Building trust in post-challenge communities

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

If you work with ethnocultural communities, and you want to explore sensitive topics, it is doable. I have talked about topics that range from what I would consider "comfortable" - such as resilience and healthier aging to "extremely uncomfortable" - such as mental health, violence, and abuse. One of the first and most important steps before you do that is to develop and gain their trust. There is no sustainability in what we do, no matter how important it is, without earning the trust of the people we serve and support. How do you do that? Well, this was my approach when I began my work on older adult mistreatment (elder abuse): 1. Identify and map out the community organisations in your area/city that meet the requirements of your services/support/project. 2. Reach out to community/cultural/spiritual leaders of those communities - ideally with an email and then a face-to-face meeting (introduce yourself and be transparent in what your ask is, but also suggest that you would like to know how you/your organisation can be of benefit to the community). 3. Ask to be invited to community events or gatherings as a gentle entry into the community, and so they can familiarise themselves with you. 4. Remember - it's about the community, their needs, and voices. 5. You may need to do these community event visits several times to earn and develop trust (trustworthiness is also a pillar of trauma-informed care). 6. Once trust is earned, and you have been able to engage the community in conversations around their needs, you can address your ask and adapt it to the community and the concerns they share with you. This sort of community engagement will also bring with it benefits and growth, plus, if you're in the field of social support and community engagement and advocacy, you know how important these steps are. Trust first. Your ask comes later.

Communities are the new webinars. Crowded. Passive. And everyone's quietly disengaging. We joined for connection. But we ended up in a chat thread with 2,000 strangers and a few fire emojis. The truth? Transformation rarely happens in broadcast mode. It happens in tiny, high-trust groups where people 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 show up for each other. The kind where someone follows up and says: "Hey, you said you'd launch that landing page last week—what's the status?" That's where real progress happens. When we turn 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 into 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Because most people don't need another community group. They need a pod of 4 who hold them to their word—and help them move forward. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀? 1. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 — Groups small enough where everyone has a voice and absence is noticed. Where "community" isn't just a euphemism for "audience." 2. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 — Regular check-ins with consequences (even if just social pressure) for missed commitments. Praise for execution, not just intentions. 3. 𝗣𝗲𝗲𝗿-𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 — Members who understand your challenges because they've recently overcome them, not beginners or gurus too removed from your reality. 4. 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 — Specific, measurable milestones that members work toward, not just endless discussion or consumption of content. 5. 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 — Real examples of members who entered with specific challenges and emerged with concrete results, not vague promises.

As a facilitator of team retreats, I often hear this request: “Let’s make sure we focus on the positive messages and end on an upbeat note so people feel motivated.” Here’s the truth: People don’t leave a retreat energized just because it was positive. They leave energized when they’ve experienced real trust—the kind that comes from honest, authentic conversations about the vision and the complications surrounding it. That trust is built when: – Hard topics and underlying tensions are surfaced—not swept aside. – Gaps between what we say and what we do are acknowledged. – Leaders stay present in discomfort instead of bypassing it. – Team members are treated like adults—capable of engaging with truth, complexity, and growth. – People’s realities are validated, and honest conversations happen about what’s driving the challenges—and how to move forward. It’s not about avoiding “negativity.” It’s about creating the kind of space where real conversations can happen—where people walk away not just feeling good, but feeling seen, respected, trusted, and included.

Culture Over Chaos! You can’t revive a property if the team is barely surviving. I’ve led enough turnarounds to know: You can have the best strategy, the cleanest budget, the strongest vision, but if your team is exhausted, skeptical, and running on fumes, nothing moves. So here’s what I do FIRST when stepping into a struggling community: 1. Acknowledge the burnout. Not in a performance review, in a real, face-to-face conversation. They’ve seen turnover, chaos, and band-aid leadership. Let them vent. Then let them exhale. 2. Remove the noise. Simplify. Prioritize. Cut the 14 spreadsheets and endless meetings. Clear the runway so they can breathe and actually win a few small battles. 3. Show up. Not once. Not with donuts. With grit. I’m in units with them. In the weeds. In the mess. That’s when they realize: “Okay. This one’s different.” 4. Celebrate like hell. When progress shows up on-time, work orders, a good review, a clean audit—don’t wait. Celebrate it in real-time. Small wins rebuild trust. 5. Give people purpose again. Remind them WHY this work matters. Because resident lives do get better. Properties do turn around. Teams can heal. And when they do? Everyone wins. Turnarounds aren’t just about NOI. They’re about trust recovery. If you want a community to rise, you have to lift the people first. #PropertyManagement #BurnoutRecovery #TurnaroundLeadership #TeamFirst #OperationalExcellence #CultureOverChaos #LeadFromTheFront #MultifamilyLeadership #RealTalkLeadership

Building trust is more important than building technology. When we began Commonlands work in rural Uganda, our first instinct was to focus on the tech — the maps, the certificates, the microloan platform. It made sense. Technology could scale solutions faster, streamline processes, and offer transparency. But without trust, even the most advanced tools are useless. Many had seen outsiders arrive with promises before—only for those promises to vanish, leaving communities worse off. Why should they trust us? We had to earn it. That meant showing up—not just once or twice, but consistently. → Sitting under trees and listening to their stories. → Respecting their skepticism and their pace. → Engaging local leaders to vouch for our intentions. Over time, we saw something remarkable. People began opening up. They shared their stories and their challenges. Only then did the technology become meaningful—it became a tool they could see themselves using, not something imposed on them. This is what made us achieve an incredible milestone: ➜ 2,500 plots documented. ➜ 99% loan repayment rate. Then I realized that trust is slow to build but incredibly fragile. And when you’re working with communities, it’s non-negotiable. Technology might be exciting, but relationships are what sustain progress. Today, every certificate we issue and every loan we facilitate is built on a foundation of trust—not just innovation. And that, I’ve learned, is the only way real change happens. Thoughts? Do you believe a lack of trust can impact the success of a project? Follow 👉 Darius and repost! #communitydevelopment #trustbuilding #socialimpact #sustainability #changemaking

During the pandemic, something unexpected happened in our workplaces: we became more compassionate. We didn’t have a rulebook, but we had each other. And for a brief moment, grace became the norm. Children on laps during conference calls weren’t interruptions; they were reminders of humanity. Leaders made themselves more accessible, holding open Zoom office hours. Companies went out of their way to create connection: virtual coffee chats, workplace bingo, live concerts, wine tastings, professional development. We were anxious, scared, and uncertain, but we tried to show up with empathy and understanding. Trust, transparency, and sensitivity weren’t buzzwords—they were survival skills. But now? The tone has shifted. Suddenly it’s “get back to work.” It’s “no one wants to work anymore.” It’s the tired narrative that blames whole generations for wanting something different. It feels like somewhere along the way, we forgot our manners. So, how do we get trust back? Three Steps to Rebuilding Trust: Trust isn’t a one-time initiative. It’s a daily practice. And it’s also a language—seven of them, to be exact, which I explore in my new book Talk To Me Nice: The Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace. Here are three trust languages that feel especially urgent right now: 1. Transparency. Clarity over confusion. Share what you know, admit what you don’t, and bring people into the process. Even half an answer is better than silence. 2. Sensitivity. Pause before you hit “send.” Ask yourself: Will this build trust or erode it? Remember that some colleagues are still adjusting to new ways of working, managing new family realities, or carrying invisible burdens. 3. Acknowledgment. Not every thank-you comes with a bonus, but every person deserves recognition. Be specific. Don’t just say “good job”—say how their work made an impact. Silence breeds doubt; acknowledgment breeds loyalty. The pandemic reminded us that trust is possible in the workplace. The question is: will we choose it again? This week, try speaking one trust language—transparency, sensitivity, or acknowledgment—more intentionally. You’ll be surprised how quickly it shifts the tone on your team. Because when trust is the foundation, everything else becomes possible. #leadership #trust #communication #management #humanresources