Trust is the foundation of leadership. When people trust their leader, they are willing to follow into uncertainty, to give more than required, to be honest about problems before they become crises. When trust is absent, teams become guarded, political, and slow — and even excellent strategies fail in implementation. Trust is built through consistent integrity over time. Not through statements, promises, or declarations. Through behaviour that matches words, in public and in private, when it is convenient and when it is not. Every leadership action either deposits into or withdraws from a trust account. Large deposits are made rarely. Withdrawals can happen fast. And unlike a bank account, trust rarely recovers fully from a major overdraft.