I was driving along listening to the audio book Trust, by Henry Cloud (Faith Words, 2023). When the person reading the book made the comment, “Trustworthy leaders make their teams care less,” I almost had to pull over. Hearing that made me question exactly what they were talking about.

However, the more I listened, the more I thought about my own experiences and said, “They’re exactly right!” This counterintuitive notion of caring less started to make sense when I considered the ways that trustworthy leaders enable their teams to focus on what truly matters.

Here are four ways I believe leaders who lead with a high degree of trust make their teams care less about the little things and more about what really matters.

1. Foster an environment of open communication

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