My executive team is highly professional but trust feels paper-thin because everyone is focused on protecting their own career security. How do we apply the Trust Equation to lower their self-orientation?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leadership team is polite but guarded, it is usually because self-orientation is high. Team members are focused on their own status, department, and career safety. To build a highly cohesive executive unit capable of running an exit-ready company, you must actively work to lower self-orientation and increase intimacy.

Charles Green's Trust Equation shows that trust is calculated by adding credibility, reliability, and intimacy, and then dividing that sum by self-orientation. If self-orientation is high, trust will always be low. To change this, you must model an other-focused mindset from the top.

Start by introducing the Trust Creation Process during your next quarterly offsite. This process involves five steps: engage, listen, frame, envision, and commit. Encourage team members to share their challenges and ask for help instead of pretending everything is perfect.

When leaders feel safe enough to share vulnerability, their self-orientation drops. They stop worrying about who gets the credit and start focusing on collective goals. This shift directly improves your weekly Level 10 Meetings™. Instead of defensive posturing during the IDS® session, your team will openly collaborate to solve the business bottlenecks that are holding back your growth.