Trust & Social Capital
You can have capital, strategy, talent, and timing. Without trust, none of it matters. Every business runs on invisible credit — the belief that people will do what they say, that commitments mean something, that your name buys you time and goodwill. When that credit evaporates, so does the company.
Leaders love control because it feels faster. But control is expensive. Trust is the only thing that makes speed sustainable. It’s the grease in the gears — not the fuel, but without it, the engine seizes.
Patterns I See
Transactional relationships: Everyone’s protecting turf and negotiating power instead of building partnership.
Trust debt: Leaders keep making withdrawals — broken promises, missed follow-through, hidden agendas — without any deposits.
Brand dissonance: The story outside doesn’t match the experience inside. Customers can smell it before employees can name it.
What Leaders Miss
Trust is built in layers. The first layer is competence — can you do what you say? The second is character — will you do it even when no one’s watching? The third is care — do you give a damn beyond the transaction?
Lose any of those, and the whole bridge collapses.
Trust can’t be demanded; it’s granted. And it’s slow.
But once it’s in place, everything moves faster and costs less. Every email shortens. Every meeting halves. Every deal accelerates.
Working With It
Keep promises small and consistent. Grand gestures fade fast. Repetition builds reliability.
Name reality early. People trust truth-tellers more than optimists. Candor creates safety.
Measure relational capital. Who has your back? Who doesn’t return calls? Map your trust network as clearly as your P&L.
Rebuild before you rebrand. Marketing can’t outpace broken trust.
Questions Worth Asking
Where is trust leaking in your system?
Which relationships are assets, and which are liabilities?
How do people experience you when something goes wrong?
Who needs to see you take a risk first?
Field Truth
Speed without trust is chaos.
Trust without speed is complacency.
Build both, and you get momentum that lasts.
