What a Grain Bin Taught Me About Trust

When I think about leadership and where I learned some of the lessons that have stayed with me throughout my life, my mind often goes back to growing up on our family farm.

There was always something to do.

Whether it was feeding the hogs, working in the fields, or taking care of whatever else needed to be done, we all had our jobs.

It was hard work at times, but I really enjoyed working with my family. Looking back, those were some pretty special times.

Everyone Had a Job to Do

I remember one Saturday when we had grain bins to build.

It was a family affair. There was Dad, my older brother, my younger brother, and me. We would start in the morning and sometimes work until seven or eight at night.

Building a grain bin took teamwork.

Two of us would work on the outside and two on the inside. I was usually on the inside, putting the nuts on the bolts and holding the wrench while someone on the outside tightened them.

It sounds simple enough.

But if you've ever been inside a metal grain bin on a hot summer day, you know how warm it can get.

The summer sun is beating down on the metal. You're sweating. The sweat is running into your eyes and blurring your vision. At the same time, you're trying to keep up with the person working on the other side.

I remember one time I wasn't quite fast enough getting my wrench onto the nut.

My older brother had already started tightening the bolt from the outside, and the nut just kept spinning.

Then I heard him from the other side:

“Can't you keep up? Speed it up!”

It was all in good humor.

That's what brothers do.

I got my wrench on the nut, and we kept going.

At the time, I never thought there was some great life lesson in what we were doing. We were a family with a job to finish, and everyone had to do their part.

Looking back now, I see it differently.

I think those were some of my earliest lessons about trust.

Learning to Trust Others

Growing up on a family farm, you learned pretty quickly that you couldn't do everything yourself.

Everyone had a responsibility.

You had to trust the people around you to do their job, just as they had to trust you to do yours.

It was teamwork.

Think about that grain bin.

My brother was on one side of a sheet of metal and I was on the other. We couldn't always see what the other person was doing.

But the job still had to get done.

He had to trust that I would have my wrench on the nut, and I had to trust him to do his part from the outside.

I didn't think of it as leadership back then.

It was simply how we worked together as a family.

Today, I can see how much those experiences shaped the way I lead.

Find Out What Makes People Tick

I believe one of the most important parts of leadership is learning to trust your people.

But trust doesn't happen overnight.

It takes time to develop.

One of my former bosses used to tell me:

“Find out what makes them tick, and then you begin to understand them.”

I've never forgotten that.

Throughout my career, I've tried to take a real interest in the people I work with.

I want to know more than their job title or what they're responsible for. I want to understand who they are. What motivates them? What are they good at? Where do they struggle? What matters to them?

In other words, what makes them tick?

When you take the time to understand someone, you begin to build a relationship with them.

And from that relationship comes trust.

Trust Means Letting People Do Their Jobs

For me, there's another important part of trust.

Once you've given someone responsibility, you have to let them do their job.

Don't micromanage them.

That doesn't mean you disappear or stop paying attention. A leader still needs to be there to provide direction, answer questions, and offer support.

But there comes a point when you have to step back and trust people.

Will they make mistakes?

Absolutely.

We all do.

I've made my share.

The important thing is what happens after the mistake.

Do they learn from it?

Do they take responsibility?

Do they become better because of it?

As leaders, I believe we have to give people room to make decisions, learn, and grow. If we're constantly looking over their shoulder and making every decision for them, we're not really showing them that we trust them.

Sometimes leadership means being there to help.

Sometimes it means getting out of the way.

Knowing the difference comes from knowing your people.

Looking Back

It's interesting how some of the lessons that stay with us the longest are learned before we even realize we're being taught.

When I was inside that hot grain bin, sweat running into my eyes and my older brother telling me to speed it up, I certainly wasn't thinking about leadership.

I was trying to get my wrench onto the next nut.

But looking back, I can see what those days were teaching me.

Do your part.

Trust the people around you.

Support each other.

Work together.

And enjoy the people you're doing it with.

Those lessons started for me on our family farm, working alongside Dad and my brothers.

Years later, they're still part of how I try to lead.

Sometimes we need to look back at where we came from to understand why we lead the way we do today.

Where did you first learn to trust others—and how has that lesson shaped the person you are today?