Finding Your Trust Advantage
If 2025 has shown anything, it is that expertise and title are no longer enough to lead. The people others choose to follow in 2026 will be those who have built a visible, reliable trust advantage, leaders whose character, competence and reliability are evident from the first interaction onward. Trust is not just a metaphorical currency; it is the actual currency of business value. Leaders and organizations with a trust advantage grow faster, innovate more boldly and navigate uncertainty with less friction
When prospects and customers trust your sales and success teams, they
Buy faster and with more confidence even at a premium price
Stay longer and recommend you more often
When employees trust leadership, they
Experiment more, speak up sooner and move faster through change
Feel safe to surface bad news early and co-create better solutions
When teammates trust each other, they
Reduce friction, disengagement and turnover
Increase speed, accountability and shared ownership
Every industry has its oldest, largest, cheapest or most innovative player. Almost no one has intentionally claimed the mountaintop of most trustworthy, which means it is still an open, winnable advantage if you commit to it.
Trustworthiness Is a Skill
Here is the empowering truth: trustworthiness is not a fixed personality trait, it is a set of learnable, practicable skills and habits.
The skill of designing high trust first impressions
The skill of leading conversations that signal sincerity, curiosity and care
The habit of making and keeping responsible promises and restoring trust quickly when you inevitably fall short
Like any performance skill, these are built through deliberate practice, feedback and coaching, not through reading alone and certainly not by winging it in high stakes interactions. Yet very few leaders can honestly say they have spent focused time in the last year practicing how to create a fantastic high trust first impression.
In 2026, the leaders who stand out will be those who treat trust-building the way elite athletes treat their craft, something to be trained not assumed.
Finding Your Trust Advantage
The Trust Advantage Leadership Cohort at Habits at Work is designed as a 12-month high impact accelerator for leaders and high performing professionals who want to become the most trusted person in every room.
Watch the full video on here
Over the year, you will
Build identity trust by intentionally crafting high trust first impressions that answer Who are you and What do you want in ways that reduce the trust hole
Grow conversational trust by learning to listen with empathy, ask questions that build trust, give and receive feedback and lead high value conversations that move people into the future
Strengthen habit-based trust by practicing behaviors such as responsible promises, trust repair and high impact meeting habits until they become part of who you are
The structure reflects how adults actually learn
Monthly 2 hour live virtual workshops focused on one core high trust leadership habit at a time
Bimonthly 1 hour group coaching and practice sessions to turn skills into reflexes
Quarterly 30 minute one on one coaching sessions to target your unique trust gaps and strengths
A supportive community, Slack channel and habit guides to keep the work alive between sessions
This is not theoretical leadership training. It is a year of repeated, supported practice in the real moments where trust is won, lost or restored.
Your Next Step Toward Being the Most Trustworthy Leader
Taking the step to join the 2026 Trust Advantage Leadership Cohort is a decision to treat trust as the central asset of your leadership, not a byproduct. It is a commitment to close the gap between how trustworthy you truly are and how trustworthy others feel you to be so that your integrity, intentions and promises can finally have their full impact.
If the aim is to become the most trusted leader in the room, the journey starts now not later. Register here.