Rebuilding Trust and Relevance Post-Update

I walked into a room full of frustration. The project was off track, the budget was bleeding, and trust had worn thin. As the new project manager, I had 30 days to rebuild what was broken not just the plan, but the relationships. 💡 Here’s the exact trust-building strategy I used to shift the momentum one conversation, one quick win, and one honest update at a time. ▶ Day 1–5: I started with ears, not answers. 🎧 Active Listening & Empathy Sessions I sat down with stakeholders one by one, department by department. No slides. No status updates. Just questions, empathy, and silence when needed. 💬 I didn’t try to fix anything. I just listened and documented everything they shared. Why it worked: They finally felt heard. That alone opened more doors than any roadmap ever could. ▶ Day 6–10: I called out the elephant in the room. 🔍 Honest Assessment & Transparent Communication I reviewed everything timelines, budgets, blockers, and team dynamics. By day 10, I sent out a clear, no-spin summary of the real issues we were facing. Why it worked: I didn’t sugarcoat it but I didn’t dwell in blame either. Clarity brought calm. Transparency brought trust. ▶ Day 11–15: I delivered results fast. ⚡ Quick Wins & Early Action We fixed a minor automation glitch that had frustrated a key stakeholder for months. It wasn’t massive, but it mattered. Why it worked: One small win → renewed hope → stakeholders leaning in again. ▶ Day 16–20: I gave them a rhythm. 📢 Clear Communication Channels & Cadence We set up weekly pulse updates, real-time dashboards, and clear points of contact. No more guessing who’s doing what, or when. Why it worked: Consistency replaced confusion. The team knew what to expect and when. ▶ Day 21–25: I invited them to the table. 🤝 Collaborative Problem-Solving Instead of pushing fixes, I hosted solution workshops. We mapped risks, brainstormed priorities, and made decisions together. Why it worked: Involvement turned critics into co-owners. People support what they help build. ▶ Day 26–30: I grounded us in reality. 📅 Realistic Expectations & Clear Next Steps No overpromising. I laid out a realistic path forward timelines, budgets, trade-offs, and all. I closed the month by outlining what we’d tackle next together. Why it worked: Honesty created stability. A shared plan gave them control. 💬 In 30 days, we hadn’t fixed everything but we had built something more valuable: trust. And from trust, everything else became possible. Follow Shraddha Sahu for more insights

Organizational Trauma: The Recovery Killer Your Change Plan Ignores After Capital One's 2019 data breach exposing 100 million customers' information, leadership rushed to transform: new security platforms, restructured teams, revised processes. Despite urgent implementation, adoption lagged, talent departed, and security improved more slowly than expected. What they discovered—and what I've observed repeatedly in financial services—is that organizations can experience collective trauma that fundamentally alters how they respond to change. 🪤 The Post-Crisis Change Trap When institutions experience significant disruption, standard change management often fails. McKinsey's research shows companies applying standard OCM to traumatized workforces see only 23% transformation success, compared to 64% for those using trauma-informed approaches. ❌ Why Traditional OCM Fails After Crisis Hypervigilance: Organizations that have experienced crisis develop heightened threat sensitivity. Capital One employees reported spending time scanning for threats rather than innovating. Trust Erosion: After their breach, Capital One faced profound trust challenges—not just with customers, but internally as well. Employees questioned decisions they previously took for granted. Identity Disruption: The crisis challenged Capital One's self-perception as a technology leader with superior security. 💡 The Trauma-Informed Change Approach Capital One eventually reset their approach, following a different sequence: 1. Safety First (Before planning transformation) - Created psychological safety through transparent communication - Established consistent leadership presence - Acknowledged failures without scapegoating 2. Process the Experience (Before driving adoption) - Facilitated emotional-processing forums - Documented lessons without blame - Rebuilt institutional trust through consistent follow-through 3. Rebuild Capacity (Before expecting performance) - Restored core capabilities focused on team recovery - Invested in resilience support resources - Developed narrative incorporating the crisis 4. Transform (After rebuilding capacity) - Created new organizational identity incorporating the crisis - Shifted from compliance to values-based approach - Developed narrative of strength through adversity 5. Post-Crisis Growth - Built resilience from the experience - Established deeper stakeholder relationships - Transformed crisis into competitive advantage Only after these steps did Capital One successfully implement their changes, achieving 78% adoption—significantly higher than similar post-breach transformations. 🔮 The fundamental insight: Crisis recovery isn't just about returning to normal—organizations that address trauma can transform crisis into opportunity. Have you experienced transformation after organizational crisis? What trauma-informed approaches have you found effective? #CrisisRecovery #ChangeManagement #OrganizationalResilience

“I missed a major deadline. The client wasn’t happy. The team looked at me differently.” That’s what a young manager confessed to me over coffee. He’d led a key project that flopped — and suddenly, the trust he’d built with his team and boss felt like it evaporated overnight. He said something that stuck with me: “It’s like I went from promising leader to liability… in one mistake.” That’s the scary part about leadership when you’re early in your career. So, what do you do after the fall? Here’s what I told him: 1. Manage expectations like your credibility depends on it (because it does). You already owned the mistake. Good. But now, over-communicate. Set crystal-clear expectations for your next project: ↳ What’s the exact deliverable? ↳ Who are you building it for? ↳ When is each piece due? ↳ How will you keep stakeholders in the loop? Ambiguity is where mistakes breed. Clarity is where trust rebuilds. 2. Under-promise. Over-deliver. Tempted to prove yourself with a moonshot? Don’t. It backfires more often than not. Instead: ↳ Set realistic targets. ↳ Build in buffers. ↳ Deliver slightly more than what was promised. It’s not flashy, but it works. 3. Win small. Win fast. Credibility doesn’t return all at once. You earn it inch by inch. Focus on quick, visible wins that move the project forward and help the team, not just your image. Examples: ↳ Found a process gap? Propose a fix. ↳ Need support? Make a solid business case for additional resources. ↳ Don’t wait till the final deadline — share milestones early. Momentum builds belief. 4. Reassess. Periodically. Finished your comeback project? Great. But rebuilding trust = consistency over time. ↳ Every 2–3 months, ask: ↳ Am I gaining back confidence from stakeholders? ↳ Are my deliverables exceeding expectations? Do I feel like I trust myself again? If the answers aren’t clear — maybe it’s not just you. Some environments don’t allow for second chances. If that’s the case, find one that does. The truth is: Credibility is hard to earn. Harder to regain. But absolutely possible — if you approach it with humility, clarity, and strategy. We’ve all dropped the ball at some point. The question is: What do you do after the bounce? — PS: I write about leadership, trust, and growing through setbacks every week. #leadership #careeradvice #trust #growthmindset #youngprofessionals

When Google’s March 2024 Core Update rolled out, one of my client’s websites was hit hard. Rankings dropped, traffic fell, and it felt like months of hard work were undone overnight. Instead of panicking, I focused on finding solutions. Here’s how I fixed it 👇 Step 1: Find the Problems I started by analyzing Google Search Console and analytics to see what went wrong. I noticed: → Keywords falling out of the top 10. → Higher bounce rates on important pages. → Pages that didn’t match search intent anymore. Step 2: Review Content Thoroughly I went through every piece of content and asked: → Is it helpful for users? → Does it match current search intent? → Is it outdated or repetitive? I updated old content, merged similar pages, and added new information to key pages. Step 3: Fix Technical SEO Issues I did a technical audit and fixed: → Slow-loading pages. → Broken links and redirects. → Internal linking gaps. Step 4: Align Content with Search Intent Since Google now focuses heavily on user intent, I adjusted target pages by: →Adding FAQs to answer common questions. →Updating meta titles and descriptions to make them more engaging and accurate. Step 5: Build E-E-A-T Signals To improve Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness: → I added author bios to key blog posts. → Built quality backlinks from trusted websites. → Showcased certifications and case studies on the site. Step 6: Track and Adjust The recovery took time. I tracked the site’s performance every week and made adjustments as needed. Slowly, rankings and traffic started improving. The Results? After 8 weeks, the website not only recovered but performed better than before. Traffic increased by 40%, and key pages returned to top positions. Key Lesson: Google updates can feel like setbacks, but they’re actually chances to improve and come back stronger! 🔃 Found this helpful? Reshare to help others! 🔃 -- P.S. Need help with SEO or PPC? send me a DM, and I'll be happy to assist you. Follow Ankush Gupta for more insightful content like this! 🤓

Trust is breaking. The numbers prove it. Leaders cannot ignore this. Here are the hard facts: • Over 60% of people now feel left behind. They see business and government as serving only a few, while most struggle. • Trust in business leaders is falling fast. Nearly 7 out of 10 people do not trust them. That’s a jump of 12 points in just one year. • People still trust their own employer more than most institutions. But even that trust is slipping—from 79% to 75% in a year. • Among those who feel most wronged, only 3 out of 10 trust CEOs. This is not a branding issue. This is a leadership crisis. Transparency is the ONLY way forward. Three moves every leader must make to (re)build trust: 1. Share the “Why” behind every decision. Do not just announce changes. Explain how you got there. Show the trade-offs, the data, and the limits you faced. When people see your process, even tough news feels less like a betrayal. For example, if you cut budgets, show the numbers and the market facts that forced your hand. 2. Admit mistakes and show your fix. Everyone makes mistakes. Strong leaders own them. They do not hide or spin. They show what went wrong, what they learned, and what they will do to fix it. If a forecast failed, break down the bad assumptions, lay out the new plan, and explain how you will prevent a repeat. 3. Open real feedback channels. This is more than a yearly town hall. It means regular Q&As, anonymous feedback, and real chances for people to shape the strategy. When people feel heard, trust grows. When they feel ignored, trust dies. Each move sends a clear signal: This is not PR. This is real accountability. Why does this matter so much now? Grievance is rising. People see a zero-sum world, where leaders win and everyone else loses. If you do not step up, you risk being seen as part of the problem. But if you choose transparency, you can become a rare source of trust in a world full of doubt. Trust is not a nice-to-have. It is the ground you stand on. Choose transparency...or risk losing it all.

Why would anyone commit to change just because you think it’s necessary? Ignore this one step, and even the smallest change will fail to take root. Trust. Change can be hard for teams. Fear and doubt often crop up. Leaders can help build trust to ease these transitions. Here are some ways to building trust during change: 1. Validate Emotions Why: Unacknowledged emotions create resistance and decrease engagement. Action: Begin rollouts by checking in on emotional responses and affirming their validity. 2. Communicate Purpose Why: Clarity reduces uncertainty and builds trust. Action: Articulate business drivers and connect changes to strategic objectives. 3. Model Composure Why: Your emotional state sets the team tone. Action: Use stress management techniques before leading difficult discussions. 4. Frame as Opportunity Why: Positive framing reduces fear and resistance. Action: Highlight career growth, skill development, and competitive advantages. 5. Listen Actively Why: Deep listening surfaces critical implementation barriers. Action: Schedule dedicated 1:1s focused on transition concerns. 6. Co-design Solutions Why: Participation creates ownership and smoother adoption. Action: Run structured workshops where teams contribute to implementation plans. 7. Celebrate Quick Wins Why: Early successes build momentum and confidence. Action: Identify and recognize immediate post-implementation achievements. 8. Communicate Consistently Why: Regular updates reduce speculation and maintain alignment. Action: Establish predictable communication cadence with clear status updates. 9. Monitor Nonverbals Why: Body language impacts perceived confidence in changes. Action: Maintain open posture and calm demeanor during discussions. 10. Conduct Retrospectives Why: Analysis improves future change initiatives. Action: Hold structured reviews to capture learnings and improvement opportunities. The key to building trust is being with your team during the change, understanding them, and working with them. What’s one thing that works during change? What’s one thing that doesn’t? ♻️ Repost to help leaders build trust before rolling out a change.

Stop Hiding. Your Clients Want Outcomes, Not Just Status. Remember those "safe" updates? "Still working," "On track," "Soon." We sent them constantly, thinking we were transparent. We weren't. Our painful lesson: Clients demand actual forward motion, not just an update. Vague communications destroy trust far quicker than silence. We transformed our reporting: Every update now details what was completed. It explicitly states what's delayed and why. It clarifies what was dropped and the revised path. No progress? We own it, explain it, and outline the next plan. We're far from perfect, but we've earned more trust. If your "updates" lack outcomes, you're merely buying time. Start building trust instead. #SaaS #CustomerExperience #Execution #StartupLessons #Transparency Agami Technologies

Trust collapsed after one missed deadline They delivered millions in savings together. Then one critical project failed. I watched my client Sarah's (have seeked their permission and changed their name for confidentiality) team transform from celebrating quarterly wins to exchanging terse emails within weeks. During our first coaching session, they sat at opposite ends of the table, avoiding eye contact. "We used to finish each other's sentences," Sarah confided. "Now we can barely finish a meeting without tension." Sound familiar? This frustration isn't about skills—it's about broken trust. In The Thin Book of Trust, Charles Feltman provides the framework that helped us diagnose what was happening. Trust, he explains, isn't mysterious—it breaks down into four measurable elements: ✅ Care – Sarah's team stopped checking in on each other's wellbeing ✅ Sincerity – Their communications became guarded and political ✅ Reliability – Missed deadlines created a cycle of lowered expectations ✅ Competence – They began questioning each other's abilities after setbacks The breakthrough came when I had them map which specific element had broken for each relationship. The pattern was clear: reliability had cracked first, then everything else followed. Three months later, this same team presented their recovery strategy to leadership. Their transformation wasn't magic—it came from deliberately rebuilding trust behaviors, starting with keeping small promises consistently. My video walks you through this exact framework. Because when teams fracture, the question isn't "Why is everyone so difficult?" but rather: "Which trust element needs rebuilding first—and what's my next concrete step?" Which trust element (care, sincerity, reliability, competence) do you find breaks down most often in struggling teams? #humanresources #workplace #team #performance #cassandracoach

67% eNPS growth in 6 months — here’s how it really happened. When I stepped into a senior HR leadership role, I inherited a fractured culture. One sub-culture from a past acquisition still lingered, and fear had taken root. Employees weren’t participating in the eNPS at all — some deleted the survey before they ever read it. Those who did participate weren’t rating honestly (I know this because they later told me). Clearly, leadership wasn’t trusted. And unless we took this seriously, we risked losing great people, talented people who wanted to do good work. If you’re not familiar, the eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) measures engagement and loyalty. For us, it told a painful truth... the culture was unhealthy and the problem wasn’t the employees. In many cases, the problem was leadership. Steps I took to start rebuilding trust: - Conducted engagement interviews with every single employee. - Launched 360 reviews for every leader, including the CEO. - Reset the leadership team: right people, right seats, clear expectations. - Invested in leadership training to ensure consistency and accountability. It wasn’t so long ago that I was on the other side, an employee, not yet a realized leader. I know what it feels like when trust is broken. So I led the way I would have wanted someone to lead me: - With integrity - By example - By building authentic and respectful trust Trust isn’t rebuilt overnight. And we didn’t get everything perfect, nor could we make everyone happy. But when patterns emerge, when feedback consistently points to a problem, it’s worth going deeper and uncovering what’s really going on. As employees began to feel heard and issues were prioritized, trust grew. Within 6 months, eNPS rose by 67%. Every organization has blind spots. Sometimes it’s culture, sometimes processes, sometimes leadership. If you’re curious about where to start uncovering yours, DM me- I’d be glad to share the approach that helped move the needle.