Trust Battery

Tobi Lütke's (Shopify CEO) metaphor for tracking the state of professional relationships: every interaction either CHARGES or DRAINS the trust battery between two people. Positive interactions (delivering on commitments, helping, communicating transparently) charge the battery. Negative interactions (missed commitments, dishonesty, poor communication) drain it. When the trust battery reaches zero: the relationship is functionally dead regardless of formal structure. As a mental model: trust is not binary (trusted/not trusted) but a CONTINUUM with a charge level—and the charge level determines what's possible in the relationship. High trust enables speed, delegation, and risk-taking; low trust requires oversight, contracts, and caution.

When to use it

When trust levels in professional relationships need explicit tracking; when understanding why some relationships enable speed while others require oversight; when rebuilding damaged trust needs incremental, reliable actions; when new relationships need deliberate trust-charging early on.

How it can help

Track the trust battery level with key relationships and manage accordingly. The practices: (1) Assess current charge level with each important relationship (0-100%). (2) Identify what's charging and draining each battery. (3) When trust is low: invest in small, reliable commitments (charge incrementally). (4) Protect high-trust relationships from draining events. (5) Recognize when a battery is too low to recharge (some relationships need to end). For leaders: new hire trust batteries start at ~50%—they need early charging through reliable behavior before heavy responsibility can be delegated.