Why Trust Is The Currency Of Product Management
“Earn trust, earn trust, earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest.” — Seth Godin
Silence fell like a verdict as the words hung heavy: ‘I don’t trust you. I don’t trust you have the best interests of this team at heart.’ At that moment, time stopped and then moved in slow motion.
There, in the fluorescent glow of the conference room, with my teammate's gaze upon me, the foundation of what I thought we had built together crumbled. It was the kind of phrase that could end professional relationships or begin a crucial journey.
Despite the words, I worried first about the product — was our cutting-edge data management solution dead?
Then the words rang again in my head — ‘I don’t trust you. I don’t trust you have the best interests of this team at heart.’
Echoes of doubt, the harsh words no leader wishes to hear, yet those words have been my companion for years. Lingering in the shadows, they are ghosts that haunt my every interaction, whispers from the past that remind me to put trust first.
Words that remind me of the importance trust plays as the foundation for a team, especially a product team.
Given the discouraging words of the team, it’s clear early in my career that I harbored misconceptions about how work gets done.
I believed trust at work was a given. Weren’t we all at work to accomplish a shared goal, win together, and make a difference?
Wrong.
What I naïvely believed to be true was not.
While we all hope to give and get trust quickly, that’s not how the world works. We protect ourselves first.
In reality, trust at work is earned, not given. This is the same as in relationships, sports, and just about every other arena of life. Trust doesn’t manifest merely because a company labels you a team.
Yet, most companies incorrectly believe this fallacy.
In my experience, companies don’t leave time for or invest in developing trust among leaders and teams. And it takes significant effort to build trust in product teams who are the intersection of multiple tribes — design, engineering, product, sales, and more.
Trust requires serious investment.
Honesty, authenticity and a willingness to be openly vulnerable are critical to building trust — I can’t thank my teammates enough for setting me straight.
Fast forward a few months past the intervention, past a few failed attempts, and we began to trust each other. It wasn’t easy. It took time and investment. But it was worth it.
While we didn’t deliver the perfect first release, we did produce a functional first iteration of the product. And I can confidently say that without trust, it would have failed.
The key takeaway? In life, as in work, you must constantly ask yourself, “Do I trust you?” And “Does this team, stakeholder, or customer trust me?”
What exactly is trust?
You might think trust is amorphous and abstract, but it’s not.
Simply put — Trust is the confidence, belief, or reliance on a person, group, or entity’s integrity, strength, ability, and character. A definition I cobbled together from different sources and personal experience.
Read that again, let it sink in.
Now ask yourself, do you have confidence in your team and do they have confidence in you? Are the beliefs in each others integrity, strength, ability and character mutual?
What would it mean if they were?
Let’s look deeper at the core elements of trust.
- Confidence: Trust implies a level of confidence in the abilities, character traits, and promises of others. It’s about feeling assured that a person or organization will act as expected. Building confidence requires showing up, demonstrating the right behaviors for you team, and delivering on your promises.
- Reliability and Predictability: Trust involves the expectation that the actions or behaviors of others will be consistent and reliable over time. Say what you will do, and do it.
- Safety and Vulnerability: Trust includes a willingness to be an open book with others, believing they will not take advantage of your willingness for their gain. This is a hard one — it takes a commitment to embodying and reflecting vulnerability. You must make your team feel the risk of rejection is low.
- Ethical Behavior: Trustworthiness comes from perceptions of honesty, integrity, and moral character. This one goes without saying — your team needs to see you put ethics above all.
- Mutuality: Trust is typically reciprocal in nature. When you trust someone, there is often an implicit understanding that this trust is mutual.
Trust is the currency of product teams. In the words of Russian Playwright Anton Chekov, “You must trust and believe in people, or life becomes impossible.”
What is the core of a trusting relationship?
In product teams, trust starts with mutual understanding of each other as people, not employees. With being open and transparent. With ability and track record.
Contrary to what many think, trust at work requires a willingness to be yourself — not what you believe others expect of you. Being open with your colleagues, and be vulnerable — the bedrock of understanding each other — is a prerequisite.
Yes, I said vulnerable. I can’t remember when I trusted someone who was not open, transparent, able, and had no track record. If you don’t know someone, don’t believe they are being open and honest, think they are hiding things, and are unwilling to share both the good and bad, would you trust them?
Trust ultimately manifests in having each other’s backs in challenging, high-pressure situations.
In Seal Team Six, perhaps the highest-pressure work environment known, trust requires ‘absolute dependability’ — a high integrity, honest culture of mutual respect with commitment to a common goal. In Seal Team Six, you can expect your teammates always to have your back, no matter what.
Google studied high-performing teams, and trust was at the center
Team trust is vital for the success of any organization, as it fosters a positive work environment, encourages open communication, and enhances overall productivity.
As part of Google’s Project Aristotle, they analyzed over 180 teams over several years. And to their surprise, the elements of a high-performance team that mattered most were psychological safety (see my post here) and trust.
So why not call out psychological safety first in this post?
I don’t believe you can have it without trust. Very few people will feel comfortable being themselves, taking risks, and being vulnerable in front of each other if there is no trust among the team. Trust is the foundation upon which psychological safety is built.
The conclusion of the study? Google found that teams with high levels of trust and psychological safety were more effective, innovative, and productive. Team members in such environments were more likely to leverage their diverse ideas and skills, leading to better problem-solving and innovation.
This example from Google demonstrates that trust within a team is not just about believing in each other’s abilities. It’s about creating a culture where everyone feels safe to take risks, make mistakes, and express themselves without fear of judgment. This type of environment fosters innovation, collaboration, and sustained team success.
And if you think this was not an isolated finding — Amy Edmonson of Harvard found similar results through her work in the 1990s and 2000s. Her findings highlight that psychological safety and trust are interlinked and critical for team success. MIT’s Human Dynamics Lab also highlighted the importance of trust in team communication.
The bottom line is that high-performing product teams need high levels of trust.
Why is trust so fundamental to product management?
Trust is your currency — the trust you build with stakeholders, customers, partners, the ecosystem, and beyond. Trust is how you accomplish things within your team and outside. Here are a few examples how a lack of trust impacts the team:
- Without trust, the team invests energy in managing their ‘work self’, not in the product
- Without trust, teams feel uncertain, leading to a cautious culture that avoids risk
- Without trust, teams worry about ridicule for sharing their crazy idea, holding back innovation
These are just a few examples.
If you can’t build trust, stakeholders will not trust you, your team, and your decisions.
Imagine a CFO approving an investment in a new, ground-breaking product or a simple refactoring without trust the team will deliver.
Will stakeholders support you if they don’t trust you?
Will customers buy your product without trust?
Product managers are influencers at heart. And successful influencers selling products need to build trust.
Twelve strategies to build trust as a product manager
Building trust as a product leader is critical to your success and your products’ success. Here are key strategies to build the trust you need:
- Lead by Example: Demonstrate the behaviors and values you expect from your team. Leading by example is a powerful way to build trust and respect.
- Invest in Relationships: Take the time to get to know your team members. Start by listening AND understanding. Be as curious about your team as you are about your users and customers. Get to know them beyond their work persona. Building personal connections can strengthen professional trust. Ask why questions to get to the heart of their values.
- Show Consistency in Actions and Words: Ensure that your actions align with your words. Consistency in what you say and do builds credibility and reliability, critical components of trust. This also requires a willingness to call yourself and others out when there is incongruence.
- Involve Your Team in Decision-Making: Involve team members in decisions, especially those that affect their work. This makes them feel valued and helps gain their trust as they see their input being taken seriously.
- Be Accountable and Responsible: Take responsibility for your decisions, including the outcomes, whether good or bad. Owning up to mistakes and learning from them demonstrates integrity and builds trust. Be humble.
- Empower Your Team: Give your team the autonomy to make decisions in their areas of expertise. Empowering team members boosts their confidence and trust in your leadership. Just be sure to set the right boundaries.
- Show Empathy and Support: Understand and be sensitive to your team members’ challenges and needs. Showing empathy and offering support in difficult times can greatly enhance trust. Put yourself in the shoes of the person you are empathizing with, feel what they feel.
- Deliver on Promises: If you commit to something, ensure you follow through. Meeting your commitments is a powerful way to demonstrate trustworthiness.
- Foster a Safe Environment: Create an environment where team members feel safe to express their ideas, concerns, and feedback. A psychologically safe environment enhances trust. For more on this, here is a link to a post that explains how to create a safe environment — link with title.
- Recognize and Reward Good Work: Acknowledge and appreciate the efforts and achievements of your team. Recognition reinforces positive behavior and builds trust in your leadership. As you get to know your team, seek to understand how they like to be recognized.
- Be Approachable and Open to Feedback: Encourage open communication and be receptive to feedback, whether it’s positive or negative. Be a person others are comfortable reaching out to and being honest with. Responsiveness to feedback shows that you value others’ opinions.
- Communicate Clearly and Transparently: Regular and clear communication is vital. Keep your team informed about project goals, changes, successes, and failures. Transparency in decision-making processes helps in building trust.
Bringing it home
The heart of a successful team and product lies in strategy, capability, skill, delivery, and the power of trust. Building trust is challenging and often requires introspection, openness, and vulnerability — but it is undoubtedly worth the investment.
Trust is the engine that powers high-performing teams, driving innovation, productivity, engagement, and success. Trust is the glue that binds team members, enabling them to work together towards common goals. Trust also establishes the credibility of a product in the market.
Product leaders and managers, therefore, must prioritize trust-building as a personal objective. By building relationships grounded in trust, they not only enhance team dynamics but also lay the foundation for the product’s success.
So, as we navigate the complex landscapes of modern business and product development, let’s remember that building is an ongoing process. When trust is present, teams don’t just work together; they thrive together.
Remember, trust is your currency.
What’s the most important skills for product managers? Building trust.
