The tripod of trust: A multilevel approach to trust-based leadership in public organizations

Trust-based leadership is receiving attention in the public sector as a pathway to increased cooperation and organizational effectiveness. However, the scarce empirical studies of trust-based leadership that do exist tend to engage a mono-level focus of trust and lack sufficient insight into the dynamics between different dimensions and levels of trust in the public organization context. This article aims to remedy this problem by exploring a seemingly successful case of trust-based leadership in a Danish municipal job centre. The study develops a multilevel approach to trust-based leadership, providing insight into how public leaders may engage and combine institutional and interactional remedies to facilitate trust-building at the individual, team and organizational levels.