Prioritizing Old Issues to Rebuild Trust

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

Ever walked into a surprise 9-alarm fire with a customer? The kind where you thought you were walking into a normal check-in… and suddenly you realize:  • They’re extremely upset  • They have multiple product issues stacked up  • They’re already halfway out the door It happens for a lot of reasons:  • You’re new to the account and inheriting someone else’s mess  • Portfolios shift and you discover things are way worse than you thought  • Or, even if you’ve stayed on top of it, product issues snowball into a much bigger crisis The question is: What do you do when you’re blindsided by a firestorm like this? The only play I’ve seen work isn’t damage control. It’s resetting the relationship. Here’s how: 𝟭. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. Open a shared doc or slide, write every issue down in front of them. Don’t flinch if it’s 20 items, keep asking “Anything else?” until they’re empty. 𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁. Not every issue is critical. Ask which ones actually block their ability to achieve business value. Focus on the 2–3 that will make the biggest impact right now. 𝟯. 𝗦𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝘆. Outline the next steps, owners, and timing. Follow up the same day to prove the shift has already begun. Always state when your next follow up will be and then meet that due date. Even if your update is that the team is still working on the issue. 𝟰. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲. The customer must feel a clear difference between the old way of working with you and the new way forward. Consistent delivery builds back trust. When you do this, a customer who came in saying “everything is broken” often walks out realizing there are really just 2–3 solvable issues. And solving those gives you the chance not just to save them for one renewal cycle, but to truly reset the relationship for the long term. Have you ever had to walk into a customer fire like this? What’s worked best for you to turn things around? #customersuccess

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

“I don’t think my team trusts me anymore.” That’s how one of my clients, a senior executive, started our first coaching session. He wasn’t being dramatic. He was tired. Tired of pushing harder every quarter. Tired of trying to stay positive when morale was slipping. Tired of leading a team that was still performing, but no longer connected. The company had just gone through another round of restructuring. New reporting lines. New goals. Old wounds that no one had time to talk about. He said, “Everyone shows up to meetings, but no one really talks.” And that single sentence told me everything. We didn’t start by “fixing performance.” We started by rebuilding safety. → Real conversations, not carefully worded updates. → Follow-through, not promises lost to busy calendars. → Space to disagree, without fear of punishment. Leadership doesn’t start with clarity decks or new values. It starts with courage, the courage to listen before defending. The courage to stay present even when it’s uncomfortable. Three months later, that same team had reconnected. Meetings had energy again. People spoke up. They challenged ideas, respectfully. And performance rose naturally, not because they were pushed, but because they finally trusted again. When leaders repair trust, everything else follows, productivity, innovation, retention. When they don’t, no amount of strategy will save the culture. So if you’re a leader reading this, ask yourself: → Do people feel safe bringing me the truth? → When was the last time someone told me something uncomfortable? If you can’t remember, that’s where to start. Because trust doesn’t disappear overnight but it does disappear in silence.

Your employees don't trust you, and your big promises aren't helping. After multiple years of disruption—including layoffs, shifting work models, and the rise of AI—trust in leadership is at a serious low. Our recent data at Emtrain confirms this: integrity scores dropped 5% last year, and accountability scores fell by 3%. Trust doesn't erode because of tough decisions alone. It breaks down when your team can't predict what you'll do next. Leaders often assume bold promises or inspiring speeches can rebuild trust quickly. In reality, trust depends entirely on predictable, reliable actions. Here's how to rebuild trust through predictability: 1. Make clear, specific commitments for the upcoming quarter—and keep them consistently. 2. Communicate regularly, even when there's nothing new to report. Your consistency signals stability. 3. When unavoidable changes arise, explain why early and clearly, and give your team sufficient notice. 4. Follow through by explicitly highlighting when you've delivered on past promises. I've personally witnessed this approach in action with a client undergoing significant leadership changes. After a rocky transition, the new executive team committed to three measurable goals for the following quarter. They delivered exactly as promised, then clearly communicated the results. Within two quarters, their trust metrics had risen by 12%. Rebuilding trust doesn't happen overnight, but it always starts with one clear, predictable commitment. Choose one promise you can absolutely deliver within the next 30 days—and deliver it without fail. That's how you restore trust. Not with big speeches, but with steady predictability and unwavering follow-through. I'd like to hear from others: What one specific commitment could you make (and keep) to begin rebuilding trust with your team this quarter?