Trust is the Currency of Success

We think leadership is about being seen. We think teamwork is about showing up. Not anymore. 

I used to think the best way to lead was to be first in, last out. I’d plant myself in the office, sometimes trying to be as busy as possible—just to set the bar. It felt like leadership. At least, the version I’d inherited. But if I’m honest, some days the “busy” was just for show. Sometimes it got in the way of real work. Sometimes it kept me from where I actually needed to be: out of the trenches, seeing the bigger picture—something you can’t do when you’re buried on the front lines.

The flip side? Guilt. If I wasn’t in the office, doing the grind, I’d worry—was I letting the team down? Was I still a “real” leader if I wasn’t always shoulder-to-shoulder in the foxhole?

Fast forward: now our team is spread across six countries and just about every time zone the sun touches. We joke that the sun never sets on The Skin Deep, but it’s no joke—some of us are clocking off while others are just waking up. The work never really stops. Some of us haven’t even met in person. Nick, our head of marketing—I’ve never physically met him in nearly four years of working together. He swears he’s over six feet, but all I’ve seen is three buttons down from the collar.

We build together, but rarely in the same room. Sometimes, not even in the same day.

Which means, more than ever, our currency is trust.

I’ve written before: remote work isn’t the problem. Our refusal to adapt to its poetry is. We keep treating digital space like a cheap copy of the physical one. But digital distance? It’s not absence. It’s a mirror. It demands new rituals. A new kind of presence—one that isn’t about being watched, but about being felt.

How do you build trust in a world where you might not know how someone smells, how tall they are, or even if they’re wearing pants?

Here’s what I’ve learned:

One: Do the work. If you say you’ll get it done, get it done—even if nobody is watching.

Two: Be proactive. Don’t wait for a marching order. Own the outcome. Ride your own chariot.

Three: Take responsibility. If you screw up, say it. Claim it. That’s the quickest way to show your integrity and make yourself someone others can count on.

And as a leader, you have to let people make mistakes. That’s the only way anyone learns. You have to make room for growth, for someone to fall and then get up better than before. But if the mistakes keep repeating, it’s not a trust issue—it’s an attention issue. But lack of attention leads to a lack of trust. So beware.

And here’s something else: you have to use the tools at your disposal. There are advantages to meeting on Zoom or Google Meet you could never have in a physical room. There are ways of using technology—its language, its aesthetic, its functions—that can open up new possibilities for collaboration and transparency cultivating trust. Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.” It’s true here. Every platform has its own form, its own native way to build trust. Don’t treat digital space like a faded copy of physical space. Use the medium—its breakouts, its chat, its asynchronicity—to your advantage.

These days, I don’t care much about looking busy. I care if we trust each other enough to do the work, admit the misses, and get a little better every week.

Leadership isn’t about being seen anymore. It’s about making others feel safe enough to do their best work—even when you’re not in the room.

And teamwork? It’s not about showing up. It’s about developing trust.

So the question isn’t: How do we make sure everyone sees us working? The question is: How do we lead and collaborate so trust grows—even when no one’s looking?