How To Build Trust With Stakeholders

The Four Elements of Trust

Trust has a clear structure. According to David Maister’s Trust Equation, trustworthiness is built from four parts: credibility, reliability, emotional safety, and self-orientation. Together, these elements explain why people choose to rely on you, share information, and support your initiatives, especially when you lack formal authority.

1. Credibility

Credibility is the confidence others have in your expertise and knowledge. It grows when you demonstrate competence, share relevant credentials, and provide evidence of past results. Without credibility, people are unlikely to rely on your recommendations or judgment.

2. Reliability

Reliability means consistently keeping promises and meeting expectations. It shows up in following through on commitments, hitting deadlines, and being dependable. When you are reliable, stakeholders know they can count on you, and decisions move forward with less friction.

3. Emotional safety

Emotional safety creates a sense of familiarity, security, and understanding. It is built through active listening, empathy, and a genuine interest in others’ needs. This element often has the strongest influence: when people feel safe, they open up, collaborate, and share concerns early.

4. Self-orientation

Self-orientation is the degree to which you prioritize your own interests over others’. High self-orientation erodes trust because it signals self-interest. To build trust, show genuine concern for others’ well-being and involve them in decisions rather than pushing your agenda.

The 6 Temperaments That Influence Trust

Understanding temperament helps you recognize and leverage your strengths and adapt your approach to others; trust grows when credibility, reliability, and closeness are high, and self‑orientation is low. Combined with behaviors like integrity, delivering results, and showing care, temperaments become a practical tool for connecting and influencing without formal authority.

1. Doer (Reliability + Intimacy)

The Doer excels at following through on commitments and creating connections. They build trust by being dependable and by fostering a sense of understanding. This combination makes them highly effective at getting things done while maintaining close working relationships.

2. Connector (Intimacy + Low Self-orientation)

The Connector prioritizes relationships and puts others’ needs first. Their low self-orientation and capacity for intimacy make them highly trustworthy. They build strong bonds by focusing on people rather than personal agendas.

3. Catalyst (Credibility + Intimacy)

The Catalyst combines expertise with emotional intelligence. They demonstrate competence while also creating an emotional connection. This mix helps them forge deep, trusting bonds.

4. Expert (Credibility + Reliability)

The Expert is trusted for knowledge and consistent delivery. They rely on credentials and proven results to establish trust. However, this pairing can limit a deeper emotional connection despite strong competence and dependability.

5. Steward (Reliability + Low Self-orientation)

The Steward is dependable and selfless in their approach. They follow through on commitments while minimizing personal agendas. This makes them a reliable partner whom others can count on.

6. Professor (Credibility + Low Self-orientation)

The Professor brings knowledge and a focus on others’ needs. Their credibility and low self-orientation show expertise and concern for others. Yet their weaker emotional connection can limit the depth of trust they build.

Key Behaviors for Building and Maintaining Trust

Building and maintaining trust rests on a few consistent behaviors that show stakeholders who you are and what they can expect. Integrity, delivering results, and showing care together raise your credibility, reliability, and emotional safety. Below are concise explanations and practical ways to apply each behavior.

1. Acting with integrity

Acting with integrity means being honest and staying true to principles, even when it’s inconvenient. Integrity shows in transparent communication and admitting mistakes promptly. When people see consistent values, credibility and emotional safety increase. This behaviour signals that you can be relied on morally, not just technically.

2. Delivering results

Delivering results is about doing what you said you would do. Reliability, keeping promises, meeting expectations, and hitting deadlines, builds confidence in your competence. Results make trust tangible: people trust those who consistently produce outcomes. Being effective complements being likable and strengthens overall trustworthiness.

3. Showing care and concern

Showing care and concern requires active listening, empathy, and genuine interest in others’ needs. Emotional safety grows when you demonstrate understanding and create space for others to share concerns.

Sometimes you need to be vulnerable first to invite openness from stakeholders. This behaviour shifts attention from self-interest to the well‑being of others, thereby reducing resistance and deepening trust.

Self-Assessment and Concrete Actions for Strengthening Trust

Use the Trust Self-Assessment template to reflect on how you build and maintain trust with stakeholders.

Make the exercise practical by adding one concrete action in the template’s final column for each element.

For example, note a specific step to boost credibility, a habit to improve reliability, an action to show more empathy, or a behaviour that reduces visible self-interest.

Use the assessment to set focused development tasks and then ask a trusted colleague for feedback to get a dual perspective. This turns self-awareness into a clear plan to become someone stakeholders want to follow.

Why Trust is Important in Stakeholder Collaboration

Trust speeds up collaboration and the flow of information. When people trust each other, they engage more easily and support initiatives. Without trust, even the best ideas struggle to gain acceptance.

Trust replaces formal authority in horizontal organizations. It consists of credibility, reliability, emotional safety, and low self-orientation. When these four elements are present, decisions are made faster, and resistance is reduced.