Charging your trust battery at work 🔋

The uncomfy truth about why some people get autonomy, cool projects, and promotions (while others don't)

Hello dear Builders! I’ve referenced the concept of a “trust battery” in my day job like five times in the last week so I wrote about it. How do you build trust in your organization?

-Nickey

Trust matters at work. What's wild, though – after years operating at top growth-stage companies, I rarely see people approach building trust strategically - even though it’s one of the most important things they can do for their career.

If you are trusted at work, you will:

• get cool projects

• get the autonomy you need to crush those projects

• get promoted

• and make more money

I’ve seen early-career people join companies and assume that they can ship something on day zero. I’ve also seen seasoned industry hires, people with ten-plus years of experience, assume their past experience elsewhere will allow them to operate with minimal constraints somewhere new. Keep dreaming!

Enter the Trust Battery 🔋

You know we love a cheeky metaphor to communicate a concept so here we go … every action at work either charges or drains your trust battery.

Ship great work? Battery up. Miss deadlines? Battery down.

Here's what people miss: your career moves at the speed of your trust battery's charge.

Storytime

My desk on my first day at Airbnb 🎉

When I jumped from Etsy to Airbnb in 2017, I started ready to hit the ground running. 7-years of experience at Etsy, and I was used to full autonomy and the freedom to ship with minimal oversight. I expected the same at Airbnb. In reality, it took me a year to build the relationships and trust I needed to operate like I had in my former job.

And this wasn’t just an Airbnb culture trap; it happens at Duolingo, too. When you join, you don’t pick-up where you left off in your former organization, you start from the floor and have to build your way back up.

What does trust unblock?

A full trust battery unblocks:

• Your freedom and flexibility: When your manager and team trust you implicitly, they will give you more autonomy. This means more freedom to take ownership of projects, make decisions, and shape your work in a way that aligns with your strengths and interests.

• Your leadership trajectory: People with high-trust batteries are often the first ones considered for leadership roles. They've proven themselves to be reliable, capable, and committed to the team's success, making them natural choices as opportunities arise.

• Your team’s ability to innovate: Imagine working on a project where everyone trusts each other. Communication flows effortlessly, brainstorming sessions are exciting, and collaboration clicks. A high-trust environment fosters a sense of psychological safety where everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas, taking risks, and supporting each other. All of this unblocks innovation!

How do you “charge” your trust battery?

Here are some of the ways you can “charge” your trust battery:

• Execute consistently with a high-quality bar: Consistently deliver on your promises. Meet deadlines, produce high-quality work, and exceed expectations when you can. This shows people they can rely on you and that you take your commitments seriously. Your reps count!

• Do what you say you’ll do: Say you’re going to do something, then do it!

• Over-communicate: A place where trust slips is in how you communicate with your teams. Share regular progress updates, be honest about challenges, and use clear and concise language. Transparency builds trust and ensures everyone is on the same page.

• When you fuck up, own it: Mistakes happen, and how you handle them is what saves you. Don't point fingers or shy away from responsibility; own it.

How do you know if you’re trusted?

Some signs:

• When leadership asks, "What do you think we should do?" instead of telling you what to do.

• Engineers and designers seek you out to get your early take on ideas.

• You can push back on leaders without drama.

• You can make calls without running everything up the chain.

• You're pulled into strategic discussions, not just execution updates.

• You are first in line to hear news or updates before the rest of the org.

• You’re in meetings where decisions happen.

• Your manager defends your decisions to others.

If you're not seeing these signs, don't sweat it. Trust compounds like interest – start small, be consistent, and watch these things happen over time.

Next steps

This week, pick one project and intentionally over-communicate. Document everything, share daily updates, flag risks early, do what you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do it. Charge that battery up, dear builder!