#1 – Trust

When we say “trust,” most people think of reliability, e.g. “I trust my team to get things done,” but in the context of The Five Behaviors^®, trust goes deeper. It’s not just about task completion it’s about vulnerability-based trust.

That means being comfortable enough to say:

• “I don’t know.”
• “I made a mistake.”
• “I need help.”
• “You were right.”

It sounds simple, but in overstretched teams, it’s often the first thing to go.

When trust is missing:

• People second-guess each other’s motives
• No one admits mistakes, for fear of being judged
• Feedback feels threatening, not helpful
• Teams hold back instead of opening up

When that happens, collaboration becomes surface-level. People stay in their silos. Real progress stalls. But here’s the good news: trust can be built and fast.

With the right tools and a safe structure, teams can begin to share openly, listen fully, and rebuild a foundation where healthy challenge and growth can happen.

That’s exactly what The Five Behaviors^® Programme helps with. One manager told us recently:

“I thought our team trusted each other until we did the exercise. It was eye-opening. Now we’re having more honest conversations than we’ve ever had.“

If you lead a team and something just feels off it might not be the work. It might be the trust.

Want to explore how your team scores on trust? Or fancy a virtual coffee to talk through how this could look in your business? Let’s connect and book something in.

The next step? Why Conflict isn’t a bad word.

Launched on Thursday 25th September, on each Thursday at 1:00pm,, our good friend and colleague, Kevin Watson is hosting a series of five free, 45 minute webinars in which you’ll discover how The Five Behaviours™ drives performance, gaining practical tools and insights to build trust, embrace conflict, drive commitment, strengthen accountability, and stay focused on delivering team results.