Ask leaders what makes the job hard and the answers are familiar: too much to do, a team that won’t speak up, a change nobody wanted, a conversation they keep putting off.
Look closely and most of them share a root. They get harder when people aren’t sure they can rely on you, and easier when they are. That’s why each challenge below is matched to the behaviours that strengthen trust: specific actions someone else can see you do.
Each challenge follows the same shape: why it’s on the list, which of the five Trust Questions the people around you are asking, the behaviours that answer it and the pattern to avoid, then an everyday example with invented people and a first step for this week.
Where do these behaviours come from?
From a place designed to run without trust.
I spent eighteen years in the Prison Service. A prison is regulated, ruled and short on assumed trust. My uniform came with authority, and it didn’t make anyone confident in me. What people had to go on was my behaviour: whether I was straight with them, whether I did what I said, whether I applied the same standards to everyone, and whether I warned them early when something wasn’t going to happen.
If a behaviour works there, under that much pressure and suspicion, it will usually work in an office. That’s the test these behaviours came through.
How were these seven challenges chosen?
From what UK surveys and research say managers struggle with, not from what makes a neat list.
Most come from recent surveys by Gartner, the CIPD, the CMI and Hemsley Fraser. Bad news rests on long-standing research instead. Where a figure comes from a provider’s own survey, we say so, and every source is listed at the end of the page.
1. How do you lead when you’re overloaded?
Why it’s on the list. In a Gartner survey of 805 HR leaders in July 2024, three-quarters said their managers were overwhelmed by the growth in their responsibilities. Managers themselves say something similar. In the CIPD’s Good Work Index 2025, only 59% of UK managers said they have the time to manage people well, though that is up from 52% in 2023.
Where trust comes in. Overload shows up first in your commitments. The people around you are asking Do they believe I can handle what’s needed?, and every yes you can’t honour answers it for them. They learn to discount your next promise, and to plan around you rather than with you.
What helps. Three behaviours from the Capability and Realism group: Only agree to what you can realistically deliver and control (8), Ask for support when needed (10), and Say clearly when something cannot be delivered (11). The pattern to avoid is Agreeing to things you cannot realistically deliver or control. It feels helpful at the time, which is why it’s so common.
In practice. A team leader in an operations department is asked on Friday to pick up a supplier review on top of her usual work. Instead of “leave it with me”, she says: “I can have it to you by the 20th if the rota planning moves to my deputy for a fortnight. Without that, it’s the 30th.” Her director picks one. Nobody is surprised later.
This week: the next time you’re asked to take something on, say what you can deliver, by when, and what would have to move, before you say yes.
2. How do you step up to manage people who used to be your peers?
Why it’s on the list. Most people move into management without being prepared for it. The CMI found that 82% of people entering management had no proper management and leadership training (YouGov survey of 2,524 UK managers, 2023). Hemsley Fraser’s 2026 survey of more than 800 L&D professionals names accidental managers as one of the root causes of leadership gaps, and 86% of its UK respondents put core people-management skills as the top leadership priority. Taking charge of the people you used to work alongside is the most familiar version of that problem.
Where trust comes in. Your former peers know how you behaved before the new title. Now they’re asking Do they believe I’ll do what I said?, and in particular whether the rules you set will apply to everyone, including your friends.
What helps. Two behaviours from the Delivery and Consistency group: Set and confirm clear expectations before work begins (4) and Apply the same standards in tone, decisions and communication across people and situations (7). The pattern to avoid is Applying different standards in tone, decisions or communication across people. It rarely starts as favouritism. It starts as going easier on the person you have lunch with.
In practice. A software engineer is promoted to lead her team of six, two of whom are close friends. In her first week she sets out three expectations for everyone in the same meeting: how work gets estimated, when code reviews happen, and how to tell her about a problem. The first time one of her friends misses a review, she raises it with him exactly as she would with anyone else.
This week: write down the expectations you’ll hold everyone to, share them with the whole team at once, and apply them first to the person you’re closest to.
3. How do you have the conversation you keep putting off?
Why it’s on the list. The CIPD’s Good Work Index 2024 found that, of UK workers who had experienced conflict at work, 47% let it go and only 17% spoke with the other person involved. When the CIPD asked 2,009 senior HR professionals what gets in the way of managing conflict, 38% named line managers’ confidence in challenging inappropriate behaviour. Hemsley Fraser’s 2026 survey lists unchallenged underperformance among the root causes of leadership gaps, describing leaders who avoid difficult conversations about performance because they lack the skills or tools to have them.
Where trust comes in. The person you’re avoiding is asking Do they believe I act with their interests in mind? If they find out the issue has been discussed with everyone except them, the answer is no. The rest of the team is watching too, because they can usually see the problem. The accountability paradox explains why avoiding it costs more than it saves.
What helps. Address issues directly with the person involved (16), Say what is true without using vague or confusing language (1), and Acknowledge how others feel before responding to the task (14). The pattern to avoid is Talking about issues with others instead of the person involved.
In practice. A project manager’s analyst has delivered the last three monthly reports late. She has mentioned it to her own manager twice and to the analyst not at all. She books twenty minutes and opens with: “Your last three reports have come in after the deadline, and I’d like to understand what’s getting in the way.” The analyst says he’s been covering for a colleague on leave. The conversation becomes about workload, which she can do something about.
This week: book the conversation, and write your first sentence in advance so that it names the issue plainly.
4. How do you lead people through change?
Why it’s on the list. Gartner reports that just 32% of business leaders say they achieve healthy change adoption by employees. In its July 2024 survey, 69% of HR leaders agreed that leaders and managers are not equipped to lead change. People rarely resist change itself. They resist what it threatens.
Where trust comes in. In a change, people can’t check most things for themselves, so they rely on what their manager tells them. The question is Do they believe what I say?, and it gets answered when they compare your version with what they hear elsewhere, and with what actually happens.
What helps. Share relevant information openly, not selectively (2), Communicate consistently with different people on the same issue (3), and Explain the reasoning behind decisions that impact others (18). Explanation has some of the strongest support on this page: a longitudinal study by Jason Colquitt and Jessica Rodell found that the explanations people received predicted how much they trusted later. The pattern to avoid is Saying different things to different people, creating mixed messages. In a change it’s easy to soften the message for one person and sharpen it for another, and people compare notes.
In practice. A finance manager learns that her team’s month-end work is moving to a shared service centre next spring. She tells the whole team together, on the same day, why the decision was made, what she knows, what she doesn’t know yet, and when she expects to. When one of the team asks her privately whether jobs are at risk, she gives the same answer she gave the group, and says when she’ll know more.
This week: for the next change you pass on, explain why, say what you don’t know yet, and tell everyone the same thing.
5. Why won’t people speak up, and what happens when they do?
Why it’s on the list. In the CIPD’s Good Work Index 2025, 51% of UK employees said their manager is good at seeking their views, and only 37% said their manager lets them influence final decisions. On every other measure of voice, fewer than half saw their manager act to encourage it. Research on silence points the same way. In interviews by Frances Milliken and colleagues, most employees had been concerned about an issue and not raised it with a supervisor, most often for fear of being seen negatively and damaging relationships they valued.
Where trust comes in. People speak up when they expect to be heard properly. The question they’re asking is Do they feel I really understand them? One dismissive reply answers it for a long time. This overlaps with, but isn’t the same as, psychological safety.
What helps. Listen and let others finish before responding (12), Ask questions and check your understanding before replying (13), and Show openness to others’ ideas, even when you disagree (15). There is good evidence that openness is the one to watch. In a study of more than 3,000 employees in one restaurant chain, James Detert and Ethan Burris found that a manager’s openness was more consistently linked to people speaking up than transformational leadership was, and that the link ran through people’s sense that speaking up was safe. The pattern to avoid is Dismissing, shutting down or criticising others’ ideas.
In practice. In a team meeting, a warehouse supervisor says the new picking route is causing near misses at one corner. His manager’s instinct is to defend the route, which she helped design. Instead she lets him finish, asks what he has seen and when, and says back what she heard. She tells him she’ll walk the route with him on Wednesday and decide by Friday. Then she does.
This week: when someone raises something, say back what you heard before you respond, then tell them what you’ll do with it and when.
6. How do you deliver bad news before it’s too late?
Why it’s on the list. Because the instinct runs the other way. Sidney Rosen and Abraham Tesser named the MUM effect in 1970: people are reluctant to pass on bad news, even when it isn’t their fault. Research on troubled projects describes the same reluctance as endemic to many organisations, with senior managers sometimes unaware of a failing project for weeks, months or even years. No survey ranks it, but almost every manager will recognise it.
Where trust comes in. The people depending on your work are asking Do they believe I’ll do what I said? A missed deadline puts that in doubt. A hidden one does more damage. Maurice Schweitzer and colleagues found that trust damaged by unreliability recovered as behaviour improved, while trust damaged by deception did not.
What helps. Give updates on progress and raise issues early when there are risks or delays (5), Say clearly when something cannot be delivered (11), and Prepare before key interactions and decisions (9), so that you arrive with what you know, what you don’t and what you’re doing about it. The pattern to avoid is Leaving people unaware of progress, risks or delays.
In practice. On Tuesday, an account manager realises a client report due on Friday will be a week late because the data arrived late. Her instinct is to wait and see whether a weekend of work will rescue it. Instead she calls the client that afternoon with the new date, the reason, and what she can send on Friday in the meantime. The client isn’t pleased, but has three days to adjust instead of none.
This week: the next time you spot a risk, tell the person affected that day. Why flagging it early strengthens trust works through one example.
7. How do you keep good people?
Why it’s on the list. The CMI found that half of UK workers with ineffective managers planned to leave their organisation within a year (YouGov, 2023). Only 27% described their manager as highly effective.
Where trust comes in. People stay where they believe their manager is looking out for them. The question is Do they believe I act with their interests in mind? A meta-analysis of four decades of research by Kurt Dirks and Donald Ferrin found that a person’s direct leader appears to be a particularly important focus of trust. Whatever the organisation offers, your team experiences it through you.
What helps. Give credit to others for their contribution (19), Consider how your actions may affect others before acting (20), and Ask questions and check your understanding before replying (13), because you can’t look after someone’s interests until you know what they are. The pattern to avoid is Taking credit while ignoring or minimising others’ contributions. To be straight about the evidence: the case for giving credit rests on our own thinking and experience rather than a study showing it causes trust. The full list says so.
In practice. A regional sales lead presents the quarterly review using analysis one of his team built. He names her on the slide and in the room, and afterwards tells her he did. At their next one-to-one he asks what she wants to be doing in a year, and what he could take off her plate so she can get there.
This week: tell someone senior about one person’s specific contribution, and let that person know you did.
What does the evidence on this page show, and what doesn’t it?
It shows that these seven are real and common. It doesn’t show that any one behaviour will fix them.
The surveys show how widespread each challenge is, though some report HR leaders’ views of managers rather than managers’ own, and Hemsley Fraser is a training provider surveying its own field. The research shows why trust is involved. It is strongest for keeping your words and actions aligned, which Tony Simons called behavioural integrity, for explaining decisions, and for raising problems early rather than hiding them. For listening and giving credit, the case rests more on reasoning and experience than on direct studies.
None of it says a behaviour will work for every person in every team. That is something you find out by trying it with one person, and noticing what changes.
How does practising these make a difference?
By turning a challenge into one behaviour you can practise in a real moment.
Our advice is to choose one. Pick the challenge you face most, choose the behaviour the other person would notice first, and practise it in the work you’re already doing. Then write down what happened, and what the other person did differently, if anything.
That’s what the Trust Leader Hub is built for: one relationship, one behaviour, short activities, practice at work, and a dated record of what changed, in the leader’s own words. It’s the leader’s view, not an independent measure, which is why it’s a useful starting point for a coaching or development conversation rather than a verdict. See how it works for HR and L&D.