Trust Is Built by Letting Go

About this episode

This episode explores the critical role of trust in leadership and team dynamics, highlighting insights from the State of Leadership Report.

What does it look like when leaders and their teams are in perfect alignment on trust, down to the decimal? In this episode, David Spickard and Rob Shields dive deep into one of the most compelling findings from 11 Ten Leadership's State of Leadership Report: trust scores that were identical between leaders and their teams, and what that means for building a thriving culture. The conversation gets practical fast, exploring what happens when leaders get stuck in the weeds of day-to-day execution, why leaving the office might be the single best thing a leader can do to build trust, and the rhythms that make that sustainable. If you lead a team and want to know where trust really comes from and how to find out if you actually have it, this episode is for you. 00:00 – Welcome 01:00 – Why this conversation matters (State of Leadership Report) 03:30 – The highest scoring leadership question 05:00 – Care vs. thriving: where leaders overestimate impact 08:30 – Trust data insights: high scores + zero gap explained 11:00 – How trust impacts relationships, value, and engagement 14:00 – The danger of leaders stuck “in the weeds” 17:00 – First step out of overwhelm: creating space to think…

People in this episode

Host: David Spickard

Guest: Rob Shields

Topics covered

• trust
• leadership
• team alignment
• organizational culture
• trust-building strategies

Keywords

• trust
• leadership
• team alignment
• organizational culture
• trust scores
• trust-building

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: 11 Ten Leadership

Books & works: State of Leadership Report

More episodes of 11 Ten Leadership

• Building Super Teams: Lessons from the Oklahoma City Thunder · June 9, 2026 · 29 min
• Why Leaders Hold Onto Control · May 26, 2026 · 28 min
• Why Leader Health Is Declining And What It's Costing Your Team · May 12, 2026 · 32 min
• 2026 State of Leadership · April 14, 2026 · 36 min
• [Replay] Episode 8: The Just Leader: Thriving in a Fractured World · March 31, 2026 · 22 min
• [Replay] Episode 1: From Surviving to Thriving · March 19, 2026 · 15 min