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Welcome! If you've ever felt that something is 'off' about a colleague's friendly words, you're not imagining it. Not all pleasant interactions actually build trust at work. Some habits look helpful on the surface but quietly erode confidence over time. These counterfeit behaviours resemble genuine trust-building, but they fall apart under pressure—like knockoff products that promise the world but deliver disappointment. Here's how to spot these look-alikes and replace them with behaviours that truly grow trust.
Spot 'Spin' in Your Workplace
Spin sounds polished and professional, but it forces people to decode your message. When someone uses jargon, vague language, or overly diplomatic phrasing, colleagues are left guessing what they actually mean. This creates confusion and doubt—the exact opposite of trust.
Watch for these signs of spin:
- You hear different versions of the same message depending on who's in the room
- Key facts are buried in flowery language
- People leave meetings unclear about next steps
When your team has to read between the lines, trust quietly leaks away. They start wondering what you're really saying and why you won't just say it.
Talk Straight Instead
Here's the swap: say the same thing in the meeting that you'd say after the meeting. Talk straight by choosing clarity over charm. Use simple, direct language that leaves no room for misinterpretation.
Practical ways to talk straight:
- State your main point in the first sentence
- Use concrete examples instead of abstract concepts
- Say 'I don't know' when you don't know, rather than spinning a non-answer
When you talk straight, people can act immediately. They stop wasting mental energy on decoding and start investing it in doing great work. That's when trust accelerates performance.
Recognise Selective Sharing
Partial updates feel like transparency—until colleagues realise crucial context is missing. Selective sharing happens when you share only the good news, only the parts that make you look competent, or only the information that serves your agenda. When key details are withheld, people fill the gaps with worry and speculation.
Signs of selective sharing include:
- Important decisions announced with no explanation of the reasoning
- Data shared without the full picture
- Team members hearing critical information through the grapevine instead of directly
This counterfeit behaviour destroys trust faster than outright secrecy because it feels deliberately misleading.
Create Transparency as Your Default
The genuine alternative is creating transparency. Share relevant information and the reasons behind decisions, not just the headline. Give people the full picture—including the messy bits, the trade-offs, and the uncertainties.
Build transparency through:
- Explaining the 'why' behind every significant decision
- Sharing both successes and setbacks
- Inviting questions and actually answering them
- Making information accessible to everyone who needs it
Transparency makes your intentions visible and reliable. People stop filling in the blanks with anxious assumptions and start trusting that you'll keep them informed.
The Trust Dividend
These small, daily swaps from counterfeit to genuine behaviours transform workplace relationships. Over time, talking straight and creating transparency turn down defensiveness and speed up decisions. People stop reading between the lines and start taking you at your word. Collaboration flows more smoothly. Mistakes get caught earlier. Innovation happens faster because people feel safe to contribute ideas.
That's when trust becomes a performance multiplier instead of a question mark. You've replaced behaviours that looked nice but drained confidence with ones that genuinely build it.
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