🐺 The Shepherd and the Wolf — Aesop’s Fable

A shepherd once caught a young wolf trying to steal from his flock. But instead of punishing it, he decided to raise it alongside his dogs. Over time, the wolf grew used to its new life and began guarding the sheep.

But one day, the shepherd forgot to feed the wolf.

The wolf, hungry and frustrated, remembered its old ways — and killed a sheep.

Moral:
If you only expect loyalty without providing support, that trust will eventually break. And trust is easy to break.

🏺 The Cracked Pot — Chinese Parable

A water bearer had two pots. One was perfect; the other had a crack. Each day, the cracked pot leaked water on the way home, arriving only half full. The pot felt ashamed.

One day, it apologized to the water bearer.

The bearer smiled and said, “Have you noticed the flowers on your side of the path? I planted seeds there, and every day you watered them. Thanks to your crack, I now bring beauty to others.”

Moral:
Trust is built by seeing value in others, even when they don’t see it themselves. People grow when they feel seen, accepted, and believed in.

Now let’s go back to my approach. So what do I do instead?
I start with the fundamentals. 🛠️ — Because you can’t build a house starting with the ceiling.

Unfortunately, many teams and companies get so focused on their goals that they skip the foundation — and without that, trust can’t exist.

When trust doesn’t exist, getting results is more than just “challenging” — it’s a survival game. Every single team member ends up fighting their own battles. They feel hunted down, misunderstood, and often, they’ve already lost hope.

So, what habits and changes do I recommend to build a strong team and lead through trust?

Here’s the recipe I believe in:

1. Empower People 💪

It starts here.

When you say, “I trust you — I know you’ll figure it out,” it sends a powerful message.

It’s not just about stepping back, it’s about showing people where they shine and helping them find their way when they get lost. Empowerment is the foundation of trust.

2. Predict the Worst, Plan for the Worst 🧭

Plans are important — but reality changes. Unexpected things will happen.
When you help your team visualize possible worst-case scenarios and prepare for them, they feel safer, more confident, and more in control — even when chaos hits.

The truth?

The worst scenarios are often worse than expected. But when you’ve already talked about them, evaluated their risks, and discussed responses together, your team feels ready. That preparation builds confidence and trust.

3. Set Realistic Expectations 🧠

Nothing erodes trust faster than unrealistic goals — especially when they’re disconnected from reality. And even worse? Blaming the team when those goals aren’t met.
As a leader, you need to understand the current situation:

• Is the team already at full capacity?
• Have you provided the resources to meet these goals?
• Is the market ready — or do you need to rethink your strategy?

Your team has insights you may not. They talk to clients, they know their workload, and they understand the investment required to get a return. If you ignore their feedback, your goals become disconnected fantasies.

Next time you set expectations, ask yourself:

• What resources are we adding? (People, budget, expertise?)
• What’s being removed to make space for this work?
• Have we improved the processes needed to succeed?
• Have I truly listened to the team’s confidence level and concerns?
• Have I mitigated risks and discussed possible roadblocks?

4. Listen — Really Listen 👂

Your team might not have the full-picture strategy, but they know things you don’t.
They know how people are feeling, what clients are saying, and what’s actually possible on the ground. When they raise concerns, it’s not rebellion — it’s real-time insight.

Treat their input like the strategic gold it is. Listen to them like you would listen to a specialist with deep, practical expertise. Sometimes the competition isn’t listening — and that’s where you can win.

5. Support Them, Fully ❤️

Like in the story of the wolf — you can’t expect loyalty and performance without support.
Supporting your team doesn’t mean hovering over their to-do list. It means:

• Anticipating what they’ll need to succeed — and providing it
• Removing blockers before they hit a wall
• Rolling up your sleeves and working alongside them when it’s needed
• Creating a space that’s fair, motivating, and human
• Recognizing effort, fairly and consistently

Support means lifting people up — not checking in to control them. It means showing up especially when things go wrong, and adapting benefits and resources when life outside work impacts what’s happening inside it.

6. Give Them Clarity 🔦

Clarity is how people see in the dark.

It’s knowing their role, knowing where the limits are, and understanding the big picture. It’s like a climber planning their moves before they exert energy — because when energy is limited, you can’t waste it on figuring out the basics.

Clarity looks like:

• A shared path to success that’s visual and agreed upon
• Clear roles, expectations, and responsibilities
• Knowing what to say yes and no to
• Having best practices and workflows laid out, so teams aren’t reinventing the wheel

If everyone has a different idea of success, chaos follows. Clarity kills chaos.

7. Transparency = Shared Visibility 🔍

Transparency isn’t about oversharing. It’s about building mutual visibility so everyone is aligned and no one feels in the dark. That’s how you build trust.

Transparency at work means creating a culture where information is openly shared, decisions are explained, and people feel safe to speak up, ask questions, and understand what’s going on around them.

It’s not about sharing everything with everyone — it’s about sharing the right things at the right time to build trust, clarity, and alignment.

Here’s what transparency often looks like:

• Visibility into how and why decisions are made
• Visibility into must-do tasks, what needs to be evaluated, and what is expected from each person
• Visibility into what needs to happen next
• Visibility into who is responsible for what — so no one is left waiting for someone else to act, and conflicts aren’t created due to a lack of clarity
• Visibility into what’s already done, who completed it, and what’s still left to do — not just for the manager, but for everyone involved
• Open feedback — both giving and receiving it
• Honesty about challenges, mistakes, and what’s being done to address them
• Access to context — not just the what, but the why behind the work
• Fair expectations — people know what’s expected of them and how they’ll be evaluated

Transparency starts with visibility — not to control people, but to build trust, clarity, fairness, and alignment.

It’s not about sitting in a meeting where a few people report to leadership that something is done. That’s micromanagement, not visibility. Why? Because the flow of information only goes one way. There’s no shared commitment to success. The rest of the team is left out of the picture.

True visibility happens when:

• Managers also share what they’ve done and what they’re doing
• Everyone can see progress without having to wait for a meeting
• There’s a shared space where, daily, weekly, or monthly, people can track what’s happening, what’s done, and where everyone stands on the path to success

That’s transparency.

As you already know, I use Nova. When I started working with different organizations — agencies, manufacturers, startups — I kept seeing the same chaos, over and over:

People running around like chickens without heads.
Expectations weren’t clear.
Work had to be redone again and again.
Meetings felt more like control checkpoints than support.
Managers felt like their teams needed babysitting — when in reality, they just hadn’t built trust, committed to their team’s success, or put the right tools and workflows in place to create transparency.

That’s why I built Nova. And yes, I’m biased — but if clarity and transparency are something you’re committed to building in your organization or team, I highly recommend checking it out.

It looks like:

• Everyone knowing how and why decisions are made
• Everyone seeing what’s expected of them, and who’s responsible for what in a clear path of success not a list of tasks
• Knowing what’s done, what’s next, and what’s still a work in progress — without waiting for a meeting
• Giving and receiving honest feedback
• Providing context, not just tasks
• Making sure people know how they’re being evaluated

Transparency is not a one-sided status meeting where managers hear updates. True transparency means everyone sees the same path and has access to the same map. Where everyone share! Where eveyone can see the same path.

I use Nova for this — because after working with agencies, startups, manufacturers, and more, I saw the same mess over and over again. Teams running in circles, unclear expectations, endless meetings, and people feeling unsupported.

That’s why I built Nova. And yes, I’m biased — but if you’re serious about creating a team culture of clarity and transparency, I’d definitely recommend checking it out.

So Let’s Recap:

If you want to lead through trust, commit to doing this every day:

• Empower your team
• Plan for worst-case scenarios together
• Set realistic goals with context and support
• Listen deeply and treat feedback like gold
• Support your people like their success is your success (because it is)
• Bring clarity to everything
• Make transparency the norm, not a management tactic

🚩The Fast Track to Losing Trust

• Micromanage everything — Make every decision yourself and constantly double-check everyone’s work.
• Ignore risks and assume it’ll all work out — Don’t prepare for challenges or worst-case scenarios, and definitely don’t talk about them.
• Set unrealistic goals with zero support — Push for big outcomes without considering resources, capacity, or reality. Blame the team if things fall apart.
• Dismiss concerns and talk over people — Assume you know better. Treat feedback as resistance instead of insight.
• Only show up when things go wrong — Offer no real support, but be quick to criticize. Let people struggle alone.
• Keep people in the dark — Give vague instructions, change direction often, and never explain the “why” behind anything.
• Use transparency as a buzzword, not a behavior — Share selectively, hide mistakes, and use updates as a way to control instead of align.

This is what trust in action looks like. And I promise — it changes everything. 🌱

Leave your comments below.

What other things would you recommend to ensure there is trust?