Trust is Your Fastest Speed
In business, I appreciate efficiency and recognize that speed often translates to a competitive advantage. What truly drives our momentum, though, isn't fancy technology or streamlined processes. It's something far more fundamental: trust.
Trust functions as an invisible accelerator throughout an organization. When your team deeply trusts you—and equally important, each other—everything moves with remarkable speed. Decisions happen faster. Innovation flows more freely. Problems get solved before they become crises.
The irony of leadership is that while we often focus on tangible metrics like quarterly results and project timelines, the invisible foundation of trust determines our true operational speed. I've witnessed firsthand how teams with high trust accomplish in days what takes others weeks. They don't waste precious energy on politics, questioning motives, or covering themselves against potential blame. Instead, that energy gets channeled directly into moving forward.
Building this kind of trust ecosystem isn't a quick fix. It requires consistent demonstrations of integrity, even when it's inconvenient. It means providing genuine transparency about both successes and challenges. It demands that we show vulnerability by admitting when we don't have all the answers. Perhaps most importantly, it requires us to trust first, extending good faith to our teams before asking them to reciprocate.
The most beautiful aspect of trust-based speed is its sustainability. While you can temporarily drive faster results through pressure and fear, that approach inevitably leads to burnout and resentment. Trust, however, creates a positive cycle: the more we demonstrate trustworthiness, the more trust we receive, which further increases our collective velocity.
As leaders, we must recognize that investing time in building trust isn't a distraction from "real work,” it's actually creating the conditions for our fastest possible work. Every moment spent fostering trust, demonstrating consistency between words and actions, or acknowledging team contributions is literally making your organization faster.