Trust and Leadership | Northwestern University

The Trust Project at Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management

While every leader wants to be perceived as competent, they should be just as concerned with coming across as warm. And the combination of the two elicits positive responses from both peers and employees. Reciprocity is a powerful force for creating a trusting culture, since people will repay trust with trust. Leaders and smart employees begin building trust right away, though it is natural for people to be guarded until they get a sense of the situation.