The Trust Blind Spot That's Killing Your Leadership

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“We’re not sure if we can trust you yet.”

Those words hit Principal Sarah like a punch to the gut during her 360 review.

She’d been doing everything the leadership books said:

• Weekly check-ins

• Open door policy

• Celebrating wins publicly

• Investing in meaningful PD

But her staff still felt distant. Guarded. Like they were performing rather than partnering.

Sound familiar?

The Hot Seat BreakthroughThat was perfect. Thank you!

When Sarah brought this challenge to our Ruckus Maker Mastermind, another principal cut straight to the heart of it:

“You’re doing things FOR your staff. But are you building WITH them?”

That’s when we dove into Brené Brown’s BRAVING framework — the real anatomy of trust:

• Boundaries — You respect what’s okay and not okay, and help others do the same

• Reliability — You do what you say you’ll do, consistently and repeatedly

• Accountability — You own your mistakes and make things right when you mess up

• Vault — You keep confidences and don’t share what’s not yours to share

• Integrity — You act from your values even when it’s hard or no one’s watching

• Nonjudgment — You create space for others to struggle and be imperfect without shame

• Generosity — You assume the most generous interpretation of others’ words and actions

“Score yourself 1-10 in each area,” challenged another Ruckus Maker. “Which one’s your weak spot?”

Sarah’s answer? Vault.

She’d been sharing staff concerns with her leadership team, thinking it was “collaborative problem-solving.”

Here’s what was invisible to her …

When staff saw her discussing their colleagues’ issues with leadership, they wondered: “What does she say about me when I’m not in the room?”