Rebel action plan
Trust lives in the follow-through
Trust breaks when words and experience drift apart.
In Oslo, Rebels explored how leaders build trust through change, growth, scrutiny, and volatility.
The answer: be visible. Be clear. Face hard truths early. Make sure behavior backs the story.
Here are the actions that matter most.
It’s really efficient to run something when there is trust. It’s an underestimated quality
Steinar Sønsteby CEO, ATEA
In action
01 Make trust bigger than the CEO
One visible CEO is not enough. Trust breaks when leadership feels distant, inconsistent, or overly centralized.
Rebel move
Distribute visibility across leadership and equip middle managers to carry the message with confidence.
02 Say the hard thing early
Trust is rarely lost because people cannot handle the truth. It is lost because leaders avoid it, soften it, or answer it too late.
Rebel move
Name the tension early. Do not wait for the perfect message.
03 Less broadcast, more dialogue
Employees do not trust polished comms in difficult moments. They trust being heard.
Rebel move
Separate major announcements from proper Q&A. Answer difficult questions honestly, even when the answer is incomplete.
04 Close the gap between words and behavior
Trust erodes when a business claims one thing and does another. Brand, culture, and leadership either reinforce or undermine each other.
Rebel move
Audit the mismatch. Where are we over-claiming, under-delivering or behaving out of sync with our values?
05 Build trust locally, not just centrally
In global organizations, trust is shaped by culture, context and leadership style. One message does not land the same way everywhere.
Rebel move
Give leaders the tools to adapt how they communicate without diluting what the organization stands for.
06 Stop mistreating trust as soft
Trust is not a sentiment metric. It is a commercial asset. It affects speed, retention, engagement, resilience and brand strength.
Rebel move
Treat trust as a business performance issue, not just an internal comms one.
07 Give people guardrails, not handcuffs
Over-governed brands create avoidance. Under-governed brands create chaos.
Rebel move
Be clear on the non-negotiables, then create room for judgement, experimentation, and local intelligence inside them.
08 Prove you listened
Surveys do not build trust. Visible response does.
Rebel move
Show the loop. You said. We heard. We changed.
