Building trust at work, why it matters and how Whole Brain® Thinking helps

In any workplace, trust is not just a soft skill, it’s a strategic asset. Teams built on trust communicate more clearly, collaborate more effectively, take smarter risks, and innovate faster. When trust breaks down, performance suffers, engagement declines, and wellbeing erodes.

But trust doesn’t appear overnight. It must be nurtured, maintained and when it’s damaged, intentionally repaired. In hybrid and digital-first workplaces, it can weaken even faster if we’re not actively paying attention.

So how does trust really form and how can Whole Brain® Thinking help us build it, rebuild it, and protect it?

The Trust Triangle: Three dimensions of trust

Frances Frei and Anne Morriss describe trust as a triangle made up of three essential traits:

• Authenticity – People experience the real you
  
• Logic – People believe you have sound judgement and competence
  
• Empathy – People feel you care about them and their experience
  

When any of these traits are missing, trust begins to wobble. A leader who’s smart and kind, but comes across as inauthentic, won’t earn full confidence. A team member who is warm and honest but drops the ball on tasks loses dependability. Trust is about all three, in balance.

Trust isn’t built in big gestures — it’s built in consistent, real, everyday actions.

(Source: Frei & Morriss, 2020 – Harvard Business Review)

The Trust Equation: What makes someone trustworthy?

A second framework, the Trust Equation, originally developed by Maister, Green, and Galford, gives a more structured view of how others perceive our trustworthiness.

Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Authenticity) / Self-Orientation

Let’s explore how each plays out in everyday work life:

• Credibility: What you say, Do you sound knowledgeable and clear? Do others believe your judgement is sound?
  
• Reliability: What you do, Do your actions align with your words? Do you follow through on commitments?
  
• Authenticity: How you show up, Do others feel they’re interacting with the real you? Are you transparent and consistent in your values and behaviour?
  
• Self Orientation: Do you act in my best interests, Do others believe you’re focused on shared goals, not just personal gain?
  

When all four are strong, trust is high. When one weakens, the foundation gets shaky and trust may need restoring.

A Whole Brain® Thinking lens on the formation of trust

Whole Brain® Thinking helps us understand that people perceive and build trust differently based on their preferred thinking styles. 

Using the Whole Brain® Thinking as a lens, we can align the elements of trust from prior models with each quadrant:

When we stretch beyond our preferred quadrant and flex into others, we signal trust more broadly and more effectively, to a diverse team.

This Whole Brain® view of trust helps us communicate it, model it, and repair it through the right cognitive lens for the situation and the people involved.

Leadership tip: Trust + Psychological safety = Performance

Amy Edmondson’s research and Google’s Project Aristotle both point to a common truth: psychological safety is the #1 driver of high team performance.

And psychological safety starts with trust.

As a leader, you can shape this by asking:

• “What helps you feel safe to speak up or challenge something here?”
  
• “Where do you need more clarity, consistency or support from me?”
  
• “Am I showing up as myself, and making it safe for you to do the same?”
  

When people feel your logic is sound, your actions are consistent, your communication is real, and your goals are aligned with theirs, they trust you.

Build your own trust action plan

Completing a HBDI® assessment can help you identify your own thinking preferences and adapt your trust-building strategies to connect better with others.

Try this self-coaching activity:

1. Choose someone you want to build or rebuild trust with, a peer, team member, or client
   
2. Rate yourself 1–5 on each element of the Trust Equation from their perspective:
   
   • Credibility
     
   • Reliability
     
   • Authenticity
     
   • Purpose alignment
     
3. Reflect: Which area is your strongest? Which one needs attention?
   
4. Apply Whole Brain® Thinking: What quadrant do they likely prefer? How can you communicate trust in their language?
   
5. Plan one small action you’ll take this week to demonstrate trust-building intentionally.
   

Practical ways to build (and maintain) trust

Consistency, authenticity, and empathy are also key to building high-performing teams that collaborate effectively and innovate together.

In person:

• Share what you stand for, your values, priorities, and goals (Authenticity)
  
• Explain your reasoning clearly when making decisions (Credibility)
  
• Deliver consistently on your promises (Reliability)
  
• Show curiosity for others’ experiences for a win:win outcome (Purpose Alignment)
  

Online:

• Use live video for complex or emotional conversations, not just updates
  
• Start meetings with human check-ins or personal stories
  
• Be transparent about progress and timing
  
• Clarify intentions to reduce ambiguity (“I’m sharing this to help move us forward…”)
  

(Source: Gibbs et al., 2017 – “Trust and Communication in Virtual Teams”)

Trust in the age of AI

When AI helps shape content like this blog, it raises fair questions: Is this the real you? Was this just auto-generated? Can I still trust the message?

Here’s the answer: AI can assist. But trust is built when your human perspective, care, and judgement come through clearly.

That means:

• Acknowledge the support tool, but clarify your voice
  
• Add personal insights, lived examples, and specific context
  
• Connect your thinking back to your purpose and values
  

AI might write a draft. But trust is built by how you deliver it.

Better trust starts with better thinking

At Herrmann, we’re trusted by organisations worldwide to help leaders and teams build the trust and thinking agility they need to perform at their best.

Trust isn’t static. It’s a dynamic relationship that requires attention, especially in hybrid teams. Whole Brain® Thinking helps you build it from all angles: with logic, consistency, authenticity, and purpose.

💡 When people trust how you think, they trust how you lead.

References

• Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly.
  
• Frei, F. & Morriss, A. (2020). Begin With Trust. Harvard Business Review. Read here
  
• Google Re:Work. Project Aristotle: Understanding Team Effectiveness. Link
  
• Green, C.H., Maister, D.H., & Galford, R.M. (2000). The Trusted Advisor. Free Press.
  
• Gibbs, J.L., Sivunen, A., & Boyraz, M. (2017). Trust and Communication in Virtual Teams. In: Handbook of Research on Cross-Cultural Business Education.
  
• Herrmann. Whole Brain® Business Book. 

Disclosure: This article was shaped with trusted AI support, then refined, reviewed, and personalised by our Director of Learning. We use tools like these to work efficiently, but always ground every resource in real experience and Whole Brain® expertise.