Why Authentic Trust Beats Transactional Trust Every Time

Stop treating trust as workplace currency and start living it as a cultural value

Rifky Nur Setyadi (Indonesia)/Unsplash+

When there’s conflict, everyone expects others to make the first move.

I witnessed this dynamic with a leadership team sitting across from each other like strangers at a dinner party—polite, guarded, and silent. The tech company had invested billions in AI innovation, but OpenAI was gaining ground faster. To regain their edge, they hired senior executives from their rivals.

The divide was obvious: veterans vs newcomers. The veterans had driven many recent successes. The newcomers had beaten them where it hurt most. Both groups needed each other—one possessed the internal reputation and knowledge, the other the ability to move fast and take risks. Yet, they were stuck in a standoff.

When I asked them to share their feelings about this divide, the floodgates opened.

“It's hard to trust people you don't know,” the veterans insisted.

“They don't trust us because we’re challenging their views,” the newcomers countered.

Everyone agreed on one thing: They couldn’t trust others because they didn’t feel trusted first. This blame game meant everyone expected others to fix things rather than taking responsibility themselves.

Everything changed when I redirected their focus inward. “What’s your usual approach to trust? Do you assume trust, or do you believe it should be earned? Do you start new relationships with a full trust battery or an empty one?”

This highlights the fundamental issue with trust: Most teams treat it like a transaction, waiting for others to invest first. But trust depends less on others’ actions and more on our own. Instead of evaluating whether others are trustworthy, start by examining your own approach to trust.

Why Transactional Trust Never Lasts

Often, teams approach trust like a business transaction built on a simple assumption: trust must be earned. People need to show they deserve your trust before you invest in them.

It works like this: You deposit good behavior, I deposit good behavior, and we build up “trust credits” we can use later. This seems fair and logical.

However, this transactional mindset creates shallow relationships, not strong teams. Surviving betrayal makes us overly cautious—as psychologist Joshua Coleman notes. We start every relationship in defensive mode, demanding proof before we invest.

In that conference room, I introduced the concept of the trust battery—every relationship starts with a certain charge level. Instead of asking them to rate their colleagues, I asked them to examine their own approach.

"When you meet a new colleague, what's your default setting? Do you start at 80% and trust until proven otherwise? Or start at 20% and make them earn your trust?”

One veteran admitted he started every relationship at 30%, requiring others to prove themselves before earning more trust. A newcomer shared that she began at 70% but a single mistake would drain her trust battery completely. Many started trusting, but when someone broke a promise, they said rebuilding trust would take a long time.

This created a vicious cycle: Veterans withheld information until new hires proved themselves trustworthy. Newcomers worked while hiding new ideas, fearing veterans would block them. Both sides were calculating risk rather than building relationships, which actually created the distrust they feared.

When trust is missing, it spreads through a team like a virus. It creates silos that hurt collaboration, and it promotes favoritism over performance.

Transactional trust is the shallowest form of trust—and unfortunately, it’s also the most common at work. Edgar and Peter Schein identified three levels of workplace relationships:

Level 1 – Transactional:

Relationships based on roles and tasks. Interactions might be polite but remain impersonal. Trust is limited to doing your job.

Level 2 – Personal:

People connect with each other as real human beings with genuine empathy. Openness and trust are central—everyone feels safe to share ideas or admit mistakes.

Level 3 – Intimate:

Relationships with deep commitment, like having close friends at work. These often develop when people go through intense experiences together. If taken too far, it can lead to favoritism.

Teams should aim for Level 2—and they should appreciate when pockets of Level 3 naturally form.

Most teams get stuck at Level 1, the least effective level. Transactional relationships promote what the Scheins call The Concealed Self. You're not building trust with the real person but with their professional mask.

Transactional trust is fragile. When someone screws up, trust evaporates because it was never a true commitment.

When everyone waits for others to make the first move, nobody does. Trust becomes pure quid pro quo—I'll give you something only after you give me something. Both groups end up modeling exactly what they wanted to avoid: distrustful relationships. They’re betting on what they can get, not on their colleagues.

Trust Is Human Nature, Not Risk Management

When you meet someone new, do you trust them right away or wait for them to earn your trust?

In the tech company story, the team realized that everyone had different approaches to trust. This made it hard to build a sense of belonging when the team lacked shared norms.

The big breakthrough came when people looked at their own behavior instead of blaming others. Those who started with an empty battery made colleagues feel under constant scrutiny. Those invested upfront felt hurt when others didn’t reciprocate. Keeping information to themselves only created more distance.

This aligns with how we’re naturally wired as humans: We’re built to work together, not calculate. In a study by philosopher Paul Faulkner, people played the "trust game"—one person gave money to another, who could then choose to share the returns or keep everything. Most people chose to share back, even when they didn't have to. We naturally want to return trust with trust, choosing teamwork over selfishness.

Trust is really about who we choose to be as human beings.

When we approach trust transactionally—“I’ll trust you if you prove you're trustworthy”—we put all the responsibility on others.

When we approach trust authentically—"I choose to be someone who believes in people”—it’s a personal choice.

Aristotle talked about this centuries ago. He described three kinds of relationships: those based on mutual benefit (what you can do for me), those based on pleasure (how you make me feel), and those based on virtue (appreciating who you are as a person).

Transactional trust creates shallow relationships that break at the first disappointment. Authentic trust builds relationships that can weather storms because they're based on respect for the whole person, not just their latest performance.

This doesn’t mean being naive. Yes, some people might take advantage of you, but most of your colleagues have good intentions—just like you. When you act guarded, you actually signal to trustworthy people that you might not be trustworthy.

Trust is an investment: Focus on the long run, not on the short-term return.

Six Ways to Model Authentic Trust

1. Reflect on your trust defaults:

Building authentic, trusting relationships starts with you. Do you think trust is assumed or earned? Do you tend to trust people first or expect them to demonstrate they’re trustworthy first?

This is not a right-or-wrong exercise but an honest assessment of your default approach to trust. Some people assume positive intent until proven otherwise. Others want to see the evidence first.

2. Start with a half-full battery:

Successful teams act as if trust is already there—they assume it rather than expecting people to earn it. As a rule of thumb, begin new projects or relationships with at least a 50% full battery.

Assuming positive intent should be your norm, especially when something goes wrong. Before jumping to conclusions, consider all possibilities and keep your mind open. What’s your starting point?

3. Take the first step:

You harvest what you sow in relationships. Trust is a two-way street, and someone needs to model the expected behavior. This isn’t risk-free, and I’d be lying if I told you otherwise. However, in my work with countless executive teams, it usually pays off.

When you model openness, others feel permission to reciprocate.

4. Focus on patterns, not incidents:

Trust is dynamic, but it shouldn’t oscillate in response to every event. Character reveals itself through consistency, not single moments. One missed deadline shows the circumstances. Three show reliability issues. One heated discussion shows passion. Constant conflict shows something else.

Judge people by their trends over time, not their worst day. When someone disappoints you, ask: Is this a pattern or a one-off?

5. Choose virtue over transaction:

Don’t treat trust like a balance sheet, comparing how much people put in. Instead of asking if people are trustworthy, consider if trusting them is worth the risk. Most people want to do meaningful work and be valued team contributors.

When you approach people expecting the best, you often get it. Not everyone will deserve your trust, but the majority will confirm you made the right choice by treating trust as a virtue, not a transaction.

6. Separate professional identity from character:

Someone’s role isn’t their personality. That veteran who questions every new idea might have wisdom from past failures you haven't considered.

That newcomer pushing for change might see opportunities you've become blind to. Focus on character, not labels. What assumptions about your colleagues are getting in your way?

Trust Is a Value, Not Currency

Trust becomes transformational when you stop treating it like currency and start approaching it as a cultural value.

Currency fluctuates based on external conditions—what others are willing to give. Values stay constant no matter the circumstances. They guide your behavior, whether or not others reciprocate.

When trust becomes a value rather than a transaction, you're no longer keeping score. You're not calculating whether others deserve your investment based on their past performance or current behavior. You're choosing to be trustworthy because that's who you are.

Struggling with team trust? Book a call and let me help you create the high-trust culture your team needs to thrive.

Connect & Work With Gustavo

• New to this newsletter? Subscribe for free.

• Let’s connect on LinkedIn

• Schedule a free consultation call to discuss your culture design project. and how we help teams and organizations build fearless cultures

• Join the Culture Design Masterclass. Master the most effective framework for making culture tangible and actionable. Book your seat now.