How We Built a Workplace of Genuine Trust, Belonging and High Performance
- Mar 15
- 11 min read
Updated: Mar 18
Written by Stephen Cole, Coach, Speaker & Writer
Stephen Cole is a coach, speaker, writer, and founder of TeamWeave. He helps teams build trust, connection, and performance through regular team check-ins, a simple yet powerful human-centred practice where people share how they are and what’s happening for them. His work draws on more than two decades of leadership and facilitation experience, with a practical focus on developing human skills and culture as they are lived in everyday work.
Over a cup of tea recently, one of my former staff says to me, “We created the dream - a workplace where we could be real with each other and genuinely support each other.”
Twelve years ago I started my first business, Integral Consulting Engineers, and asked myself:
Can deep trust and belonging be part of everyday work?
Can it support not only wellbeing, but also performance and job satisfaction?
In this article I share what inspired these questions, how our team made it happen, and what I am now doing to help other small organisations build something similar.
Where the idea came from
Over the past twenty years, I have attended dozens of gatherings in my personal life, men’s gatherings, often in a leadership role, spiritual gatherings, deep ecology workshops, festivals, and events hosted by Indigenous Australian communities.
The gatherings that had the deepest impact on people shared a common thread, genuine trust and belonging between the participants, held by a shared intent for why people are there.
What emerges from acceptance and vulnerability
Here is one example. I am overwhelmed with sadness and exhaustion as I arrive at the annual Tasmanian Men’s Gathering. My family life is falling apart, and my usual way of pushing through, doing more, achieving more, has been making things worse.
“You look terrible, mate,” says a friend I haven’t seen for six months, with genuine care.
Tension releases from my body. The thoughts stop running around in my head. Then the tears start flowing. A few hours later, I meet the seven men I will lead over the next four days. I feel lighter. But with butterflies in my stomach and a lump in my throat, I introduce myself and then tell them, “What I can offer you is raw vulnerability and total acceptance. At the moment, I’m not capable of much else.”
I see surprise, disappointment, and confusion in the faces of the five men I don’t yet know. They have travelled from interstate. I can almost hear their unspoken thoughts. We came all this way for this? The two others in the group are close friends. One is also a mentor. They look ready and willing, and I feel their support.
We go on to have an amazing four days together. The environment we co-create enables everyone to open deeply. People feel safe to be vulnerable and accepted for who they are. A sense of belonging grows. Enormous personal growth and transformation happen for each of us.
This was 13 years ago. When I occasionally see the friends I shared it with, we pause, look each other in the eye, and gently smile and nod. “You remember that time, by the river…”
Contrast with my work
Before starting my own business, returning to work afterwards would be something like this, I feel warm, energised, and open, and I connect with my workmates better than usual. I want to tell them all about my experience, but at the same time, I don't. Will they understand? Will they think I’m weird?
I say a bit, but I hold back. And so it doesn't really land. I feel a separation from my workmates, unable to fully share what I have experienced with them.
Feeling this separation from my workmates isn’t unusual. It is there most days. Competitiveness, reluctance to show weakness, and a lack of safety to speak honestly are common in all my previous workplaces, and they get in the way of making meaningful connections.
What deep trust and belonging make possible
I’ve had dozens of other experiences at gatherings and similar events that carry this same depth of trust, belonging, and growth. Each one was unique in what we did, and in the changes I could see in other people and in myself.
These experiences have been a big part of me growing into the person I am now:
Moving from socially anxious and awkward, and barely seeing how much these things limited me, to seeing them, managing them, and in some ways growing beyond them.
Developing a clear sense of who I am, what matters to me, and where I want to put my energy in life.
Building people-centred leadership and communication skills.
They have also been essential in preparing me for the work I go on to describe in the rest of this article.
This led me to some important questions
Could this kind of depth exist at work, and if so, what else might become possible?
How much depth is healthy in a workplace?
How can it be built safely and sustainably?
How we made it happen
When I started Integral Consulting Engineers, I looked for others who had done this before, building a business with a genuinely human-centred culture, and for guidance that might help.
What I found was Teal Organisations, a methodology with many inspiring and successful examples. It offered what I was looking for, and more. It introduced ideas and structures I had not previously considered, ways of organising that prioritise authenticity, shared leadership, and purpose alongside performance.
More information on Teal Organizations can be found here and here.
I set up Integral Engineers in alignment with these principles and began building the team, which grew to six people.
Regular team check-ins
A foundation of our culture is regular team check-ins, where we share what is happening for us personally, not just professionally.
We have them every Monday morning. They take around 30 minutes in total and are a connecting and energising start to the week.
We rotate leadership each month, giving everyone who wants to the opportunity to strengthen their leadership capacity. It also helps keep the practice team-led, rather than something driven by the manager.
We share our challenges, and when we are not feeling well. We share the good things happening in our lives. We share the things we are working on in our personal growth.
At times, people show a lot of depth and vulnerability. Some people more than others, which is fine. There is no pressure to share more than feels comfortable. We learn that while it is healthy to share some of our personal life and internal world with our workmates, it is also healthy not to share too much.
Sometimes we use shorter versions, ten seconds each, an energy rating from 1 to 10, or a single word to describe how we are feeling. In my past workplaces, this would have felt awkward or artificial. But because it is consistent with our culture, it feels natural.
When we know what people are carrying, especially when someone is navigating a challenge in their personal or work life, we can respond with support and adjust expectations accordingly, rather than letting tension or misunderstanding build.
The practice builds trust, connection, and belonging, not only in the check-in but also in our everyday work. Tensions can surface and be addressed constructively, people are engaged, and we work cohesively together.
Our annual team retreat
We hold annual team retreats to work on business strategy, personal development, and team building. We often invite friends and family to join us.
On one occasion, we hired a cabin without electricity in the Tasmanian mountains. We swim in the cold lake. We explore our life purpose through a structured group process. At night, we play music with guitar, djembe, singing, and dancing.
People are open and allow themselves to be vulnerable. The group can hold it, and the connection and trust in each other grow. The team is paid to attend for one day, yet everyone chooses to stay for two. It is not the same depth I experience at gatherings in my personal life, yet it feels appropriate for the context of colleagues who also work together every day.
I have a nagging concern, though. Will it feel strange on Monday when we return to the office? It doesn’t.
The retreat is consistent with our everyday culture. It is not a temporary high or a forced bonding exercise. There is a buzz of enthusiasm. We speak about the time we shared and then move into our work with renewed energy and clarity. This energy stays with us well after the retreat.
Performance and salary reviews, together
Another innovative practice is doing our performance and salary reviews together as a team. Before we begin, we do something to relieve tension. On one occasion, we take a walk on a local clifftop track.
There is a warm conversation. We finish at a beach and cool off with a swim, followed by an impromptu handstand competition, with legs sticking out of the water. After lunch, we are relaxed, smiling, and ready to go.
Sitting comfortably on couches, we start with a team check-in. We then move into an honouring, sharing what we value in one another, with comments like these:
I appreciate how you are always looking out for what is needed for our work to flow, bringing to us your observations and ideas for improvement, and putting those ideas into action.
I value the genuine care and empathy you have for each of your workmates. You add depth to our social cohesion.
I respect your courage to speak openly and show vulnerability, and I am in awe of the growth I have seen in those areas you have raised with us.
The honourings are heartfelt and real, and they land deeply. “This is so amazing. I’ve never experienced anything like this,” says one of the team. It takes him a minute before he is ready to continue. We then present our performance reviews that we have each prepared earlier for one another.
The process has us oriented toward supporting one another. Even the more uncomfortable feedback, where someone is not performing as well as they could, is given and received with grace. It moves forward with ease, respect, and empowerment.
Two weeks later, we review our salary rises, then a month later, our professional development plans. Like before, it is all done as a team, with care and consideration for what will best support each person.
For the salary discussion, I lay out the numbers and the formula that determines what is available for increases. I then tell the team, “We could play it safe and share the increase equally. Or, if anyone believes someone should receive more or less than others, this is the space to say so.”
What follows is a frank and respectful conversation. There is disagreement, but no arguing. We reach an agreement, and it is not the safe option of everyone receiving the same increase.
People leave feeling the outcome is fair. They feel heard and seen.
For our professional and personal development plans, each person prepares their own plan and presents it to the team. We offer feedback, support, and, where appropriate, suggest refinements.
Each person effectively has a team of coaches who know them well, seeing different strengths and different growth edges. The range of perspectives leads to insights that are both practical and affirming. People leave clear and motivated.
Because all of this is done in the open, hidden tensions can be drawn out and discussed. If someone has concerns about contribution or pay, they can raise them constructively and respectfully. We are all aware of how we can best support each other. We cannot satisfy every preference, but with a clear process, transparency, and genuine care, people accept the outcome and feel supported to grow.
Beyond the formal practices
Our Christmas parties feel like gatherings of old friends. We hold movie nights in the office. Most of us have the option to work from home, yet we usually choose to be together.
As trust and confidence grow, ownership emerges naturally. I do not need to drive performance. Team members raise issues themselves, ask for feedback, and lead when needed. The pressure on me as a leader and owner reduces, and the strength of the team increases.
Importantly, this trust, belonging, and team cohesion sharpen our performance.
During the three years when this way of working was most established, from 2021 to 2023, we paid a profit share to staff averaging 14.7 percent of base salary annually. In the same period, after my professional wage is paid and profit share is distributed, the business returns an average net profit of 9.2 percent of revenue each year to me.
Challenges and what we learned
While others around the world are exploring this way of working, we are not aware of anyone nearby doing it. In that sense, it feels like we are pioneering. We try things, and we do not always get it right. We learn and adjust.
There are times when something shared openly causes unnecessary hurt or embarrassment. Looking back, I can see that some conversations would have been better held privately with the individual concerned. Openness does not mean openness about everything.
In a workplace, it is essential to stay clear about why we are there and what we are responsible for achieving. As a business, we aim to be profitable.
This means care and vulnerability must be balanced with accountability and performance. That is not always easy, and at times we lean too far one way or the other.
I learn that it does not have to be a trade-off. Care and accountability reinforce one another when people feel safe, valued, and clear about what is expected.
Supporting other workplaces
It works so well that I want to help other workplaces do something similar. In 2022, I started a group in Tasmania with leaders exploring more human-centred ways of working. I then start another group Australia-wide and host our first gathering.
Some of the Integral Engineers team visit nearby workplaces that are curious about what we do. When asked what we do differently, I leave it to the team to answer. The first thing they consistently say is that we hold regular team check-ins. Other common themes are:
We can speak honestly about hard things, whether in our personal or work lives.
We are supported and challenged to grow, professionally and personally.
The trust placed in us increases our motivation and commitment to our work.
In 2025, I created TeamWeave. I choose team check-ins as the starting point. They require little time, are accessible for teams ready for openness, and deliver immediate benefits, trust, connection, presence, and stronger speaking and listening skills. From there, teams can grow more human-centred cultures that strengthen engagement, performance, and job satisfaction.
Around this time, I realised I no longer wanted to continue as an engineer. I explore whether someone from the team might carry the business forward. That does not work out, and I close Integral Consulting Engineers. What we learned stays with me and informs what I now do with TeamWeave.
Conclusion
Openness and vulnerability in a workplace are different from what I experience at retreats or gatherings. They rarely reach the same depth, and I now see that as appropriate. Sharing too much at work can be awkward or even damaging. Some people simply do not want to share much of their personal life at work, and it is important that this is respected.
People should never be pushed to open more than they want to. Nor should a team create an illusion of safety beyond what it can genuinely hold, encouraging people to share deeply and then regret it. And yet, the impact of this more human way of working is profound.
There may be less intensity, but there is consistency. We work alongside one another week after week. Relationships strengthen, and people engage. With routine and support, old habits loosen, and people grow. Importantly, it can also support high performance and job satisfaction.
So, can deep trust, connection, and belonging be built in a workplace? Can a workplace carry genuine warmth without losing its edge? My answer is yes. It is possible.
Read more from Stephen Cole
Stephen Cole, Coach, Speaker & Writer
Stephen Cole is a coach, speaker, writer, and founder of TeamWeave. He helps teams build trust, connection, and performance through regular team check-ins, a simple yet powerful human-centred practice where people share how they are and what’s happening for them.
His work draws on more than two decades of leadership and facilitation experience. Regular team check-ins help teams build a healthy culture together while strengthening core human skills such as listening, authentic communication, empathy, and shared leadership. It is a practical approach to developing human skills and culture that does not rely on complex culture change strategies.
