Trust is not a soft concept. It is not a feeling, a personality trait, or a byproduct of good intentions. Trust is an operational asset. Teams with high trust move faster, communicate more openly, recover from mistakes quicker, and outperform teams that rely solely on authority or process. Leaders who understand how trust is built at a structural level gain a decisive advantage.
One of the most practical and elegant ways to understand trust is through the Trust Triangle:
Authenticity, Logic, and Empathy.
These three elements form a stable structure. Remove one, and trust weakens. Strengthen all three, and trust becomes durable, even under pressure. The model reveals that trust is not created by charisma alone, nor by competence alone, nor by kindness alone. It emerges at the intersection of being real, being rational, and being relational.
This article explores each side of the Trust Triangle in depth, explains how they interact, and provides concrete leadership practices for turning the model into daily behavior.
Why trust needs structure
Many leaders believe trust grows naturally over time. Time helps, but time without clarity often produces familiarity, not trust. True trust requires predictability, coherence, and alignment between words, decisions, and behavior.
The Trust Triangle gives leaders a diagnostic lens:
- If people doubt your authenticity, they question your motives.
- If people doubt your logic, they question your judgment.
- If people doubt your empathy, they question whether you care.
Any one of these doubts erodes trust, even if the other two are strong.
Trust is therefore not a single dimension. It is a system.
Authenticity: Being real before being impressive
Authenticity means being genuine and true to yourself. But in leadership, authenticity is not about self-expression. It is about self-alignment. Your values, intentions, words, and actions point in the same direction.
People quickly sense when a leader is performing a role instead of inhabiting it. They notice when language changes depending on audience. They detect when leaders say what sounds good instead of what is true.
Authenticity creates trust because it reduces uncertainty. When people believe they are seeing the real person, they can predict behavior. Predictability breeds psychological safety.
Authentic leaders:
- Admit what they do not know
- Own mistakes without deflection
- Speak consistently across contexts
- Share reasoning, not just conclusions
Authenticity does not mean oversharing emotions or abandoning professionalism. It means not hiding behind a false version of yourself.
A powerful paradox exists:
Leaders often fear that showing imperfection weakens authority. In reality, concealed imperfection destroys credibility, while acknowledged imperfection strengthens it.
When a leader says:
“I made the wrong call. Here’s what I learned. Here’s what we’ll change.”
Trust increases.
Why? Because reality is confirmed. No one in the room believed the leader was flawless. Honesty aligns perception with truth.
Authenticity is also visible in boundaries. Leaders who constantly shift values to avoid discomfort appear adaptive but are experienced as unstable. Authentic leaders can be flexible in methods while firm in principles.
Ask yourself:
- Do I say the same thing privately and publicly?
- Do my decisions reflect my stated values?
- Do people know what I stand for?
If not, authenticity is leaking.
Logic: Making sense builds confidence
Logic refers to the quality of your reasoning. It answers the question:
“Does this make sense?”
People do not need to agree with every decision to trust it. But they need to understand how the decision was reached.
When logic is absent, people invent explanations. These explanations are rarely generous.
Leaders often underestimate how much trust depends on transparent thinking.
Logical leadership includes:
- Clear problem framing
- Explicit assumptions
- Visible trade-offs
- Coherent cause-and-effect explanations
This does not require academic complexity. It requires structured thinking and communication.
For example:
“We’re prioritizing Market A over Market B this quarter because Market A has shorter sales cycles, lower acquisition cost, and existing references. That gives us faster cash flow, which we need before expanding further.”
Even if someone disagrees, they can follow the logic. That preserves trust.
Without logic, decisions feel arbitrary. Arbitrary decisions feel unsafe.
Logic also protects leaders from being seen as impulsive. Rapid decisions can still be logical if reasoning is articulated.
Another critical aspect of logic is consistency. If similar situations receive radically different treatment without explanation, people assume favoritism or hidden agendas.
Trust suffers not because people dislike the outcome, but because they cannot map the pattern.
Ask yourself:
- Can I explain my decisions in three clear steps?
- Do my choices align with our stated strategy?
- Do people understand the “why” behind priorities?
If not, logic is weakening trust.
Empathy: Demonstrating that people matter
Empathy is the capacity to understand and acknowledge others’ experiences. It does not require agreement. It requires recognition.
Empathy answers the question:
“Do you see me?”
People can tolerate hard decisions. They struggle with being treated as invisible.
Empathetic leadership includes:
- Active listening
- Reflecting emotions
- Considering impact, not just intent
- Adjusting communication style to context
A simple example:
“I know this change creates uncertainty. That’s hard. Let me explain what we know, what we don’t know yet, and what support is available.”
This sentence does not change the change. But it changes how people experience it.
Empathy builds trust because it affirms human dignity.
A common misconception is that empathy weakens performance standards. In reality, empathy strengthens accountability. When people feel respected, they accept difficult feedback more readily.
Contrast:
“You missed the deadline. This can’t happen again.”
versus
“I see you’ve been stretched thin, and I appreciate your effort. The deadline was still critical. Let’s talk about what blocked you and how we prevent it next time.”
Same standard. Different trust outcome.
Empathy also requires curiosity. Leaders who assume motives instead of exploring them create distance.
Ask yourself:
- Do I ask before I judge?
- Do I acknowledge emotions even when I cannot change circumstances?
- Do people feel safe bringing concerns to me?
If not, empathy is underdeveloped.
The multiplicative effect
The three sides of the triangle multiply each other.
High authenticity + high logic but low empathy = respected but feared leader.
High empathy + high authenticity but low logic = liked but not trusted with direction.
High logic + high empathy but low authenticity = polished but perceived as political.
Trust becomes robust only when all three are present.
Think of trust not as a score, but as a structure. A weak beam compromises the entire building.
Practical applications
1. Decision Communication Framework
Before announcing decisions, check:
- Authenticity: Am I being honest about constraints?
- Logic: Can I clearly explain reasoning?
- Empathy: Have I considered emotional impact?
Structure communication accordingly.
2. Feedback Loops
Invite feedback on all three dimensions:
- Do I come across as genuine?
- Are my explanations clear?
- Do you feel heard?
Few leaders ask these questions. Those who do accelerate trust dramatically.
3. Personal Calibration
At the end of each week, reflect:
- Where did I avoid honesty?
- Where did I fail to explain?
- Where did I dismiss emotions?
Small corrections compound.
Trust as a leadership discipline
Trust is not built through occasional grand gestures. It is built through hundreds of small moments.
How you respond to bad news.
How you explain trade-offs.
How you handle disagreement.
How you speak when no one is watching.
The Trust Triangle offers a daily compass.
Authenticity keeps you grounded.
Logic keeps you credible.
Empathy keeps you human.
When these three operate together, trust stops being fragile. It becomes a stable platform for performance, innovation, and resilience.
In high-trust teams, energy is spent on solving problems instead of protecting egos. That is the real return on trust.
This article is part of a five-article series, at Dreieskiva, on trust models in leadership:
- The Nine Habits of Trust — Practical daily behaviors that grow trust
- The 3 Cs Model of Trust — Competence, Character, Connection
- The Five Dimensions of Trust — Honesty, Respect, Fairness, Openness, Reliability
- The Trust Equation — Credibility, Reliability, Vulnerability, Ego
- The Trust Triangle — Authenticity, Logic, Empathy
Each model offers a unique lens, but they converge on the same principle: trust is deliberate, observable, and repeatable.
DREIESKIVA|Roald Kvam 
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