Breaking the Trust Barrier How Leaders Close the Gaps for High Performance

Build Extraordinary Trust and Lead Your Team to a Higher Plane

For former US Air Force Thunderbirds’ commander and demonstration leader JV Venable, inspiring teamwork was literally a matter of life and death. On maneuvers like the one pictured on the cover, the distance between jets was just eighteen inches. Closing the gaps to sustain that kind of separation requires the highest levels of trust.

On the ground or in the air, from line supervisor to CEO, we all face the same challenge. Our job is to entice those we lead to close the gaps that slow the whole team down—gaps in commitment, loyalty, and trust. Every bit of closure requires your people to let go of biases and mental safeguards that hold them back. The process the Thunderbirds use to break that barrier and craft the highest levels of trust on a team with an annual turnover of 50 percent is nothing short of phenomenal. That process is packaged here with tips and compelling stories that will help you build the team of a lifetime.

Colonel JV Venable (USAF, Ret.) is a Fighter Weapons School graduate who went on to lead the USAF Thunderbirds and a combat group of 1,100 American airmen in the Persian Gulf.

Contents
Part I: Are There Gaps on Your Team?
1. Draft Your Team to Trust
Part II: Commitment
2. Close the Traction Gap
3. Close the Engagement Gap
4. Plow the Path
Part III: Loyalty
5. Close the Passion Gap
6. Close the Confidence Gap
7. Close the Respect Gap
Part IV. Trust
8. Close the Integrity Gap
9. Close the Principle Gap
10. Close the Empowerment Gap