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It’s no surprise that employees thrive in work environments that foster a high level of organizational trust. When workplaces promote confidence in their employees and their abilities, teams are better able to exceed goals and build effective working relationships. Although organizational trust is developed based on a range of factors, executive leaders play a major role in employee workplace satisfaction.
Strategic leaders make each member of their team feel valued, supporting their professional development and encouraging a healthy working environment.
To improve your team’s level of trust and build a positive workplace culture, consider implementing these strategic leadership skills. For additional support on how to build a supportive professional team, apply to one of the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) Executive Education program offerings.
1. Creating a Shared Understanding Around Strategic Priorities
Employees do their best work when they understand what they’re working toward and why it matters. When people can connect their day-to-day responsibilities to the organization’s broader goals, they can see the impact of their contributions.
Leaders who communicate clear priorities help employees have a better sense of how their work contributes to the organization’s goals. That makes it easier to make decisions, set priorities, and stay focused when competing demands arise.
Without clarity on priorities, teams can spend time pursuing work that ultimately doesn’t move the business forward. Over time, it becomes harder for employees to see the impact of their contributions, which can weaken both confidence and trust.
2. Strengthening Trust Through Transparency
Beyond bringing clarity into strategic priorities, leaders can also build trust when they create transparency to other aspects of the organization. This can be accomplished by:
- Sharing information about the state of the business whenever possible
- Addressing workplace changes and reorganizations directly
- Considering opportunities for how executive leaders can be more visible to employees they do not regularly interact with, through options to connect
Employees who have a transparent view into the trajectory of business better understand their role in purpose-driven work and how they can continue to achieve their enterprise goals.
Stanford GSB Dean Sarah Soule and Professor Brian Lowery share the Stanford GSB model, which provides leadership strategies from research-backed principles. This leadership model is built around five core competencies, all of which can improve trust in leadership when deployed strategically.
In order to build transparent and trusting relationships at work, leaders must bring self-awareness to their roles. The most effective leaders take the time to understand their personal biases and see how they impact their decision-making. Transparency about these factors is key, as Lowery explains, “External self-awareness [is] not just how do I feel, but when I engage, what are people seeing in me? How do they understand me?”
When a leader has awareness of how their emotions and behaviors affect others, they are better able to set the tone for a transparent and effective company culture. Self-awareness is necessary for building strong relationships and processes across teams.
3. Building Shared Language and Processes
Collaboration breaks down when teams aren’t operating from the same set of assumptions. In order to collaborate well, it’s important to build effective communication expectations. Without a shared language and shared processes, even capable people can struggle to work effectively together. When these elements aren’t aligned, time that could go toward meaningful work is instead spent navigating uncertainty.
Although leaders might not be completing task-based processes, a working knowledge of how work flows through the organization is important because it helps leaders:
- Identify workflow bottlenecks.
- Eliminate information silos across teams.
- Suggest process improvements and training opportunities.
- Acknowledge employees who go above and beyond.
Trust is built across the organization when communication builds alignment and connects strategy with outcomes, with particular attention to factors such as decision ownership.
4. Defining Decision Ownership
Just as unclear processes can create confusion, so can uncertainty about who is responsible for making decisions. When employees don’t know who has the final say — or where they have the authority to make decisions themselves — work slows down and trust can begin to erode.
To combat this, leaders should make decision ownership clear for their employees. Companies with clear decision-making structures empower leaders at all levels so they have a hand in shaping the future of an organization.
Research from Stanford GSB Professor of Organizational Behavior Nir Halevy and PhD student Valentino Chai suggests that clearly defined roles help people work together more effectively. Halevy explains, “Feeling like you’re partaking in an endless tournament with others is harmful for your well-being. Organizations can help people feel greater freedom by designing more cooperative work environments.” When responsibilities are understood, teams can focus their energy on collaboration instead of competition.
Clear decision-making roles give people the confidence to move work forward. They spend less time navigating competing priorities or seeking approval from multiple stakeholders and more time focusing on the work itself. That clarity also creates opportunities for leaders at every level to take ownership and contribute to the organization’s success.
5. Normalizing Accountability at the Top
Even the best leaders make mistakes. What matters is how they respond when they do.
Leaders set the tone for how mistakes are addressed and how they demonstrate accountability. Organizational trust is built when employees see emotionally healthy responses and respectful acknowledgement of mistakes at work.
The example leaders set often becomes the culture employees experience. When leaders create an environment where employees feel comfortable speaking up, accountability becomes part of how the organization operates every day. Employees flourish when they know that respectful disagreement is encouraged and different ways of approaching work is possible.
6. Encouraging Productive Disagreement
Disagreement is part of working with smart people. Leaders set the tone for whether those moments become productive conversations or missed opportunities.
Leaders can help encourage this by modeling productive disagreement and normalizing employees having different opinions. This can start with a few everyday habits:
- Ask, “What are we missing?” before finalizing a decision.
- Create opportunities for everyone — not just the loudest voices — to contribute.
- Thank employees who raise concerns or offer a different perspective.
- Listen first, then explain your reasoning, even when you disagree.
- Show that changing your mind in response to new information is a sign of good leadership, not weakness.
When employees know their perspectives will be heard, they’re more willing to challenge assumptions, suggest improvements, and raise concerns before they become bigger problems. As Stanford GSB Professor Christian Wheeler says, “Remember that your attention is the currency and is the best gift that you can give your conversation partner.” Trust is built when listening is established as a core part of company culture.
When employees are able to respect other points of view, trust is established in these principles:
- Good ideas can come from anywhere.
- Respectful dialogue considers other points of view.
- Dissent is welcome and not feared.
Reaching the best decision doesn’t always mean everyone agrees. It means people have the opportunity to share different perspectives before moving forward together. That creates space for emerging leaders to contribute ideas and build confidence.
7. Investing in Leadership Development
Employees are more likely to stay engaged when they can see what’s next for them. When leaders invest in people’s growth, they’re sending a clear message: We see your potential, and we’re willing to invest in it.
Leadership development allows employees to keep learning and establishes a culture of curiosity. Rather than feeling stale in their roles, employees can cross-train and gain experience in other functions of their organization.
Research from Stanford GSB professor of organization behavior Francis Flynn explains that tapping high-performers early in their career is an important approach for training effective leaders. “There’s a lot of untapped potential out there, a lot of really outstanding people who need to be convinced that they’re clearly well suited to high-level leadership roles,” Flynn explains. “Just think about how many current leaders say they were inspired at a young age by a teacher who saw some potential in them. That encouragement sparked their ambition.”
Some employees will actively seek out leadership opportunities. Meanwhile, others need someone to recognize their potential before they recognize it themselves. Leaders who take the time to encourage emerging talent build stronger teams and a deeper bench of future leaders.
How Executive Education Helps Build Trust
Building trust within your team requires concerted effort and intentional work to make sure everyone feels understood and respected. It’s also about leveraging your specific strengths as a leader and understanding the context of your organization well enough to support your team.
In addition to developing these skills, executive education can help equip you to advance your leadership abilities and connect you with a community of colleagues who can provide advice and support long after the program concludes.
For additional leadership support, consider these programs from Stanford University’s GSB Executive Education.
- Stanford Executive Program (SEP): Join senior executives from around the world for SEP. Stanford GSB’s flagship program which focuses on lifelong learning, providing senior leaders with an immersive experience to inspire teams and build emotional intelligence. Participants can apply to participate in either a flex format -– which blends in-person and online learning — or a fully in-person format.
- Stanford LEAD: This one-year online business program from Stanford GSB brings together mid- to senior-level professionals who are seeking to expand their leadership capabilities, strengthen strategic thinking, and increase their impact in a rapidly changing business environment. LEAD helps participants move beyond functional expertise into broader, more confident leadership.
- Executive Leadership Development (ELD): Leaders who participate in ELD complete Stanford’s proprietary 360º leadership assessment and develop a personalized coaching plan. This program is delivered in person on the Stanford campus, tailored to mid- to senior-level executives looking to further develop skills for executive roles. The key themes of ELD include business acumen, innovation, and leadership.
- Executive Program in Leadership: The Effective Use of Power (EPL): High-impact executives will learn more about power, influence, and collaboration when they apply to EPL. Through this in-person program, participants can create an action plan to inspire innovations within their organizations.
Find the right Stanford GSG Executive Education program for you, and consider applying today.
