Leadership and Trust

Trust is a dynamic, interpersonal link between people, with unique implications for the workplace. Trust is defined as an expectation or belief that one can rely on another person’s actions and words and that the person has good intentions to carry out their promises. Trust is most meaningful in situations in which one party is at risk or vulnerable to another party. For this reason, it becomes critical in relationships between leaders and followers, who by definition have different roles and different levels of status and power. This chapter explores the role of trust in the leadership relationship, the antecedents and consequences of trust in leader-follower relations, as well as the different outcomes that often result from trusting versus mistrusting relationships. In addition, we will consider situations where trust can act as an important buffer against negative workplace experiences. Finally, we will consider when and why leaders are more likely to trust their followers, the dynamic development of trust between leaders and followers, and mistrust. Because trust is a relational concept that occurs between people, both leaders and followers play an important role in creating and sustaining trusting relationships.