The Cost of Low Trust: Power, Protection & What Leaders Really Build 📱

What does low trust really cost in schools?

This week on Let’s Talk Power Live!, I’m digging deep into the intersection of trust and power and how they show up in the decisions we make, the systems we design, and the cultures we lead.

Inspired by Stephen M.R. Covey’s The Speed of Trust and rooted in my own work on Instructional Power, this episode unpacks what happens when we, as leaders, unintentionally shift into survival mode defaulting to positional power, protective instincts, or control-based leadership.

When trust is low, power gets distorted.

When trust is high, power becomes shared, sustainable, and strategic.

Here’s what I’m walking through in this episode:

🔹 Why protective leadership creates disempowerment and how to know when it’s happening
🔹 The 4 dimensions of power: disenfranchising, protective, agentive/agentic and empowering, and what they feel like in practice
🔹 How our own beliefs, identities, and lived experiences influence which forms of power we reach for
🔹 The 6 forms of power most often used in schools from coercive to legitimate, and how trust determines which ones rise
🔹 What trust-building actually looks like inside strategy, structure, and systems
🔹 How leaders grow trust through clarity, consistency, and shared agency not just kindness or on the strength of their
personality

💬 I’m also answering key questions like:

What’s the hidden cost of leading through compliance instead of connection?

How do I design systems that protect autonomy, not just performance?

What power am I using when I’m under pressure and what does that reveal about my leadership?

🎯 Power Move of the Week:
Shift from control to clarity.
Audit your leadership moves this week: Are they grounded in trust? Or driven by fear? Then choose one space to lead with partnership not protection.

This episode is for you if:
✔️ You’re a school leader navigating pressure and complexity
✔️ You’re noticing signs of fatigue, compliance, or low trust on your team
✔️ You want to reclaim your power by shifting how you design your leadership presence
✔️ You believe power is not about hierarchy — it’s about how people experience your leadership

We’re not just talking theory.
We’re building power that protects, uplifts, and shares trust on purpose.

Let’s talk about it — live.

📘 Grab the book: Understanding Your Instructional Power
🛒 https://amzn.to/4mMkcUD

📲 Follow & tag: @LiaisEdPart | #InstructionalPower
🌐 Visit: www.liaisoneducationalpartners.org

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