Series Bonus: Trust & Autonomy Reflection Protocol
A great end-of-year activity for leadership teams to reset and get into your summer planning
Trust & Autonomy Reflection Protocol
For Leadership Teams | Duration: 45–60 minutes
Purpose: To reflect on how your school or organization currently builds (or undermines) trust and autonomy—and identify key levers for systemic improvement.
🪑 Set-Up
Group Size: 3–10 participants
Materials: Printouts of the Trust Ladder, Trust–Autonomy Matrix, and Trust System Design Checklist
Roles:
Facilitator (leads and time-checks)
Scribe (captures key insights and actions)
🧠 Step 1: Warm-Up Reflection (10 minutes)
Prompt (individual writing or pair-share):
Think about a time you felt most trusted and empowered in your professional life.
What conditions made that possible?
Follow-Up:
What did the system communicate to you about your role?
What wasn't present that normally is (e.g., micromanagement, ambiguity)?
📊 Step 2: System Diagnosis (20 minutes)
A. Trust Ladder Diagnostic (10 min)
Using the Trust Ladder, where does our staff currently operate on average?
Discussion Prompts:
What evidence do you see that people are in compliance, conditional trust, mutual trust, or empowerment?
Are there different rungs across departments, grade levels, or identity groups?
B. Trust–Autonomy Matrix Placement (10 min)
Plot your school/team on the Trust–Autonomy Matrix.
Discussion Prompts:
Are we aligned on where we think we are?
Where do different groups of staff experience us differently?
🛠 Step 3: Systems Audit (15 minutes)
Using the Trust System Design Checklist, rate each of the 5 areas:
🌕 Fully in place
🌓 In progress or uneven
🌑 Not yet started
Then discuss:
Which 1–2 areas are most urgent to redesign if we want to build durable trust?
What’s one system shift we could make in the next 30 days?
🎯 Step 4: Commitment Round (10 minutes)
Go around the group and share:
One thing I’m thinking differently about now is...
One action I commit to exploring or testing is...
Encourage specificity and ownership. Scribe these to revisit later.
📝 Optional Follow-Up:
Send a recap of:
Group reflections
The 1–2 system redesign priorities
Individual commitments
Then revisit progress 4–6 weeks later in a future meeting.
Here are all the printables in a single document for ease of printing.