India, Nov. 5 -- I once witnessed something unusual in a leadership team. A senior leader was absent from a meeting, yet one of his peers confidently made a commitment on his behalf. Afterwards, I asked her how she could be so certain he would honour it.

Her answer has stayed with me: "It's a code we have here. Either we trust and align fully, or we argue till the end of time. And we never speak against anyone behind their back. The CEO has drilled this into us. We found it strange initially, but understood how powerful and rare it was. So now, it's our code."

That is a far more interesting definition of trust at the top. It is not about getting along. It is about being secure enough to stop protecting your individual position and start...