How to lose your team’s trust in 10 easy steps

1. Micromanage Like It’s an Olympic Sport

Why delegate when you can breathe down your team’s necks and question their every move? Ask for constant updates, second-guess their decisions, and remind them that you know best — despite never having written a line of code.

Trust me, nothing says “I believe in you” like rewriting their work because you felt it could be better.

2. Promise the Impossible, Then Act Surprised

“We can totally deliver this feature in two weeks!” — famous last words of every overzealous project manager.

Overcommitting to stakeholders and then leaving your team to scramble is a great way to watch morale plummet.
Bonus points if you pretend to be shocked when they say it’s impossible.

3. Ignore the Experts — You’ve Got Google

Your engineers might have years of experience in software development, but let’s be honest — Google taught you everything you need to know on How to Become a Project Manager.
So go ahead, override their suggestions and enforce terrible technical decisions.

Nothing builds morale like watching a non-technical PM dictate architecture choices.

4. Take All the Credit, Share None of the Blame

Project went well? Great leadership. Project failed? The team really dropped the ball on this one.
Nothing breaks trust faster than making sure successes are yours and failures are theirs. After all, accountability is only for other people.

5. Burn Them Out (Who Needs Sleep Anyway?)

The best way to motivate your team is to completely ignore their workload and keep adding more, right? Don’t worry about resources or burnout — just remind them how critical everything is.

And when they inevitably struggle? Just tell them to “work smarter.”

6. Change Priorities Like You Change Socks

There’s nothing more exciting than unpredictability! Tell your team one thing on Monday, change your mind by Wednesday, and then act like it was always the plan by Friday.
Confusion is just another word for agility, after all.

7. Ignore Career Growth — Who Needs It?

Your team might be looking for mentorship, training, or a path forward. Let’s be real — truly ambitious individuals would figure it out on their own.

Why waste time helping them grow when they should be focused on this never-ending backlog?

8. Withhold Information Like a True Puppet Master

Want to make sure your team feels disconnected and undervalued? Keep them in the dark.
Let them find out about project changes at the last minute and avoid transparency at all costs.
Nothing says “trust” like making them guess what’s going on.

9. Allow Toxicity to Thrive

Is someone making life miserable for their teammates? Ignore it! Let them run unchecked while the rest of the team tiptoes around them.

If people don’t feel comfortable speaking up, they’ll spend less time worrying about trust and more time planning their exit.

10. Be Unavailable — Except When It’s Too Late

Disappear when your team actually needs you, but suddenly become very involved when things go wrong. Let them make decisions, then override them at the last second.
A little chaos keeps things interesting, right?

Final Thoughts: Trust is Optional (But Actually, It’s Not)

If you follow these steps, you’ll soon find yourself leading a demotivated, cynical, and perpetually exhausted team. Congratulations! You have learned How to Become a Project Manager successfully, but its the bad kind. However, if you’d rather build trust, try doing the exact opposite. Your developers won’t fantasize about quitting daily. Read my previous stories for more tips and tricks.

How many of these “brilliant” leadership strategies have you experienced? Drop your horror stories in the comments — I promise to be shocked.

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