Are You Putting a Band-Aid Over a Bullet Hole?

A friend of mine, Doug Crowe, once used a phrase that’s stuck with me: “Some leaders put a band — aid over a bullet hole.”

In our leadership consulting work, one truth comes up time and time again: Teams don’t fail because of a lack of skill or talent — they fail because of a lack of cohesion. And more often than not, that lack of cohesion stems from a lack of trust. Sometimes trust has been broken; other times, it was never truly built in the first place.

Leaders often attempt to solve relational problems — conflict, drama and poor communication — with quick interventions. A policy update. A new software tool. A team — building lunch. 

These aren’t inherently bad actions, but when used as the solution, they’re simply a temporary fix, a band — aid that doesn’t address the underlying problem.

The Cost of Distrust in Organizations

Interpersonal dysfunction isn’t just a morale issue. It’s a business problem.

Time lost to relationship tension, poor collaboration and repeated misunderstandings drains focus from strategic work. It increases turnover. It stalls innovation. And it often seeps into other departments, eroding trust and performance.

I am a member of a CEO group that estimates an average of 50% of a leader’s time is spent on “people problems.” Imagine the detriment to the bottom line — not to mention the psyche of those involved. And on the other side of the coin: imagine the increase in productivity if even half of these problems were solved.

We find that many of these challenges stem from a breakdown in trust. Yet trust is often misunderstood.

True trust involves two components:

• Trustworthiness — demonstrated by one party through consistency, competence and character.

• The willingness to trust — demonstrated by the other party, requiring vulnerability, emotional intelligence and courage.

When either element is missing, relationships fracture. And once they do, quick fixes will never fully restore collaboration.

What’s Really Behind the “Band — Aid”

The real band-aid is the quick fix — the “Let’s take them to lunch” or “Let’s implement a new software tool to increase communication flow” response to relationship breakdowns. These gestures may create a short-term sense of goodwill and may even partly resolve the situation, but they rarely address the underlying causes of mistrust.

The Foundational Fix: Leadership IQ/EQ as a Fundamental 

You can’t patch over what needs to be rebuilt from the start.

Leadership IQ is a “must — have” for leaders at all levels of the organization. Teaching leaders how to build trust, how to relate to people and how to create an environment where people are encouraged to speak up — isn’t an “add — on” to strategy. It’s the cornerstone of sustained success. 

Most people become leaders because they were good at an individual contributor role, and yet, the vast majority are not taught the fundamentals of great leadership. Some are trained in management skills, but this is different from Leadership IQ/EQ — which I'll refer to as LQ — the emotional and interpersonal intelligence needed for effective leadership. 

When LQ is part of your core operating system, it amplifies every initiative, plan, tactic and effort. Leaders with high LQ align the team around shared values and behaviors. They ensure trust is intentionally cultivated, not assumed. 

LQ education is the number one investment a CEO or unit leader can make in the success of their team. It is a fundamental building block, equipping leaders in a way that elevates vision, strategy and action plans. It shores up relationships, elevates others, bridges silos and increases retention. 

Building Trust the Right Way

Research and experience point to several practices that consistently strengthen trust within teams:

• Understand others — Invest time in understanding the motivations, the working geniuses, the personality types and the strengths of those around you. 

• Clarify behavioral expectations — Define what “working well together” means in concrete, observable terms.

• Facilitate honest, structured conversations — Create an environment where people are willing to engage in difficult conversations for the sake of relationships and the good of the team. We like to say at Bryant Group, “We will never not have the hard conversation.”

• Use symptoms as warning flags — If relationships are stilted, if people are creating drama, those are warning signs that something is breaking or broken. It must be addressed for long — term success.

• Diagnose root causes — Go deeper than missed deadlines or personality clashes. What is really happening? 

• Address untrustworthy behaviors directly — Don’t allow destructive actions to slide unaddressed.

• Model the behavior you want to see — Leaders must demonstrate reliability, integrity, caring and authenticity consistently.

When these practices are embedded into the culture, progress moves toward cohesion, and cohesion makes collaboration effortless.

Moving Beyond the Band — Aid

Too many organizations experience ongoing damage from interpersonal tension. It’s not enough to band-aid the damage. It has to be healed.

Go back to the basics. Building LQ at all levels of the organization takes time and investment. It is not a “nice — to — have.” It is not something to do after strategic planning,  feasibility studies and restructuring. Building LQ is a fundamental basis of success. Incorporating it into the ongoing planning and talent development process of your organization will provide a significant return on investment. Build trust and leadership capacity throughout your organization. It’s never too late to start.

When you invest in leadership development at all levels, your team doesn’t just function, it thrives.