Building Trust in Working Relationships: The Behaviours That Make People Trust You

Introduction

Trust is one of those things we know is important, but often struggle to define. We know when we don’t have it. A lack of trust is easy to define. Conversations feel guarded, commitments are questioned, and collaboration becomes harder. But when someone asks us “How exactly do you build trust?”, the answer is often surprisingly vague.

In this article, we’ll explore a practical way to understand trust in working relationships: the Trust Equation. Developed by David Maister, Charles Green and Robert Galford, this model breaks trust down into four elements that influence how trustworthy others perceive us to be: credibility, reliability, intimacy and self-orientation.

By understanding these elements, we can move beyond the idea that trust is simply something we “have” or “don’t have” and instead focus on the everyday behaviours that build stronger professional relationships.

Why use it?

For the teams we work with, being able to break down trust into specific and easy-to-understand elements is always a great first step to identifying how to demonstrate behaviours that can build more trust. In short: the Trust Equation helps teams move from “we need more trust” to understanding exactly what behaviours create it, because it:

1. creates a shared language
2. shows trust can be developed
3. improves collaboration
4. helps leaders understand their impact
5. diagnoses relationship challenges
6. supports modern, distributed teams

The Trust Equation: Four factors that influence trust 

The Trust Equation is useful in the workplace because it turns something that often feels vague and personal (“I trust this person”) into something we can understand, discuss and improve. Many organisations talk about the importance of trust, but people often mean different things by it. One person might think trust means competence. Another might think it means honesty. Someone else might define it as feeling safe enough to speak openly.

The Trust Equation (David Maister, Charles Green & Robert Galford, 2004, The Trusted Advisor) breaks down trust (T) into an equation of 4 elements:

• C = Credibility – Do people believe I know what I’m talking about?
• R = Reliability – Can people count on me?
• I = Intimacy – Do people feel safe being open with me?
• S = Self-Orientation – Do people believe I care about their needs, or mainly my own?

 

For trust to “work” in the workplace, it requires high scores in the first three elements (C, R, I) but a low score in the final one (S). In other words, the Trust Equation tells us that high self-orientation undermines the other elements that are essential for trust.

How to Build (or Lose) Trust in the Workplace

Credibility – “Do people believe I know what I’m talking about?”

Credibility is about the confidence others have in your knowledge, skills and judgement. You don’t need to have all the answers but that you are as competent and honest about your abilities.

You build credibility by:

• demonstrating your expertise through your work
• communicating clearly and confidently
• backing up your opinions with evidence or experience
• admitting when you don’t know something and finding the answer

You lose credibility by:

• exaggerating your knowledge
• making claims you can’t support
• giving inconsistent information
• pretending to know more than you do

Reliability – “Can people count on me?”

Reliability is about consistency. People trust colleagues who do what they say they will do. Reliability isn’t about doing everything perfectly or always being available. It’s about being dependable and communicating clearly.

You build reliability by:

• meeting deadlines
• following through on commitments
• preparing for meetings
• communicating early if plans need to change
• doing the small things consistently well

You lose reliability by:

• frequently missing deadlines
• overpromising and underdelivering
• forgetting commitments
• failing to keep people informed

Intimacy – “Do people feel safe being open with me?”

Intimacy in the workplace means creating a sense of psychological safety where people feel comfortable being honest, asking questions or admitting mistakes. People trust those who make them feel respected rather than judged.

You build intimacy by:

• listening without interrupting
• showing empathy
• respecting confidentiality
• asking genuine questions
• admitting your own mistakes
• giving people your full attention

You weaken intimacy by:

• dismissing concerns
• interrupting frequently
• gossiping
• reacting defensively
• criticising people rather than ideas

Self-orientation – “Whose interests come first?”

Self-orientation is about where people believe your attention is focused. When people believe you’re primarily interested in helping yourself, trust declines—even if you’re highly competent.

You reduce self-orientation by:

• asking more questions than you answer
• being curious about other people’s priorities
• sharing credit
• listening before offering solutions
• making decisions that benefit the team, not just yourself

High self-orientation often looks like:

• dominating conversations
• constantly promoting your own ideas
• taking credit for shared success
• ignoring other people’s concerns
• focusing on being right

Final thoughts

Trust is built through hundreds of small, everyday interactions. The Trust Equation reminds us that trust is less about intention and more about experience. People trust us when they see consistent competence, reliability, openness and genuine concern for their interests.

The good news is that every element of the equation can be strengthened through deliberate behaviour. Rather than asking, “How can I get people to trust me?”, a better question is, “Which part of the Trust Equation should I improve today?”

Trusted Advisor offers a free Trust Quotient Assessment which we highly recommend because the results include feedback on which elements are strengths and weaknesses for you.