What makes a great team?

It's not technical acumen. It's not experience. It's not resumé.

Not any one of those. Not in isolation. Necessary but not sufficient.

Spoiler alert: trust makes a great team.

Not just any trust. Not blind faith. Not politeness. Earned trust.

When teammates mean what they say and execute, that builds trust. When a teammate owns a mistake and then takes the necessary steps to correct it—without vortexing the entire team to do so—they build trust. When a teammate has grace for another's mistake, when they create a reasonable safe space that carries both accountability and a growth mindset, they build trust.

Trust must be built. It must be earned. It can be broken. And it can also be rebuilt.

There are a few effective proxies for trust that can accelerate—but not bypass—the process of earning it. Reputation, recommendations from trusted colleagues, and shared stakes in the outcome can help accelerate trust. The game theory needs to be right.

Remember that even with such proxies, reputation and talk are cheap. They only go so far because they are two-dimensional. The actual lived experience of working with someone—in the specific conditions of your team, your problem area, and the stage of life of every team member—are all variables that demand trust be a living entity. It is not something cast in stone, set and forget. No. It is a live culture that must be fed, nurtured, and thoughtfully shared.

Here's my invitation: the next time you find yourself working with a team, ask yourself: how can I build trust? How can I earn trust among my colleagues? Do I keep my word? When conflict arises, can I help make the environment constructive and psychologically safe?

You may find yourself working in a whole new way.