Hi,
I asked 100 CEOs this question, and here are the top 5 answers:
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Isaiah Granet, Co-Founder and CEO of Bland AI, the self-hosted Voice AI platform, scaled from $0 to $65M raised in under two years. |
“Overselling is the tell. When someone oversells themselves, it usually means they’re trying to fill a gap with words instead of proof. The more someone tells you how great they are, the less likely they are to show it. People who are actually good don’t need to convince you; they do the work, and the results speak for them.
Overselling comes with cues: name-dropping, exaggerating past wins, or steering every conversation back to how impressive they are. They want to be seen as valuable before they’ve earned trust through consistency.
The people I trust most do the opposite. They understate. They leave space for curiosity. They let time and follow-through handle the proving. You see it in how they listen, how they ask questions, and how they talk about their failures as easily as their wins.
Trust is built through actions over time. The people who quietly deliver, who don’t need validation every five minutes, are the ones you can rely on when things get hard. Trust comes from what someone delivers, not what they declare.”
Isaiah and Bland are offering to build you a free custom Voice AI agent for your business at https://bland.ai/agent
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Samanah Duran, Forbes 30 under 30, founder of Women’s Private Network BEYOUROWN and coffee company Siren Grounds. |
“The way someone speaks about others when they’re not present is often the clearest reflection of how they’ll speak about you when you’re gone.”
For me, the biggest red flag is when someone openly speaks badly about another person who isn’t in the room - especially someone I’ve never even met.
As an introvert, I observe before I speak, and when I see that kind of behaviour - that casual tearing down of someone’s name, whether it’s a CEO, a founder, or a friend - it tells me everything that I need to know.
It’s not just unprofessional - it’s a lack of integrity. And integrity, for me, is everything.
If someone feels comfortable discrediting others so easily, especially under the guise of confidence or “just being honest,” it tells me more about their character than their capability. My relationships, whether personal or professional, are built on trust, loyalty, and respect.
And it’s not about perfection - we all vent, we all process - but there’s a fine line between seeking genuine support and simply enjoying the sound of your own gossip. When people speak with care, even about those who’ve wronged them, that’s when I know I’m dealing with emotional intelligence. But when someone weaponises conversation to diminish others - that’s when I quietly step back.
Because trust, for me, starts with how you handle the names of people who aren’t there to defend themselves.”
“What makes me instantly cautious is when someone overpromises, avoids accountability, or tries to take shortcuts to gain favour. I value honesty, transparency, and reliability, and if I don’t see that, it’s a red flag for me.
I may sound a little cynical, but over the years I’ve learned that in business, trust isn’t something that should be handed out freely - it has to be earned. That lesson didn’t come easily.
Experience has shown me that not everyone’s intentions align with their words, and that promises can be hollow when not backed up by action. Because of that, I’ve become more observant and patient when it comes to forming judgments.
I prefer to watch how people behave (especially when there’s no immediate benefit to them), rather than taking what they say at face value.
I have a very close-knit team now, and I’d genuinely trust them with my life. That level of trust comes from consistency, people showing up, following through on what they say, and demonstrating integrity even when no one’s watching.
I’d rather build trust slowly and have it be genuine, than rush into believing someone who hasn’t yet earned my confidence.”
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Sharmadean Reid MBE, Founder of WAH Nails, beautystack and The Stack World, author of New Methods For Women. |
“I always like to believe in the good in people. When I meet someone, I start from a position of trust - and their words and actions either chip away at that trust or strengthen it.
The thing that makes me instantly not trust someone is when they’re rude to people they perceive as “beneath” them - PAs, junior team members, anyone they think they’re above. It’s such a common thing to say, but it’s true.
When people act like that, I think one of two things: either they’ve never had to hustle from the bottom, so they’ve grown entitled; or they have, but they’ve forgotten where they came from.
It’s that “rude to the waiter” moment. It tells you everything you need to know about that person. And I don’t mean being short in a business meeting, I mean the small, everyday interactions that reveal how someone sees others.
Sometimes it’s not even overt rudeness - it's acting as if those people are invisible. That lack of curiosity, that failure to see people, is what really breaks trust for me.
Curiosity is something I deeply value in my team. When it’s missing, trust soon follows.”
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Bethan Higson, CEO & Founder of Mother Root, a non-alcoholic aperitif brand. |
“People who constantly deflect blame or avoid accountability are hard to trust.
Over the years of running Mother Root, I’ve learned that my intuition is usually right. Early on, I’d second-guess myself or seek other’s opinions, even when something felt off and deep down, I knew the answer. Experience has taught me that trusting my gut isn’t reckless; it’s recognising the patterns and instincts built from years of doing the work.
As I’ve grown as a leader, I've built processes that create space for intuition - especially around humility. A healthy dose of humility is essential. In interviews, for example, we ask: “Tell me about a time you received feedback. How did you respond, and what was the outcome?”
That question is revealing. It’s not like asking someone about their weaknesses - it forces them to be specific, to recall a real moment when they messed up, and to speak about it with confidence and humility. We’re not looking for people who pretend to have all the answers. Honesty, candour, and trust come from people who are comfortable talking about their failings.
Inside the team, we’re building a culture where failure isn’t feared but seen as part of progress. If someone can’t say, “That was on me,” and instead takes all the credit when things go right but none of the responsibility when they don’t - that’s when my trust fades fastest."
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Talk soon,
Steven