When Is Trust No Longer The Only Thing?

Putting people into the right place is key. Trusting their performance is critical to the end result, right?
When is trust no longer the only thing that matters?

People need to feel/see/hear/know trust - that comes from developing a relationship.  Integrity and authenticity are all words that help align values and signal that inherent trust is developing in a relationship.  Those who walk their talk provide deposits into the 'trust bank'.  Those who simply provide lip service do not make any deposits, in fact, the withdrawals they make are really at least 10X more than anything they would have put into the bank.

What do you do when trust is eroded?  Confrontation, explanation or elimination?
This becomes a difficult choice because so much has already been invested into the relationship - whether a new hire, or a promotion or a personal connection - how much do you risk in this lost trust?

The building blocks are being knocked out - incongruent actions, words and inconsistencies cause the most damage.  Especially when the inconsistencies come from other sources than what you see in front of you as appearance.

This is the leader's dilemma - my husband would say it's about knowing when to fish or cut bait.  Analyzing the fall out of cutting bait is hard - it is truly when the leader must make a choice - and let the fish or building blocks fall where they may.

What situations have you had to work through that focused on trust and nothing else?  How difficult was it to put aside feelings? What struggles have you overcome?