Trust in the Workplace: A Gamble or a Necessity?

Trust is at the heart of any great team. It drives innovation, reduces stress, and helps people take ownership of their work. But many leaders struggle with it—how much trust is too much?

I’ve always been a trusting person—sometimes too trusting. I remember getting tricked as a teenager—buying tea that I thought was weed for an entire month. That experience messed up my ability to trust people for a while, and I had to work hard to rebuild it.

It can take a lot of trust in things working out when i was doing the ''Worlds most dangerous hike in China''

But here’s the thing: trust is essential for making decisions, for leadership, and for growth. A low-trust environment might seem like the safer choice—after all, you can avoid giving a junior developer a critical task out of fear that they’ll mess it up. But by doing so, you lose a valuable opportunity to learn—about that person’s capabilities, about how they respond to responsibility, and about how your team functions as a whole.

An opportunity to trust is an opportunity to innovate, to improve, and to build something greater.

Trusting People to Grow

When working with someone new, I start with trust first. I encourage them, give them room to execute, and let them step up. Many people struggle under the pressure of responsibility, but as leaders, we must remind them that we carry the risk, not them.

If shit hits the fan, that’s on me. If things go well, the team gets the credit.

Of course, there’s risk involved. Maybe a developer spends a few extra days fixing a mistake. But that’s a small price to pay compared to the long-term cost of keeping someone who abuses trust or consistently underperforms. A few days of delay is nothing compared to a toxic team member who drags morale down, burns time, and undermines productivity. Addressing the issue early—even if it means a temporary slowdown—prevents bigger failures down the line.

Micromanagement: A False Sense of Control

One of the biggest killers of trust in the workplace? Micromanagement.

Micromanagement slows progress—trust your team to get things done.

Too many managers fear that employees will mess things up, so they fill the workweek with status updates, check-ins, and unnecessary meetings.

What’s the best way to know if work is getting done? Not endless status reports. Not daily interrogations. The best way is to see actual progress—working software, completed tasks, and visible results.

In high-risk situations (like cybersecurity, finance, or crisis response), structured reporting is essential. Every minute can count, and tight oversight is needed. But on a day-to-day basis, constant check-ins slow things down.

Instead of defaulting to status meetings, teams should ask:

• Is this update driving decision-making?

• Do stakeholders actually need this information?

• Is this report helping the team deliver better results?

If the answer is no, cut it.

Trust Until Proven Otherwise

Trust first, verify when needed. Leadership is about guiding, not micromanaging.

At the end of the day, trust isn’t about blind faith. It’s about creating an environment where people feel ownership over their work without being suffocated.

Will some people take advantage of trust? Sure. That’s why accountability exists—if someone consistently fails, resists responsibility, or drags the team down, they shouldn’t be here. But if you start with distrust by default, you’ll never see the best in people.

Trust lets motivated individuals excel. Give them space to work. Let them solve problems. If they struggle, support them—but don’t hover over them like a prison warden.

Trust first, verify when needed, and remove obstacles that get in the way of real work. Remember we’re in this together.