Trust isn't a soft skill. It's a discipline.
In this powerful conversation, Charles Good sits down with Dr. Dennis Reina and Dr. Michelle Reina, the pioneers of behavioral trust research and authors of the new masterwork The Art of Trust Building, to break down what trust really is, how it's built, how it breaks, and how leaders can rebuild it stronger than before.
For over three decades, the Reinas have shown organizations that trust is not a personality trait or a poster value. It is a set of specific, observable, measurable behaviors and that means it can be coached, scaled, and transformed at every level of leadership.
In an era of hybrid work, accelerating AI integration, and constant organizational change, the informal proximity-based trust-building of the past no longer works. Leaders today must build trust intentionally, one behavior at a time.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
✔ Why 90% of trust breaks are subtle, unintentional — and avoidable
✔ The Three Dimensions of Trust®: Character, Communication, and Capability
✔ How to measure trust in your team — and what shocks leaders when they see the data
✔ The everyday habits that quietly erode Trust of Character
✔ Why most leaders overestimate their own communication transparency
✔ How over-control and "rescuing" signal capability distrust
✔ Self-trust: the overlooked foundation of every trustworthy leader
✔ The Seven Steps for Healing® — the path from breach to repair
✔ How small ripple-effect behaviors cascade through entire organizations
✔ Why trust is the currency that powers change — especially in the AI era
✔ The role of specific, grounded gratitude as a trust-building practice
✔ The one daily question every leader should ask themselves tonight
If you lead people, at any level, this conversation will reframe what leadership actually requires.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Dr. Dennis Reina & Dr. Michelle ReinaCo-founders of Reina Trust Building® and authors of the foundational Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace (1999) and the newly released The Art of Trust Building. Their research has shaped how Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and global organizations understand and operationalize trust. They are the creators of the Reina Trust and Betrayal Model®, the Three Dimensions of Trust®, the Reina Team Trust Scale®, and the Reina Individual Trust Scale®, the most widely used behavioral trust assessments in the world.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
"Trust is not soft. It is hard and essential."
"Trust is an energy field, you can feel it.""Transparency and honesty are the foundation."
"Trust is the currency that powers change."🧭
CHAPTERS
00:00 The Foundation of Trust
03:42 Personal Journeys and Trust Development
07:25 The Evolution of Trust in the Workplace
10:23 Measuring Trust: Making the Invisible Visible
15:14 The Three Dimensions of Trust
19:20 Character: The Core of Trustworthiness
25:01 Communication: The Key to Transparency
30:17 Capability: Empowering Others Through Trust
34:49 Healing Trust After a Breach
37:54 The Seven Steps to Rebuilding Trust
43:38 Creating Conditions for Trust Conversations
48:07 The Role of Gratitude in Trust Building
51:25 Common Misconceptions About Trust
55:06 Final Insights and Takeaways
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