Decoding Grammars of Trust: How Chinese Leaders Can Build Trust with Members of Their Global Teams

The primary objective for this project is to develop a comprehensive, evidence-based trust-building solution tailored specifically for Chinese leaders who currently lead—or are preparing to lead global teams. This project employs a qualitative research design, featuring in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 20 Chinese leaders, each with a minimum of three years of experience leading global teams, with the research question as what attributes and behaviors will facilitate or impede Chinese leaders to build trust with team members in global teams, integrated with a multi-disciplinary literature review covering trust theories in both western and Chinese literatures, the GLOBE Project, global mindset, and Chinese paternalistic leadership. The findings reveal that Chinese leaders enhance trust with their team members through three antecedents: Ability (concept of trust, global mindset, adaptive leadership), Benevolence (respect for diversity, support for personal growth and care, and organizational justice), and Integrity (seek principles congruence, 真诚 (sincerity + honesty), and 责任 (responsibility + accountability). Another finding is that organizational values only build trust when leaders actively embody them. The project concludes with a practical framework and a trust in leadership model for Chinese global teams, as well as a six-module training program designed to prepare Chinese leaders who currently lead or are about to lead global teams. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.