Few events disrupt an organization more than a leadership transition, whether the company is large or small. Some level of upheaval is inevitable. What determines how deep that disruption runs is the message leaders deliver in the moment, and the experiences that surround it.
Too often, though, organizations rely on a familiar orthodoxy: a polished, over-edited statement so carefully managed that it becomes stiff and hollow, stripped of the very details any reasonable stakeholder would want to know. That strategy, on its own, is a surefire flop.
What comes after the statement often matters far more. The tone, honesty and clarity of the communication that follows will determine whether employees, franchisees, shareholders or customers enroll in the new direction or remain skeptical, even cynical, about what leadership claims is a necessary course correction.
Take, for instance, the approach of new Verizon CEO Dan Schulman, who has been notably direct in addressing the company’s past posture toward customers. Speaking at a recent conference in Washington, D.C., he cut through the usual corporate language with a simple point: “You have to treat people like humans, not like accounts.”
Here’s the challenge: In an era of increased scrutiny, where AI can generate perfectly polished corporate-speak in seconds, the impulse for companies is to push for the high-gloss statements that cover every angle. Stakeholders have become expert BS detectors. They’ve seen enough algorithm-optimized messaging to know when they’re being managed rather than leveled with. AI is challenging our notions of authenticity, which makes a real human connection even more important.
Stop at the formal announcement, and rumors will almost certainly fill the vacuum among key stakeholders. Follow it, instead, with an in-person gathering—or, for a distributed workforce, a livestream town hall—designed to align as well as inform, and featuring the leaders of the transition. Done well, that next step can replace speculation with clarity and set the stage for a more collaborative atmosphere across the organization.
The tone of the event, the attitudes of those leading it and the way the transition is framed in the follow-up communication can make a decisive difference in how the change is perceived and embraced. In practice, these moments often do more to shape belief than any written communication that precedes them.
While new leaders understandably want to project strength and decisiveness, the moment also calls for honesty and a measure of humility. Acknowledging what you don’t yet know can build more credibility than pretending to have all the answers. Leadership transitions are sensitive moments, and stakeholders expect candor about both the challenges ahead and the path forward.
A message from former CEO Tami Erwin is an example of genuine empathy. She shared a heartfelt note with Verizon employees facing job cuts after the leadership transition late last year. It didn’t come from the new C-Suite, but it offers a clear lesson nonetheless: This is the kind of communication leaders should study when trying to convey genuine empathy to a workforce confronting sweeping layoffs in the wake of change.
“To those impacted, from someone who will always bleed Verizon red: Give yourself permission to grieve,” she wrote on LinkedIn to the cohort facing an uncertain future. “A job is identity, relationships, pride. Losing it is personal.”
Or consider Elliott Hill, the new Nike chief, who has been meeting key stakeholders face-to-face, not to recite stale, prewritten talking points, but to deliver a direct message that acknowledges past missteps while laying out his plan to rehabilitate a once-dominant leader in the athletic space.
His approach is described in a recent New York Times profile: “Mr. Hill… will turn on the charm with his polite Southern drawl. He will greet everyone in the room, billionaire or construction worker. People seem to like him, regardless of how well or badly the business is performing.”
What stands out in both examples, models for navigating high-profile leadership transitions, is the candor. Honesty, introspection, humility and real transparency are front and center. These traits may be uncommon in the C-Suite, but they’re essential for leaders who want to earn the respect of employees whose commitment will ultimately determine whether the turnaround succeeds or fails. Taking this as a feel-good exercise defeats the purpose. Rather, it is a strategy to build credibility when the organization’s credibility is at its nadir.
You can’t fake sincerity. In moments of upheaval, a confused and anxious workforce can spot rehearsed empathy a mile away. The message has to be genuine. If there were ever a moment for management by walking around, this is it. Showing up, taking unscripted questions and engaging employees openly, especially in shared in-person settings, does more to build credibility than any carefully crafted memo.
This is precisely when the script should be tossed aside. New leaders were chosen for a reason, and the opening days of a transition are their first chance to show why the board made the right call. Handle that moment with authenticity and clarity, and momentum follows. Fumble it, and the damage can linger long after the leadership change.
Handled well, a leadership transition is less a single announcement than a series of deliberate, human moments—many of them shared experiences—that rebuild trust one interaction at a time. The formal memo, the town hall, the follow-up conversations in corridors and conference rooms, together, they tell employees, customers and partners whether the new regime is capable of owning the past and leading them into the future.
That’s why the most effective leaders don’t outsource this work to legal and comms and call it a day. They learn the story they want to tell, then tell it themselves, consistently and repeatedly, in person wherever possible. They show up early and often, on investor calls yes, but also on factory floors, in branch offices and at franchise meetings. They listen as much as they talk. They acknowledge the pain of layoffs and restructuring without defensiveness. They make room for skepticism instead of trying to spin it away. These open and candid experiences are part of a consistent effort to engage people directly and visibly.
For boards and C-Suites, the takeaway is straightforward but not easy: Treat leadership transitions as a trust reset, not a branding exercise. That means investing real time in how the story is framed, which questions are answered directly, and how often leaders are willing to stand in front of the people most affected and speak plainly. Titles can be handed out overnight. Trust cannot. And in an era when every misstep is instantly visible—to employees, to customers, to markets—how leaders handle the first weeks of a transition may be the clearest signal of all about what kind of organization they intend to run.
