Two professional women shaking hands in a modern city office at sunset, representing a successful people-first business partnership.

Leadership Imperatives: Trust and Empathy

Summary

Discover practical, research-backed methods to build lasting trust with your team. Learn the specific behaviors that foster psychological safety and create high-performing, engaged teams.

In today’s workplace, trust and empathy have emerged as essential leadership qualities. When leaders demonstrate these traits, they create environments where employees feel valued, supported, and motivated to perform at their best.

Why Trust Matters in Leadership

Trust forms the foundation of effective leadership. According to research by Paul J. Zak, organizations where employees experience high trust have 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, and 13% fewer sick days (Harvard Business Review, 2017).

When employees trust their leaders, it leads to:

  • Better decision-making throughout the organization
  • Stronger business results and innovation
  • Increased loyalty and reduced turnover
  • Greater accountability at all levels

 

High-trust environments foster open communication where people feel safe sharing ideas and seeking guidance. As one director of people and culture explains: “You have to have trust because if somebody doesn’t trust you they won’t come to you as the leader. I want them to come to me for anything complicated.”

Conversely, when trust is lacking, leaders often resort to micromanagement and excessive control, which stifles creativity and engagement.

Building Trust Through Concrete Actions

Leaders can actively build trust with their teams through several practical approaches:

Ask for Continuous Input and Close the Loop

Create regular opportunities for feedback through:

  • Engagement surveys
  • One-on-one check-ins
  • Team roundtables

The critical step many leaders miss is following up. Even when changes can’t be immediate, communicating next steps, reminding employees about available resources, and thanking them for their input demonstrates that their voices matter.

Host Listening Sessions

Senior leaders can significantly strengthen trust by:

  • Holding sessions where employees from diverse backgrounds share perspectives
  • Listening without judgment
  • Reporting back on themes and insights gathered
  • Communicating changes being implemented as a result

Leverage People Teams as a Bridge

HR and people operations teams are uniquely positioned to connect employees, managers, and senior leaders. They can:

  • Ensure all voices are included in important conversations
  • Capture and act on employee sentiment, especially during transitions
  • Provide necessary structure for effective communication

The Crucial Role of Empathy

While trust establishes the foundation, empathy creates the emotional connections that help people feel safe and valued. Research from the Center for Creative Leadership found that empathy is positively related to job performance, and managers who show more empathy toward their teams are viewed as better performers by their supervisors (Forbes, 2021).

Empathy enables leaders to better understand how to balance work demands with their teams’ needs outside of work.

Practical Ways to Demonstrate Empathy

  1. Lead by Example
    Share your own experiences and challenges, making it easier for others to do the same.
  2. Check In Regularly
    Ask how employees are doing and listen without interrupting, showing genuine interest in their responses.
  3. Offer Support
    When someone is struggling, ask how you can help. You don’t need all the answers—often, listening goes a long way.
  4. Recognize Good Work
    Acknowledge contributions frequently. A few words of encouragement can significantly boost confidence and motivation.
  5. Validate Emotions
    When employees express frustration or joy, acknowledge their feelings and seek to understand more.

 

As one CEO notes: “We bring forth the things that aren’t working just as much as the things that are, and we work together to support each other. We are the role models for the rest of the organization. We also try to celebrate accomplishments. It can be really easy, particularly in leadership, to just focus on one problem after another.”

Supporting Employee Wellbeing

Trust and empathy naturally extend to supporting employee wellbeing. When employees feel healthy and safe, they perform better. Organizations can express empathy through:

  • Comprehensive wellness programs addressing stress, burnout, and physical health
  • Sabbaticals for tenured employees to encourage loyalty and provide opportunities for renewal
  • Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSAs) allowing employees to allocate funds toward personal wellbeing

 

Taking care of people means adequately staffing to avoid burnout, encouraging the use of vacation and PTO, and practicing small acts of kindness.

Building a Trust and Empathy Culture

Organizations that excel at building high-trust environments gain a significant advantage in attracting and retaining top talent. According to a 2022 survey by SHRM, 92% of workers say that managers with empathy decrease the likelihood that they’ll quit their jobs.

Key Takeaways for Leaders

  1. Seek Out and Respond to Employee Feedback
    Gather feedback early and often, and close the loop by communicating action plans.
  2. Teach Managers to Show Empathy
    Simple practices like checking in with employees, showing recognition, and validating emotions build trust over time.
  3. Actively Support People’s Wellbeing
    Consider programmatic changes like encouraging PTO use or adding mental health benefits to support the whole person.

 

By proactively sharing information, demonstrating care for individuals, and listening to all voices, leaders can build the trust and commitment needed to thrive in today’s competitive business environment.

Looking to develop stronger leadership capabilities in your organization? Reverb’s Leadership Coaching services can help your leaders build the trust and empathy skills needed for high-performing teams.

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