Effective inner leadership can take place only within a context where both leaders and followers can be free to trust the purposes, actions, and intent of others.

Shaping such a culture lets inner leaders create a mental and physical context within which they can in fact lead.

We can define trust as reliance on the integrity or authenticity of others. It is a logical, thoughtful hope in their reality, their authenticity, and their truth.

Trust places obligations on both the truster and the person trusted.

Trust is a risk relationship, but a necessary one. When we trust another person, we agree to accept as true what we can now only assume is true.

Leaders cannot demand trust of another or in themselves. It must be earned and developed, and it takes time.

Inner leaders communicate their trustworthiness as they are open about themselves and others.

When followers have a perception that their leaders authentically care for them, see them as open, and feel that they are personally interested in them, they are inclined to trust them.

Developing trustworthiness is difficult. Developing a capacity to trust others is equally difficult.

Inner leaders come to trust those whom they think have moral character.

While inner leaders may volunteer their trust on first meeting, a fully trusting relationship has to mature out of the matrix of shared experiences.

Trust is, in part at least, a gift from one person to another.

The followers' capacity to make decisions that are perceived to be right, correct, and appropriate by inner leaders increases their trust quotient with them.

How is trust important in keeping my work unit together? Compare it with other factors like formal communications systems, fear, and the like.

Am I trustworthy?

Am I a willing to trust others?

Am I willing to take the risk to let others take control of the work because I trust the intentions and talents of my coworkers?

Do I really grasp the power of trust to keep relationships and work communities together?

Is trust the glue that keeps my work unit together, or is some other concept at work (i.e., fear, transactional exchanges, etc.). Elaborate on this idea.

Do I trust my coworkers enough to let them follow simple guidelines rather than strict and detailed rules?