Leadership is a Way of Showing Up

Georgia Hodkinson GMBPsS

Organisational Psychology Consultant

June 2025

Not long ago, I was running a leadership workshop when someone raised their hand and said something that stuck with me:

“I’ve got the title, I’ve got the responsibility. But honestly, I’m not sure I’ve got the trust.”

It was one of those moments that makes a room go quiet, because almost everyone recognised something familiar in what he said. We often talk about leadership in terms of strategy, authority, or charisma. But underneath all that, leadership is about trust. It’s about whether people feel safe enough to follow you because they want to.

In today’s workplaces, things move fast. Roles change, teams shift, and uncertainty has become the norm. Trust is the glue that holds it all together. When trust is strong, teams are resilient, open, and able to navigate challenges. When trust is weak, collaboration suffers, engagement dips, and people begin to quietly step back. Harvard researcher Amy Edmondson calls this trust ‘psychological safety’, the belief that we won’t be punished for making mistakes or speaking our minds. Google famously found that psychological safety was the single most important ingredient in high-performing teams, more important than who was on the team or their individual skills.

One of the simplest, most powerful ways leaders build trust is through listening, the kind where you truly hear what someone’s trying to tell you. I remember a leader who told me how a single conversation changed her entire team dynamic. She’d started having regular check-ins, to simply to ask how people were feeling, how their workloads were, and what she could do to help. Within weeks, the tone in her team shifted dramatically. People began to feel seen and valued. They opened up and none of this was complicated.

It’s tempting for leaders to feel like they need to have everything figured out. But the truth is, nobody does. Leaders who pretend to know everything risk creating a culture where it’s not safe to admit uncertainty or ask for help. Instead, the best leaders I’ve worked with are comfortable saying “I don’t know yet, but let’s figure it out together.” They invite their teams into the conversation and build a culture of collaboration and mutual respect.

People often assume leadership means grand gestures or big speeches. But in my experience, great leadership is built through small moments, things that leaders sometimes barely notice, but teams always remember. Things like acknowledging someone’s extra effort, remembering personal details, or checking in after a tough day. Small gestures create big emotional impacts, building the kind of trust and loyalty no strategy deck ever could.

Building trust and showing up as a leader requires small shifts done consistently.

• Make listening part of your practice. Ask open questions and show genuine interest.

• Be open about what you don’t know. Teams respect leaders who are real and honest.

• Recognise effort. People value being appreciated even when results aren’t perfect.

• Regularly ask for feedback, and act on it. This shows you’re committed.

Being a leader is about creating spaces where people feel trusted, safe, and inspired to give their best. It starts with you, but it ends with everyone around you.

If you’d like to explore leadership conversations, feedback training, or building trust in your teams, please reach out. I’d love to help.