Inheriting Distrust: How to Rebuild Team Trust from Day One

It's one thing to build trust when you're new. It's another when you step into a role where trust has already been damaged.

The first step? Understand where the distrust is coming from.

• Is it directed at you?

• Is it lingering from your predecessor?

• Is it between team members?

• Or is it something deeper in the organizational culture?

If it's you, then the work starts with consistency. Do what you say you'll do. Make it clear their input shapes your actions.

If it's your predecessor, then contrast is key. Show how your approach is different. Be explicit about what’s changing, and why.

If it’s between team members, create the space for them to surface and work through tensions. That might mean one-on-one conversations, mediated discussions, and it certainly means setting new team norms together.

These dynamics play out in meetings, in sidebars, in what gets followed up on, and what doesn’t.

Use your leadership meetings not just for updates, but as a tool to observe, address, and repair trust.

When people see issues being named, worked through, and followed up on, they start to believe again.