This past weekend, I volunteered at the Ironman Wisconsin. My job was to stand at the edge of the lake and help athletes out of the water after their 2.4-mile swim. It was one of those moments where you see the whole spectrum of human experience in a matter of minutes. Some athletes charged forward with confidence, hardly missing a stroke. Some waved me off with a smile, determined to stay fully in control. Others reached lightly for a hand to steady themselves. And a few held on tight, clinging until their legs remembered how to work again.
As volunteers, we treated everyone the same: steady hand out, no judgment, no assumptions. Let them swim their race, and be there if they need us as a safety net.
That’s what trust looks like at work, too. Not everyone needs it in the same way or at the same time, but everyone relies on it eventually. The safety net doesn’t take away independence. It allows people to stretch farther because they know the support will be there if they stumble.
Why the Safety Net of Trust Matters
I’ve seen what happens when teams are working with no safety net at all, and it isn’t pretty. Ideas stay locked away, people guard information like currency, and collaboration shrivels. Without trust, even talented teams start playing small.
Some teams are still figuring out how to build trust, and that’s important work. However, this article is intended for teams that already have a net in place and want to utilize it more fully. Your team trusts each other, shows up with respect, and works well together. The foundation is strong. The question is: Are you actually using that net to its full advantage?
A safety net isn’t just there to break a fall. It’s there to make bigger leaps possible. When people know they’ll be supported, they take risks, bring forward daring ideas, and step into challenges they might have avoided. The stronger the net, the farther your team can go.
Here are seven ways to keep weaving that net tighter so your team can keep pushing into what’s possible.
Seven Ways to Strengthen Your Team’s Trust Safety Net
1. If the next level for your team is creativity…
- Do try building in unstructured time. When people know not every minute has to be “productive,” they take bolder leaps with their thinking.
- Don’t fill every agenda with back-to-back tasks or measure output only in hours logged.
2. If the next level for your team is accountability…
- Do hold yourself publicly accountable. When leaders own their misses, the net feels stronger for everyone else.
- Don’t quietly gloss over mistakes or only call out accountability when it applies to others.
3. If the next level for your team is innovation…
- Do celebrate small experiments. Shine a light on pilot projects and test runs so people see experimentation as safe, not risky.
- Don’t only reward big wins or treat failed experiments as wasted time.
4. If the next level for your team is bolder or stronger ideas…
- Do create opportunities for judgment-free brainstorming. Make it clear that half-formed thoughts and wild suggestions are welcome. Trust grows when people know their contributions won’t be shot down.
- Don’t critique too quickly or let the loudest voices dominate the room.
5. If the next level for your team is more buy-in for decisions…
- Do be transparent about the “why.” Even when the answer isn’t what everyone wanted, explaining your reasoning builds confidence that the process is fair.
- Don’t make choices behind closed doors and expect everyone to jump on board.
6. If the next level for your team is stronger collaboration…
- Do make asking for help or new perspectives part of the routine. Encourage people to ask and offer support without apology. The more casual the exchange, the stronger the safety net feels.
- Don’t treat asking for help as a weakness or make people earn the right to receive support.
7. If the next level for your team is more resilience…
- Do normalize recovery. Acknowledge when someone stumbles, and give them space to reset. Trust grows when it’s safe to regroup without stigma.
- Don’t expect people to bounce back instantly or pretend nothing happened.
Trust Gets Stronger Every Time You Use It
Trust isn’t something you build once and forget about. It’s alive, shifting with circumstances, showing up differently for different people in different moments. Some days you’re sprinting ahead, some days you’re steadying someone else, and some days you’re the one reaching for the net. What matters is that it’s always there, free of judgment, ready to hold.
Strong teams don’t settle for being fine. They keep strengthening that net, daring bigger leaps, and discovering just how far they can go together.
Looking for more information about team development? Be sure to check out our Leader’s Guide to Building Stronger Teams.
