5 Signs Your Team Doesn’t Trust You and How to Fix It

Stay True to Your North: Trust

The moment I realized his team didn’t trust him…

A while back, I was working with a client—we’ll call him Matt.

Matt ran a successful, growing business. Revenue was solid. His team was loyal and had been with him for years. From the outside, things looked great.

But internally? He felt something shifting.

Team meetings were flat. People weren’t stepping up like they used to. When problems came up, no one flagged them early, he was always putting out last-minute fires.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “I’ve been bending over backwards to support everyone. So why does it feel like I’m the outsider in my own business?”

And I got it.
Because I’ve seen it before.
Matt hadn’t done anything wrong, he cared deeply about his people. But somewhere along the way, the trust frayed. Trust doesn’t disappear in one big moment. It erodes slowly, through a hundred little ones.

He started solving problems before understanding them. When employees gave feedback, he jumped in with justifications. He implemented policies when he felt out of control instead of getting curious.

And even though his heart was in the right place, his team didn’t feel seen. Or safe. And it was costing him in morale, productivity, and retention.

Been there. Seen it.

I’ve worked with hundreds of business leaders.
Some are newer managers. Others are running multimillion-dollar operations.
The trust issue doesn’t discriminate.

This is especially pertinent in small businesses, where the lines between leader, coworker, and friend become blurry.

Here’s what I’ve learned: when trust is gone, nothing else sticks.

You can’t coach people who don’t feel safe with you.
You can’t lead people who don’t believe you’re in it with them.

Without trust, communication breaks down.
Collaboration stalls.
Good people quietly disengage.

So if things feel tense, disconnected, or harder than they should, here are five signs trust might be the missing ingredient—and how to repair it:

1. You’re always the last to hear the bad news.

If your team waits until a problem is on fire before telling you, they’re not being careless. They’re being careful. With you.

👉 Fix it: Make transparency safe. Thank people for bringing issues to your attention—even (especially) when it’s uncomfortable. Show you value honesty over damage control. Give people the time to give their input on how to fix the issue and the space to take on the action themselves.

2. Everyone agrees in meetings, but nothing happens afterward.

People smile, nod, and leave… only to do something completely different. Or nothing at all. That’s not alignment. That’s avoidance.

👉 Fix it: Create space for input and disagreement. Ask things like, “How would you tackle this?” or “Is there something we haven’t considered?” Then don’t jump in to fix or defend. Listen.

3. You’re defaulting to rules instead of relationships.

When trust starts to slip, it’s tempting to tighten control. More policies. More oversight. Less empowerment. Less real conversation.

But policies don’t fix people problems, connection does.

👉 Fix it: Connect before you correct. Before reaching for a rulebook, ask what’s really going on. Most behavior issues have a root cause—misunderstanding, overwhelm, unclear expectations. When you lead with empathy and curiosity, you build trust and uncover what actually needs to change. Sustainable solutions rarely start with policy—they start with people.

4. Feedback only flows one way.

If your team only speaks up when they’re exiting or through anonymous surveys, it’s because they don’t feel it’s safe to be real with you.

👉 Fix it: Ask for input regularly. “What’s something I could be doing better?” is a powerful place to start. And when you get feedback, receive it with humility. Say “Thank you.” Overtime, this rebuilds trust.

5. Productivity and motivation have flatlined.

If your team is doing the bare minimum, avoiding new challenges, or just going through the motions, it’s not necessarily a performance issue, it’s a trust issue.

When people don’t feel safe, they shut down.
They stop speaking up.
They stop taking initiative.
They stop caring because it doesn’t feel like it matters.

And when that happens, motivation drops…and productivity follows.

👉 Start here: Reconnect to the mission and unite on the why behind the work you do. Focus on effort, not just results. Acknowledge the small wins. Share your own missteps and how you bounced back. When people feel seen, supported, and safe to contribute, their energy returns and so does their drive to do great work.

Real talk:

Trust isn’t something you’re automatically given because of your title or because you sign the checks.
It’s something you earn in the moments when you show up with clarity, consistency, and care, especially when things are hard.

The strongest leaders I know?
They’re not afraid to say,
“I think we’ve lost some trust—and I want to work on rebuilding it with you.”

That kind of honesty? That’s where authentic leadership starts. And where things start to shift.

Stay the course. Try a little bit each day.

It doesn’t have to be perfect.
You don’t have to fix everything overnight.
But the effort? Your team will feel it.

Trust is built in the everyday moments when you listen without judgment, own your mistakes, and make space for theirs.

Start small.
Ask one better question.
Have one more honest conversation.
Show up one more time with curiosity instead of control.

The shift won’t happen all at once. But it will happen.
Because trust isn’t about grand gestures, it’s about consistency, care, and choosing connection over correction.

Every time you try, you show your team that you’re not just leading them.
You’re walking with them.

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All are welcome.

Stay True to Your North is a space for business owners who believe you can run a company with both grit and heart. It is for leaders who are trying to do right by their teams without losing their minds or their margins.

It’s for those who want to:

• Create workplaces people actually want to be part of

• Lead with clarity, without losing themselves in the process

• Navigate hard conversations without tiptoeing or tearing things down

• Let go of outdated HR rules and build something more human

Here, we skip the corporate buzzwords, the perfection pressure, and the illusion that anyone has it all figured out.

This is a space for honest conversations, practical tools, and new ways of thinking about work, leadership, and the humans behind it all. Real stories and strategies to help you lead well and stay true to your north.