5 Trust-Eroding Mistakes Leaders Make — and How to Avoid Them

Mistake No. 1: Overpromising and Saying Yes to Everything

“Leaders can have a tendency to overpromise,” Wegner said. This trap of overcommitment, while usually well-intentioned, can create a cycle where leaders’ words consistently fail to match their actions. 

The fix: Leaders should practice radical honesty about their true capacity and build in buffer time for unexpected challenges. “Leaders need self-awareness about their own behavioral patterns and limitations,” Diane Headley, vice president and chief people officer at the Ford Foundation, said on a recent All Things Work podcast. “One of my core values is integrity. If I can’t do something, I say I’m not able to do it. Honesty in relationships is crucial.”

Action step for leaders: Before your next team meeting, audit your current commitments. Have you made any promises you’re struggling to keep? If so, be proactive in communicating new timelines to your team and the reasons behind these changes.  

Mistake No. 2: Withholding Information in Times of Uncertainty

When facing the possibility of layoffs, budget cuts, or other organizational uncertainty, leaders may choose not to communicate because they lack certain details or answers, Wegner said: “They don’t have all the information, so they don’t say anything.” However, this silence can actually erode trust, as employees can usually sense that something is not right.  

The fix: Wegner emphasizes that “people are foundationally relatively rational” and can handle partial information if it’s presented honestly. Additionally, in Deloitte's Global Human Capital Trends Report 2024, 86% of workers ranked transparency between employees and their organization to be very or critically important.  

Action step for leaders: Create templates for communications you’d send to your employees that list what you know, what you don’t know, what you can’t share (and why), and when you’ll provide updates. Then, in times of uncertainty or change, use them.

Mistake No. 3: Dodging Difficult Conversations

Leaders may choose to avoid giving difficult feedback or having challenging conversations with team members. According to Wegner, this is often due to their own discomfort with conflict. While they may feel this approach helps preserve relationships in the short term, it can undermine trust over time.   

The fix: Leaders should recognize that feedback, both positive and constructive, is an investment in employees’ development and success. They should schedule regular check-ins with team members to make feedback part of their natural routine. Difficult conversations should focus on growth opportunities, Headley said: “Even when there are bumps in the road, there are real opportunities to learn, develop, and do better.”

Action step for leaders: Schedule a conversation with at least one team member in the next week. Focus on specific, observable behaviors and opportunities for improvement versus pointing out failures. Follow up within a week to close the loop and provide additional support and encouragement.   

Mistake No. 4: Making Decisions That Affect People Without Including Them

Leaders may exclude their team members from decisions or discussions that directly impact their workflow. This, Wegner said, can make people “feel like they don’t belong in some way.” 

The fix: Leaders should include employees in discussions about process, infrastructure, and change, even if it’s not immediately clear how it affects their team. Headley learned this during the Ford Foundation’s restructuring. “Inclusion is crucial during times of change,” she said.

Action step for leaders: Before making your next significant team decision, ask yourself: “Who will be affected by this, and how can I include their voice in the process?” Even better, involve team members at the beginning of the decision-making process, not just after options are already narrowed down. Invite them to weigh in on specific options or propose alternatives, especially when trade-offs are involved.  

Mistake No. 5: Not Positioning Themselves as a Strategic Partner

Leaders may see themselves as middle management “support staff” to higher-level executives, rather than as a strategic partner to them. Headley explained that this negative self-perception can impact how others view and trust your leadership. While leading a reflection exercise for her HR department, Headley discovered that everyone drew HR outside of the organization circle. “No wonder our clients didn’t see us as part of the organization,” she said. “We didn’t see ourselves as part of it.”  

The fix: Leaders should have confidence in the strengths they bring to the table. They should remind themselves they were hired for a reason, so they should feel empowered to be decisive and take ownership of both their successes and failures. Even when struggling with imposter syndrome, “fake it till you make it,” Headley advised. 

Action step for leaders: In your next interaction with a higher-level executive, frame your updates and proposals in terms of how they advance the organization’s strategic goals. Speak in terms of return on investment, risk, growth, and market opportunity, all grounded in data. Ultimately, executives are looking for people who “get it” — who can connect their work to enterprise-level challenges and outcomes.  

Lin Grensing-Pophal, SHRM-SCP, is a freelance writer based in Minnesota.