the workplace. Amy Edmondson is most notable for coining the term psychological safety, and while I’ve spent much of the last decade explaining its importance, I sometimes think the language can create distance from the simple human experience that it is.

At its core, trust is instinctual. People are constantly assessing whether the environment around them feels steady enough to hold them. They are watching for signals that leaders are consistent, that there is transparency where it matters, and that the direction forward feels credible and clear. These assessments happen all the time, but they become especially heightened during periods of change and uncertainty. Layoffs. Reorgs. "Wait… is AI replacing my job?" These are very real questions people are asking themselves right now.

So for leaders who want the best of their teams during times of change and uncertainty, focus on building a stable bridge. If there is uncertainty, acknowledge it. If there is a challenging road ahead, name it. If there are areas you feel confident in, name those too.

Trust is not built through certainty. You do not have a crystal ball and no one expects you to. Trust is built through consistency, competency, and congruence over time.

And when people trust the structure beneath them, they stop spending energy bracing and direct that energy back into the work itself. They think more clearly, collaborate more openly, take risks, solve problems sooner, and adapt faster.

They lift their eyes back to the horizon.

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