Do People Find You Trustworthy? How Can You Make Sure They Do?

WCI 2025

If you were to write three things that you hope people think about you when you think about your personal brand, would "trustworthy" be on the list? And what would it mean for people to find you "trustworthy" in your leadership style?

During the Diversity and Talent Alliance breakout at WCI, Ron Simmons explained that trust makes the difference between a safe workplace and one that's not.

Trust Trumps Performance

"Simon Sinek looked at Navy SEAL Team 6, and he asked the leadership what kind of SEALs do you most want," Simmons explained. "Of course they all want SEALs that are high performance, high trust, but when it comes to performance, they all said they would take low performance, high trust over high performance with low or medium trust."

Simmons finds a lesson for all of us in such a reality.

"Rather than have someone who performs well, they'd rather have someone they can rely on," Simmons said.

Simmons, the Senior Pastor of Designer's Way Christian Church in Tampa has developed TrustWorks as a way to apply biblical principles in workplaces based on faith, trust, and dependability.

"Trust is a characteristic that can push you ahead of so many people," Simmons said. "If my life is on the line, I want someone I can trust."

And how do you keep trusted people on your team? Simmons said those are the ones to focus on.

"In the workplace there has to be a sense of safety where your highest trusted people want to be stay," Simmons said. "Most trustworthy people want to be around other trustworthy people."

Some keys to increasing your trustworthiness and creating a trust-based workplace, according to Simmons, include:

Management. "What we call 'management' is what we call 'stewardship' in the church," Simmons explained. "You are stewarding all of these things that don't belong to you." And the way you manage that which doesn't belong to you is how you become an anchor of safety to workers on your team.

Time. "Treat time like it has a purpose," Simmons advised. "It's an unrenewable resource because every moment that goes by, you will not get back." A way to show employees you value them is to show that you value their time.

Managing humility. "We all deal with pride in some way," Simmons said. "But can you be humble enough to learn from others? In trying to show how much we know, we're woefully unaware of everything we don't know." The good news, according to Simmons, is that the workplace has built in ways to cultivate humility. "Your job is a great way to share what you know," Simmons said. "However other people's jobs are a great way to find out what you don't know." And for those thinking that humility makes you look weak, Simmons says think again. "People above you see humility as the ultimate sign of trustworthiness," Simmons said.

Keeping secrets. Trustworthiness and ensuring that others feels safe involves showing others that they can confide in you and know that it will stay with you. "Can someone tell you a secret you will never tell?" Simmons said.

Managing your word. "We should never make 'promises' because there are always circumstances beyond our control," Simmons advised. "If you can make a commitment and the only thing that can break it is something beyond your control, you manage your word."

Using words. "Words form, they don't just inform," Simmons said. "If you can build people up instead of tearing them down, even when it's time to have difficult conversations, people will know you're trustworthy. You can always build people up." Psychological safety, according to Simmons, comes when leaders build people up.

Emotional Integrity

Everyone struggles with challenges that go on outside the workplace, but Simmons advises that trustworthiness involves keeping those problems away from coworkers.

"You want to go through the difficult seasons of your life without bleeding on other people," Simmons said. "The last think we want to do is know our trustworthiness down because of something going on at home."

For Simmons, that's what safety is all about.

"The best you can do is not just be trustworthy but set the example of what it looks like," Simmons said. "Some of you work in environments that aren't always safe, but the answer to that is trustworthiness."

According to Simmons, being the one that ensures this kind of safety is a goal for those working to be trustworthy.

"You want your reputation to beat you into rooms where conversations are being had," Simmons said.

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