As a leader - whether you're a business owner, executive, or manager - one of the toughest challenges you can face is regaining the trust of your team after a major breakdown in communication.
I’ve seen it happen: one wrong step, one miscommunication, and suddenly, the team feels disconnected, frustrated, and unsure of their leader.
So, how do you rebuild trust in a situation like that?

It starts with addressing that experience that caused the issue head-on, but that could be done in a different way that you might have used before.
When working with a leader who faced this exact situation, I said, “Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Better yet, let’s give it a name, shall we? Something like ‘Old Bob – the Slip-Up Master” Giving the issue a playful identity immediately breaks the tension and allows everyone to talk about it without the emotional baggage. It becomes a shared challenge to overcome, rather than a sensitive topic to avoid.
The goal here isn’t to jump into solutions or explanations right away. It’s about listening.
I encouraged the leader to hear their team out:
👉🏼 What went wrong from their perspective?
👉🏼 What did they feel?
👉🏼 What worked,
👉🏼 What didn’t?
And most importantly,
👉🏼 How did those experiences shape their thinking moving forward?
By doing this, the team felt seen, not just managed.
Trust doesn’t return overnight. But by naming the challenge, opening-up a real conversation, and showing your team that you’re willing to learn from the past, you start laying the foundation for trust to rebuild. After all, the key isn’t to fix the past - it’s to understand it, extract the lessons, and use them to create a stronger future together.
If you’re facing a similar situation, remember - acknowledge the elephant, give it a name, and start talking. Trust starts with listening, and action follows.
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I help leaders who struggle with unproductive teams and low morale, so they can build a motivated, high-performing workforce, without the stress of constant micromanagement or the fear of their team not meeting expectations. Reach out if you want to have a chat about your situation.
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