Trust is not a soft skill. Neuroscience shows that it is a performance driver that directly supports creativity, risk-taking, and collaboration. Leaders and teams can purposefully strengthen trust with colleagues and clients by fine-tuning concrete conversational disciplines. This drives sharper execution, higher-quality decisions, and faster problem-solving.
Well-intentioned leaders can erode trust without realizing it
Jacob arrived with energy, conviction, and a plan. As a newly-hired divisional director at a Series C fintech firm, he had seen enough companies from the inside to know what to fix, and he came eager to reorganize, streamline, and impress the C-Suite. His mantra, repeated often, was: “The most important part of any team is the people.”
But within months, despite Jacob developing a cohesive communication plan based on a regular schedule of one-on-ones and team meetings, cracks began to show. The teams he managed were squabbling, motivation dipped, and a key director quit. The more Jacob repeated his people-first mantra, the less his people seemed to believe in it.
What went wrong?
The problem had less to do with strategy, and more to do with mistakes Jacob had made in his communication tactics, which led to a lack of trust.
Jacob’s story isn’t unusual. Even well-intentioned leaders can stumble when efficiency takes priority over relationships. What many don’t realize is that the consequences of broken trust run far deeper than morale — they change how people think.
The good news: trust can be built intentionally, through the words we choose and the conversations we create. This is the central finding of the work by researcher Judith E. Glaser, who studied at the intersection of organizational anthropology and the biology of human communication. She termed her framework Conversational Intelligence® (C-IQ). It is grounded in neuroscience that explains how conversations directly shape trust, collaboration, and high-quality thinking under pressure.
But, back to Jacob – how did he turn things around?
The neurochemical reason why trust matters more than you might think
A major shift occurred when Jacob stopped viewing trust as something that just incidentally builds over time. Instead, he began treating it as an essential element for high performance and something you can develop thoughtfully and proactively.
Neuroscience shows that when we feel trust, we lean strongly on the use of our prefrontal cortex, or executive brain — the part of the brain responsible for rational thought, creativity, problem-solving and risk taking… In other words, all those key aspects of thinking that we want activated to do great work.
On the flip side, professional environments where trust is lacking are not merely less pleasant; they trigger the release of neurochemicals that activate our primal brain and our fight-or-flight response, which leads to narrower thinking, a tendency toward self-protection over innovation, and a short-term focus lacking in empathy or imagination.
Fortunately, we can actively generate trust through the words we use and the types of conversations we have. So what might that look like?
The three types of conversations — and the impact they have on trust and productivity
Judith E. Glaser’s research highlights that not all conversations are created equal. She described three distinct “levels” that determine whether conversations build or erode trust:
Level I – Transactional
These conversations are about exchanging information: efficient, clear, and focused on tasks. They’re necessary — but limited.
- Jacob often used this approach in his team meetings. He laid out his plan and expected the team to get cranking. When team members suggested an alternate approach, Jacob shut them down or told them to bring it to their next 1:1. His approach aimed toward efficiency and delivery, but it closed down exploration.
Level II – Positional
These conversations focus on persuasion and influence. Leaders advocate their point of view, often asking questions with the aim of using that information to convince. This can be effective in the short term, but it tends to produce compliance rather than commitment.
- In his initial one-on-ones, Jacob asked about his direct reports’ interests and motivations; however, it quickly became clear that he was seeking this information mainly to persuade them to follow his plan. Although his intention was to motivate, team members felt they were being sized up rather than invited to contribute.
Level III – Transformational
Transformational conversations are exploratory, co-creative, and generative. They are focused on discovering what’s possible, without an agenda. This type of conversation plays an important role in exchanging perspectives, building psychological safety, and generating connection that can lead to innovative breakthroughs. Critically, Level III conversations are key to building trust — which then allows Level I and Level II conversations to land more effectively.
- To course-correct, Jacob worked to improve trust by engaging his team in shaping parts of the strategy, showing genuine curiosity in their perspectives, and turning execution-focused updates into opportunities for contribution.
Many leaders favor Level I and II conversations, believing they’re being clear, decisive, and efficient — and that these exchanges are more productive than the open discussions that occur at Level III. These levels are indeed necessary; but without at least some Level III discussions in the mix, trust and creativity slowly erode. For organizations, this means great talent gets underutilized, and big opportunities are missed.
So how can one actively use conversational tools that improve trust-building? And what are some of the techniques that can be used to foster Level III conversations?
Actionable practices for trust-building
There are three concrete practices that Jacob could have utilized to generate better trust.
1. Double-click on meaning
We often assume a shared understanding when presenting ideas. But double-clicking is the practice of asking one more curious question to uncover the thinking behind those words, and better align assumptions. It’s a small move that prevents misalignment, signals respect for others’ perspectives, and builds trust in the process.
- When a team member suggested a different reporting format, Jacob’s previous temptation might have been to dismiss it. Instead, he double-clicked by asking more on what problems the team member thought it could solve. This not only showed respect for the individual’s thinking, but brought to light an inefficiency that Jacob had not considered, and was able, collaboratively, to rectify.
2. Ask questions for which you have no answers
A key method for generating Level III (transformational) rather than Level II (transactional) conversations is to approach the subject with openness. We can feel when someone is entering a conversation with an agenda and asking questions accordingly, and this can set us on edge, as there is a sense of lacking transparency. But spending part of the conversation in genuinely open dialogue, we shift the tone into discovery and creative thinking, which generates greater trust and better ideas.
- During one-on-ones, Jacob made it a goal to ask team members at least one question for which he did not have an answer in mind — whether on possible risks, opportunities still left on the table, or potential improvements.
3. Creating transparency
When we are willing to be transparent about our intentions, it sends a message of safety. People do not like wasting energy second-guessing motives or guarding against surprises. Transparency shifts conversations from cautious to collaborative. It, therefore, provides the security for great thinking to take flight.
- Previously, when Jacob had asked questions and later used team members’ answers as part of his persuasion strategy, colleagues felt more guarded and second-guessed his motivations. Subsequently, Jacob began making more of an effort to share why he asked thorny questions up front, so that team members felt more comfortable answering them.
Trust doesn’t happen by accident. As Jacob learned, it is built (or broken) in the interactions leaders have every day. By being intentional and pursuing transformational conversations, leaders can create the conditions for stronger thinking, smarter risk-taking, and deeper collaboration. The science is clear: when trust is present, teams and other key counterparties don’t just feel better — they perform better.
To conclude: let’s turn the focus to external relationships. Over many years, Templar’s clients have, rightly, explored how they can accelerate the process of trust-building with their end clients. Advisors recognize the criticality of trust in enabling truly strategic conversations with their clients. Ultimately, a big driver of success can be by leveraging the science of conversation – in part, covered in this article – to improve engagement and improve outcomes.