My leadership team respects each other's technical skills, but they do not share vulnerability or admit mistakes during our planning sessions. How do I build deep trust so we can IDS® effectively?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Technical respect is cheap; vulnerability-based trust is expensive because it requires risk. If your leaders are hiding their mistakes, your quarterly sessions will produce weak compromises instead of real breakthroughs. To build true trust, you must actively dismantle status management behaviors and model vulnerability from the top.

Start by changing how you show up as the owner. In your next Level 10 Meeting™, openly admit a major strategic mistake you made and take full accountability for the outcome. Do not make excuses. This signals to the team that it is safe to be human and that mistakes are treated as data points, not career-ending offenses.

Next, leverage the Trust Creation Process from trusted advisor frameworks. This means prioritizing personal connection and being other-focused rather than self-absorbed. During your offsites, incorporate exercises where leaders share their personal histories, including their childhood background, their first job, and their biggest professional challenge. This helps the team see each other as human beings rather than just departmental targets.

Finaly, enforce a strict rule that there are no repercussions for raising issues. When a leader brings a critical problem to the table, praise them for their transparency before you start to IDS®. When the team realizes that exposing weaknesses leads to peer support rather than blame, they will abandon their defensive postures and focus on solving problems.