“Trust: The Cornerstone of Leadership, Culture, and Business Success”

By Marshall Krupp Certified EOS® Implementer and Certified Outgrow Advisor

In the world of business, there is no force more essential or more delicate than trust. It serves as the invisible thread that binds leadership teams together, enables strategic clarity, and drives execution. Trust isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s the must-have element that determines whether teams function or fracture. It’s not about being liked. It’s about being believed. And when trust is present, everything else becomes possible.

Through my work as a Certified EOS® Implementer, I’ve coached hundreds of leadership teams across the country. From manufacturing firms to tech startups, I’ve seen how trust, or its absence, shapes everything: the way teams communicate, the way they make decisions, and ultimately, the results they achieve. In organizations where trust is embedded in the culture, people speak openly, own their mistakes, solve issues quickly, and align around a common vision. Where it’s missing, dysfunction takes root and progress stalls.

Trust is not built through charm or charisma. It is earned through consistent behavior over time. That’s why I often say that trust is a strategic asset. In fact, it is the most important interpersonal behavior in business. It bridges conflict, powers accountability, and reinforces your company’s core values. When trust is strong, everything else becomes more effective: communication, productivity, innovation, even speed to execution. But when trust is weak, no system, no meeting, no strategy can fully compensate for its absence.

This isn’t just theory. It’s fundamental human behavior. As Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, once wrote, “Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people.” And I’ve seen that proven time and again. In businesses where trust is high, teams engage with energy. They take initiative. They challenge ideas without fear. They act like owners—not renters.

The Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®) defines six key components of a healthy business: Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction®. And here’s the truth: none of these work without trust. Vision doesn’t stick if people don’t trust the leader casting it. Accountability doesn’t resonate if team members doubt one another’s intentions. Processes aren’t followed if people don’t believe in their purpose. Trust is the ground everything else is built on.

EOS tools such as the Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO®), People Analyzer™, Rocks, and the Level 10 Meeting™ aren’t just organizational tools. They’re trust accelerators. They reinforce behaviors like consistency, transparency, follow-through, and shared values, each of which contributes to a deeper sense of trust within the leadership team and beyond.

But how is trust actually built? That’s the question leaders ask most often. The answer is simpler than many expect and far harder to live consistently. Trust is built when our words match our actions. It’s built when we say “I don’t know” or “I was wrong” and mean it. It’s built when we hold people accountable while also supporting their growth. And, as Bob Vanourek, award-winning author and retired CEO of five companies, said, “Trust is built when someone is vulnerable and not taken advantage of.” Vulnerability, though often avoided, is the doorway to authenticity, and authenticity is what trust feeds on.

One of the greatest indicators of a high-trust culture is the way a team handles conflict. In low-trust environments, conflict is avoided, suppressed, or escalated behind closed doors. But in a high-trust culture, conflict is embraced because people feel safe enough to say what they really think. Teams debate. They challenge one another. They solve issues at the root instead of dancing around them. Trust doesn’t eliminate tension; it makes productive tension possible.

I recall working with a second-generation family business struggling with unspoken issues between two key leaders. For years, they tolerated one another but never fully collaborated. With EOS tools and a commitment to truth-telling, we helped them work through the underlying disconnects. It wasn’t easy, but it was transformative. Today, they are aligned and accountable, and the business has grown more in two years than it did in the five prior.

Trust also allows for speed. I’m not talking about reckless urgency. I’m talking about decisive, coordinated execution. In trusted teams, decisions are made faster because there’s less second-guessing, less duplicity, less triangulation. Everyone knows where they stand. Everyone knows what’s expected.

And trust enables change. When markets shift or crisis hits, teams that trust one another adapt quickly. They focus on solutions, not blame. They look for opportunities, not excuses. They lean in, not away.

That’s why trust is so critical right now. In a time when uncertainty is high, employee expectations are shifting, and competition is fierce, trust isn’t optional. It’s the key to your resilience and relevance.

But it’s also a choice. Trust starts with the leader. And as Ernest Hemingway famously said, “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” That may sound risky, but in leadership, it’s a necessary risk. You model the behavior you wish to see. You give others the chance to rise to the trust you extend. And more often than not, they do.

Of course, there will be times when that trust is broken. People will disappoint you. That’s inevitable. But when you build a culture of trust, the long-term wins outweigh the occasional letdowns.

The absence of trust, on the other hand, is corrosive. Patrick Lencioni names it as the first and most foundational dysfunction of a team. Without trust, even the best strategies collapse under the weight of silence, suspicion, and self-preservation.

That’s why I coach leadership teams to develop a trust mindset. It means showing up with integrity. It means putting the team’s health above personal ego. It means creating space for candor. When that mindset becomes part of your culture, everything else—strategy, performance, growth—flows from it.

In closing, I’d offer this: trust is not soft. It is not sentimental. It is not idealistic. It is strategic, measurable, and absolutely essential to sustained success. If you’re struggling with alignment, execution, or team health, start by looking at trust. And if you’re ready to build that trust through a proven system, the EOS® Process may be the exact framework your organization needs.

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To connect with Marshall Krupp, you can reach him at marshall.krupp@eosworldwide.com or at 714.624.4552. You can also schedule a telephone or Zoom meeting with him on Calendly at https://calendly.com/peerexecutiveboards

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Marshall Krupp is a nationally recognized EOS® Certified Implementer and a Certified Outgrow Advisor. He is also a national speaker and a past award-winning Vistage Worldwide Chair, with a career in providing crisis management strategic advisory services to businesses, governmental agencies, and not-for-profit organizations. He is also a certified facilitator of the Wiley Everything DiSC suite of assessment tools and PXT Select.

EOS®, the Entrepreneurial Operating System®, takes entrepreneurial businesses on a journey to master the EOS® tools, enabling them to elevate their leadership teams, make better decisions, maintain a high level of accountability, and attain greater success more simply. The components of EOS® are Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction, which, when used effectively, create a healthier organization with greater success.

The Outgrow sales program is designed to boost sales growth by encouraging bold, proactive communication, confidence, and accountable business sales teams. Marshall Krupp is a Certified Outgrow Advisor who guides and coaches businesses in implementing these strategies, helping their sales teams achieve 15-30% annual growth through consistent outreach and relationship-building efforts, along with the unique and creative tools of Outgrow.

Review more at www.peerexecutiveboards.com and at www.eosworldwide.com/marshall-krupp. Visit Marshall’s LinkedIn profile, posts, and articles at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshallkrupp/.