The Match: Trust
Welcome to The Match!
We’re starting with something that’s at the heart of every real connection: Trust.
Word: Trust
Sentence:
Every leadership move rises or falls on the trust you’ve built or broken.
Passage:
You can’t move too fast too soon. Not until people trust that you mean what you say. Every shift we tried to make—restorative practices, teacher meetings, student voice—only moved as far as the relationships behind it. And trust didn’t come from titles or talk. It came from showing up. Being consistent. Following through. Owning your mistakes.
I learned pretty quickly that people don’t follow plans. They follow presence. Teachers had to know I had their back. Students had to believe I saw something in them, even when they were struggling. The community had to feel like we weren’t just passing through. Without that foundation, even the best ideas fall flat.
Trust is built moment by moment. In how you listen. In how you show up—especially when it’s hard or inconvenient. In how you treat people when no one’s watching. From custodians to community partners, everyone deserves the same version of you every day. That’s what earns you the right to lead.
Your Turn:
How are you earning trust right now?
Tell me how this shows up in your leadership—I’m here for the conversation.
13 Comments
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13 Comments
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on August 8, 2025 at 1:57 pm
Trust happens through shared experience. By “shared” I mean engaged, multi-way interaction that includes multiple dimensions–affective, analytical, inquiry, action, reflection, renewal. This is why I believe that progress–improvement–must be collaborative. Without the deep, shared experience trust is not likely. Without trust, there is no real progress.
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on August 8, 2025 at 2:31 pm
Thanks for sending this David! I really appreciate how you’ve framed trust as something built through shared experience, not just shared space. The layers you named “action, reflection, renewal” capture the full arc of what real collaboration looks like. Progress that lasts almost always comes from that kind mutual investment.
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on August 8, 2025 at 4:15 pm
Chad, here at Bash, I have been accountable to both my customers and my staff. I never ask one of my people to do a job I would not do myself (and have done them all!) or pitch in to do with them. Also, they know when I’m wrong I admit it. When we make a mistake with a customer, I apologize and find ways to make it up to them — usually in some monetary way, either by refund or adding complementary lessons to their account. They know they can count on me to treat them fairly.
We’re just hitting 19 years in business and I know how I have treated both my customers and staff has everything to do with that.
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Vulnerability is a leadership strength, and despite the alpha leadership we often see in the media, people need to know their leader has empathy and sympathy or they will leave. Two decades at Bash means your actions and your words align! Thanks for sharing and I hope to continue these conversations with you as we unpack leadership together!
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on August 8, 2025 at 4:40 pm
I’m earning trust by being responsive and apply actions after requests. When people come to me more with concerns and the go to person, I feel the trust is growing and aligns to my servant leadership approach. My two cents!
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Thanks Jeff, this is true selfless leadership! You lead from your feet, and not from your seat! Trust in action!
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on August 9, 2025 at 11:13 am
Timely and fantastic reminder to recenter on trust! The team and I have built trust by listening, and being clear when we aren’t able to listen in that moment. We trust each other to lead our work and stay connected on progress. This sometimes means we miss a connection, but we trust the intention and the work each other is pouring into the projects. Our trust has developed over time, meaningful conversations, and SHOWING we listened and heard what each other was talking about.
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Andy, I like that you are so honest with people that you inform them when the moment is right to listen. Also, one of the biggest skills here is making sure you can repeat back what those meaningful conversations were about, this is how people feel heard when you can bring those conversations back again when the moment is right. Love this! Thanks for sharing!
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on August 12, 2025 at 2:36 pm
Trust is one of the most important aspects of life. When you are trusted by others, when you trust others, when you believe that to break that trust you have committed a vile act. Trust can bring people together in common causes even if they come from different cultures, economic status, education.. Where there is Trust, there is strenght. Paradoxically, trust is very fragile and when broken is never really able to be restored.
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I appreciate you sharing this—it’s a powerful reflection Dorothy!
I agree that trust can bridge so many divides and bring people together across differences. I’ve also seen how fragile it can be, and how difficult it is to rebuild once it’s broken. I do wonder, though, if sometimes trust can be reimagined rather than restored—different than before, but still strong in its own way. I wonder have you seen trust survive or evolve after it’s been tested?
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It can never be restored completely except over a long time of keeping a 1/2 step back and never fully committing in the way it was before the trust was broken. And yes, there can be a re-imagining but that wariness will always exist even if the relationship is healed. Ah well.
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on August 22, 2025 at 4:58 pm
This is my second time reading this post and it continues to hit home. Thanks for starting this Chad!
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Thanks Nicole! Welcome to The Match, I know you have that fire in your heart for the work and I just hope these short moments of reflection can help keep your fire lit.
Trust happens through shared experience. By “shared” I mean engaged, multi-way interaction that includes multiple dimensions–affective, analytical, inquiry, action, reflection, renewal. This is why I believe that progress–improvement–must be collaborative. Without the deep, shared experience trust is not likely. Without trust, there is no real progress.
Thanks for sending this David! I really appreciate how you’ve framed trust as something built through shared experience, not just shared space. The layers you named “action, reflection, renewal” capture the full arc of what real collaboration looks like. Progress that lasts almost always comes from that kind mutual investment.
Chad, here at Bash, I have been accountable to both my customers and my staff. I never ask one of my people to do a job I would not do myself (and have done them all!) or pitch in to do with them. Also, they know when I’m wrong I admit it. When we make a mistake with a customer, I apologize and find ways to make it up to them — usually in some monetary way, either by refund or adding complementary lessons to their account. They know they can count on me to treat them fairly.
We’re just hitting 19 years in business and I know how I have treated both my customers and staff has everything to do with that.
Vulnerability is a leadership strength, and despite the alpha leadership we often see in the media, people need to know their leader has empathy and sympathy or they will leave. Two decades at Bash means your actions and your words align! Thanks for sharing and I hope to continue these conversations with you as we unpack leadership together!
I’m earning trust by being responsive and apply actions after requests. When people come to me more with concerns and the go to person, I feel the trust is growing and aligns to my servant leadership approach. My two cents!
Thanks Jeff, this is true selfless leadership! You lead from your feet, and not from your seat! Trust in action!
Timely and fantastic reminder to recenter on trust! The team and I have built trust by listening, and being clear when we aren’t able to listen in that moment. We trust each other to lead our work and stay connected on progress. This sometimes means we miss a connection, but we trust the intention and the work each other is pouring into the projects. Our trust has developed over time, meaningful conversations, and SHOWING we listened and heard what each other was talking about.
Andy, I like that you are so honest with people that you inform them when the moment is right to listen. Also, one of the biggest skills here is making sure you can repeat back what those meaningful conversations were about, this is how people feel heard when you can bring those conversations back again when the moment is right. Love this! Thanks for sharing!
Trust is one of the most important aspects of life. When you are trusted by others, when you trust others, when you believe that to break that trust you have committed a vile act. Trust can bring people together in common causes even if they come from different cultures, economic status, education.. Where there is Trust, there is strenght. Paradoxically, trust is very fragile and when broken is never really able to be restored.
I appreciate you sharing this—it’s a powerful reflection Dorothy!
I agree that trust can bridge so many divides and bring people together across differences. I’ve also seen how fragile it can be, and how difficult it is to rebuild once it’s broken. I do wonder, though, if sometimes trust can be reimagined rather than restored—different than before, but still strong in its own way. I wonder have you seen trust survive or evolve after it’s been tested?
It can never be restored completely except over a long time of keeping a 1/2 step back and never fully committing in the way it was before the trust was broken. And yes, there can be a re-imagining but that wariness will always exist even if the relationship is healed. Ah well.
This is my second time reading this post and it continues to hit home. Thanks for starting this Chad!
Thanks Nicole! Welcome to The Match, I know you have that fire in your heart for the work and I just hope these short moments of reflection can help keep your fire lit.