Trust as a behavioural account
Trust in leadership works like an account into which only behaviour makes deposits. Telling the truth consistently when it is costly, following through visibly, admitting mistakes and explaining decisions (the hated ones included) all pay in. Inconsistency, spin and broken promises withdraw. A campaign of reassurance is a withdrawal that looks like a deposit.
Evidence grade: practice A widely adopted practitioner model with clear provenance.
Use it when
Falling trust in a survey; the hostile narrative after a reorganisation; carrying out painful decisions with integrity.
Where it stops working
It describes trust and cannot measure it. Other people read the account, and the leader is usually the last to see the balance.
Where the standard uses it
- CC-1Psychological safety and productive conflictSafe to speak, expected to disagree, committed once decided.
Used alongside it
- Blameless postmortems practice
- Conflict then commitment practice
- Psychological safety research
- The five keys of team effectiveness research
Cite this model
Chicago, BibTeX and licence →Engineering Management Academy. (2026). Trust as a behavioural account. In Engineering Management Academy Body of Knowledge (Version 3.1, TEC.trust-as-a-behavioural-account). https://www.engineeringmanagement.academy/body-of-knowledge/techniques/trust-as-a-behavioural-account