Join Marcel for a live Leadership Trust Workshop on August 26 at 12:00 noon Eastern. Register here: https://www.frombosstoleader.co/trusted-leader-workshop
Episode recap:
Many leaders believe trust must be earned. But if you’re the leader, waiting for your people to go first may be exactly what’s weakening your culture.
In this solo episode, Marcel Schwantes explains why trust begins when leaders take the first step. Drawing from his book, Humane Leadership, and the research, he explores three foundations of leadership trust—credibility, empathy, and consistency—and shares practical ways to strengthen each one.
Bio:
Marcel Schwantes is a leadership coach, speaker, author, and advocate for more humane workplaces. Marcel’s work includes:
- Leadership development courses
- Keynote speaking and workshops
- Executive roundtables and culture strategy sessions
Marcel is the author of Humane Leadership: Lead with Radical Love, Be a Kick-Ass Boss. Whether coaching a CEO or training a leadership team, Marcel’s #1 goal is the same: To help leaders become the kind of people others want to follow
Timeline:
00:00 – Welcome & why trust is the foundation of effective leadership
00:40 – Blunt truth: If your people don’t trust you, nothing else will stick
01:25 – Compliance vs. commitment: why “doing what they’re told” isn’t real trust
02:05 – Do your people feel safe telling you the truth and making honest mistakes?
02:55 – Disrupting the belief that “trust must be earned”: why leaders go first
03:40 – How mistrust acts as a hidden tax on speed, innovation, and collaboration
04:35 – Making trust operational: how it changes ownership, decision-making, and purpose
05:26 – Pillar 1: Credibility – telling the truth about reality, not pretending to know it all
06:05 – Why small, broken commitments (not big betrayals) quietly erode trust
07:00 – Humility as a credibility builder: “I got that wrong” as a strength
07:40 – A weekly question: What commitment have I made that someone is still waiting for me to keep?
08:25 – Pillar 2: Empathy – assuming positive intent and leading with curiosity, not suspicion
09:10 – Shifting from judgment to curiosity: “Help me understand what happened from your point of view”
10:00 – Listening beneath the words: pressures, needs, and the human impact of decisions
10:35 – Story: A VP takes responsibility for lack of support and transforms the room
10:58 – Pillar 3: Consistency – being “predictably human” so people feel safe around you
11:30 – How mood‑driven leadership makes teams manage your emotions instead of their work
12:05 – Values under pressure: respect, honesty, and accountability when things get hard
12:45 – How patterns of kept promises and honest conversations compound into culture
13:30 – The 3‑part self‑check for any 1:1, team meeting, or tough conversation
13:50 – Question 1: What would credibility require from me here?
14:20 – Question 2: What would empathy require from me here?
14:45 – Question 3: What would consistency require from me here?
15:15 – You don’t need a new personality—just a repeatable practice around trust
16:00 – Invitation: Live Leadership Trust Workshop – August 26, 12:00 p.m. Eastern
16:40 – What you’ll get: deeper dive into the three pillars + 30‑day action plan
17:10 – Closing: When better humans lead, teams, organizations, and communities flourish
About the Show:
The Marcel Podcast (formerly the Love in Action podcast) ranks in the top 2% of all podcasts globally and is distributed in 160 countries. The show features deep conversations with the world's top leadership experts, authors, scientists, and thought leaders about what it means to flourish as leaders and human beings. Episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, be sure to follow us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Now Accepting Podcast Sponsors:
If interested in sponsoring an episode, contact Marcel here: https://www.marcelschwantes.com/contact/
Follow Marcel:
Substack: https://marcelschwantes.substack.com/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/marcelschwantes/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@MarcelSchwantes1
Instagram: https://instagram.com/marcel.schwantes/
