Trust and Psychological Safety in the Leadership Team

Strategy Execution by Design Series

Lever 1: Trust & Leadership
Element 4: Trust & Psychological Safety in the Leadership Team

Have you ever sat in a room where everyone knew something wasn’t right, yet nobody dared to say it? 

I have. While living in NZ, I was coaching a leadership team when a question about their plan’s realism fell like a lead balloon. You could feel the discomfort. Afterwards, I learned several executives had the same concern, but no one wanted to be the first to speak.

That moment wasn’t unusual. I’ve seen it in many executive teams: when people don’t feel safe to challenge each other, silence fills the gaps. And silence at the top is deadly for execution.

My master’s research confirmed what I’ve seen in practice: trust and candour in the top team are the single biggest factors enabling execution. Without them, collaboration breaks down, risks stay hidden and momentum stalls. With them, alignment deepens, issues are tackled openly, and progress accelerates.

Trust is confidence in your peers’ intentions. Stephen Covey calls it “the speed of execution,” because when it’s high, everything moves faster. Psychological safety, as Amy Edmondson defines it, is the belief you won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up. They’re not the same, but they’re inseparable: trust lets you take risks together; psychological safety lets you surface the risks in the first place.

What erodes both? Suspicion, avoidance, and leaders prioritising their own interests over the collective. When that happens, plans get rubber-stamped, hard conversations don’t happen, and execution fragments instantly.

So, what can leaders do differently?
- Normalise healthy challenge in your executive team - make it expected, not avoided.
- Ask the question no one else is asking, to show it’s safe to do so.
- Admit mistakes openly, and notice how quickly others follow.
- Notice where you default to suspicion and replace it with curiosity.
- Build your self-awareness: know your triggers and work with them.
- Invest time in getting to know your peers beyond their role.
- Be kind - see each other as humans first, leaders second.

Execution doesn’t just depend on plans and processes - it depends on trust and psychological safety. They’re the hidden accelerators that let leaders speak up, learn fast, and act boldly. Without them, even the sharpest strategy stays on paper.

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