AI changes more than workflows. It changes what employees expect from their leaders. Can they ask difficult questions? Will they receive meaningful answers? And will anyone follow through? Kristin Schleicher explores how leadership communication shapes company culture during AI adoption, drawing on change-management experience and research. Discover practical ways to involve employees, support learning, clarify accountability, and build a shared sense of trust as work evolves

Imagine a leader promising that employee feedback will remain confidential. A week later, a recognizable comment appears in a presentation. Its author realizes that colleagues can identify them. The leader says, “I’m sorry. That was not my intention.” The employee is thinking about the next time someone asks for honest feedback. What will they feel safe enough to say? An apology matters. What follows it tells people whether they have a reason to rely on you again. Understand

A Series on Trust — Part 3 By Kristin Schleicher A manager I coached was an excellent communicator. Yet she struggled to rely on other people and often felt she had to do everything herself. She was hesitant to ask for what she needed, give clear direction, or offer difficult feedback. Being “too nice” was part of how she described the problem. There was an important tension there. She wanted to trust others, but some of the conversations that would make that possible felt u

A Series on Trust — Part 2 By Kristin Schleicher Imagine two colleagues leaving the same meeting. One feels relieved: finally, someone challenged the proposal directly. The other feels uneasy: why was that disagreement raised in front of everyone? They witnessed the same exchange. They did not experience the same thing. When we talk about trust, we often assume everyone recognizes trustworthy behavior in the same way. In international teams, that assumption deserves particula

What are we really relying on when we trust someone at work? Part 1 of this five-part series explores how ability, care, and integrity shape trust—and how everyday leadership conversations give people reasons to rely on us.