When an organisation faces challenges and pain, leadership has a choice: hope things will fix themselves or step into the discomfort and rebuild – slowly, intentionally, and courageously. In this case, they chose to try. 

 

No one expected overnight change. Slowly, over about six months, our Aephoria team, led by Kate Clayton and Pete Williams, collaborated with management, and healing and transformation became possible. 

 

“When things go downhill, many companies choose not to invest in interventions. In this case, the client wanted to turn the situation around and had the foresight and long-term view to follow through on it.” – Kate Clayton, Associate at Aephoria. 

The Breaking Point

When trust collapses in an organisation, it doesn’t stay confined within its walls – it shakes people, relationships, and entire communities. That’s exactly what happened when challenges arose within one of our client organisations, triggering a full-scale investigation. The revelations left employees wondering: Who knew? Who was involved? Who could still be trusted?

 

The fallout was swift and severe. Some leaders were asked to leave, others resigned, and those who remained were left navigating a landscape of doubt and suspicion. To exacerbate the situation, this unfolded in a small-town environment where the organisation employed many people. Distrust rippled into the wider community. Personal and professional relationships became strained.

 

“There was a lot of mistrust in the system. It started in management and rippled into the local town.” shares Kate Clayton. “The core issue was trust breakdown, and our client had the foresight to realise that would have a major impact on operations going forward. They needed to act fast.” 

 

Beneath the surface, deep-rooted cultural and systemic challenges had also been festering for years. A  seasonal workforce meant instability was baked into the system. The leadership style was “divide and rule”, which left some people feeling hesitant and disempowered. The working environment itself reflected this – poorly maintained facilities and a lack of care.

 

As the dust settled, it became painfully clear that this was about more than identifying wrongdoing. The organisation was at a crossroads.

 

If the business was to move forward, it needed to rebuild credibility, connection, and culture.

 

The Journey to Rebuild Trust 

Our approach to this project wasn’t about walking in with a rigid master plan. It never is. Instead, we felt our way forward, responding to what was needed in the moment and allowing the interventions to unfold organically. We started by laying the foundation. 

 

• The first step was awareness. We started with Enneagram and Leadership Maturation assessments and 1:1 debriefs and coaching sessions to build greater awareness and understanding of each person.

 

• Next, we started building trust and alignment in the new management team, who needed to be on the same page before anything else could happen. We joined the team in a beautiful, natural, cared-for setting, which set the scene for a different, more attuned leadership approach. Managers shared their personal stories, frustrations, and hopes for what could be rebuilt. A fire ritual allowed them to symbolically release what no longer served them.

 

• The new team leader was supported with a series of 1:1 coaching sessions to help navigate the leadership transition and of course, the challenging dynamics and pain that had been and were still in the system.

 

• In the process, the management team stepped into new ways of managing by facilitating listening conversations with all their people, building their muscles to actively listen and engage and hear people’s truth. This was a pivotal point in acknowledging what had been and getting input into what would take us forward, co-creating the values and behaviours that everyone could get behind. A foundation for shared accountability.

 

• The insights gleaned from these conversations helped shape a Values Charter built by the people, for the people. More than this, it signalled a change in the system – where people would be acknowledged and heard and their input valued more.

 

Culture and Values Journey

How Strategic Interventions Prompted Positive Change 

The interventions at this organisation were carefully designed to create psychological safety, empower leadership, and rebuild a culture of trust. We utilised a blend of coaching, rituals, team input, and visible leadership actions to make the transformation tangible.

 

One notable milestone: an all-hands session featuring Groundspring Playback Theatre Company’s amazing team, directed by Clinical Psychologist, Heather Schiff. Through music, acting, storytelling, and ritual, employees across the organisation engaged in a collective experience of acknowledging, grieving, healing, letting go and rebuilding. People shared, laughed, cried, commiserated and found new energy. It was an afternoon that will be remembered for many years to come. 

 

Rituals play a key role in acknowledging the past and making space for new beginnings. One of the most powerful experiences was a fire ceremony: people wrote down what they wanted to release and placed it into a fire cauldron, a symbolic act of transformation. Later, in a forgotten, neglected space on site, employees planted new greenery, alongside their new leader – a living metaphor for growth and renewal. 

 

“Aephoria’s sessions provided a foundation, but the company’s team did a lot of work between these sessions. They would go off and follow through on what they had agreed, taking feedback and input into account and making changes. We’re talking several hundred people for those listening sessions, and they did it in under a month! Many teams would not have the capacity nor the will to make that happen so quickly.” – Pete Williams, Executive Coach. 

Creating a Toolkit for Teams

A key deliverable of this client engagement was to give the company a communication toolkit to help them maintain a positive culture long after we’d left. This toolkit included: 

 

• Advanced listening techniques – distinguishing between surface-level listening and deeper, active listening.

 

• Understanding emotional fields – recognising the unseen dynamics in conversations.

 

• The Johari Window – a framework to help teams understand how they see themselves vs how others perceive them.

 

• Speaking with vulnerability – building confidence in sharing concerns openly.

 

• Practical check-in techniques – making sure meetings began with genuine connection.

Our Approach to Foster Culture Change 

Change often meets resistance, not because people don’t want things to improve but because they’re afraid things won’t. When trust has been broken, scepticism is a natural response. In this case, the challenge wasn’t just introducing new ways of working but helping people believe that change was possible and worth investing in.

Genuine Connection and Surprise

Many employees approached the process with hesitation. Would this be just another corporate initiative that faded away? To break through the doubt, we focused on genuine connection. Small-group activities and rotating group dynamics helped team members see each other as people, not just colleagues. 

 

Another powerful tool against resistance was surprise. We introduced an approach unlike anything the team had experienced before, and that unfamiliarity helped soften scepticism. As curiosity replaced doubt, people began to lean into the process rather than hold back.

Getting Personal

We also made it personal in the best way. One of the biggest turning points was answering a simple but powerful question: “What do I get out of this?” People were more likely to buy in when they could see personal benefits – greater job security, better communication, a healthier work environment. 

The Role of Rituals and Active Listening

Rituals played a powerful role in overcoming resistance. People weren’t just told that things were changing – they felt it. Moments like the fire ritual, where team members wrote down what they needed to let go of and watched it burn, created a visceral shift.

 

Another significant trust-rebuilding tool was listening. Managers held listening sessions with their teams instead of dictating change from the top down. Employees shared what they needed to stop, start, and continue. Their input wasn’t ignored or filtered; instead, it became the foundation of the Values Charter that defined the new culture. This sense of co-creation changed everything.

Signs of Progress

Between the first and second management team sessions, the difference was striking. In session one, people started building a foundation of trust. By session two, they were stronger, more open, and starting to challenge each other.

 

Instead of being quiet, team members began holding each other accountable. Resistance had turned into engagement, scepticism into belief, and a broken culture into something that could finally start to heal.

 

• One of the first noticeable changes was that managers stopped just giving orders and started listening. Employees weren’t just spoken to – they were asked for input.

 

• The fire ritual had been a turning point and the biggest proof of positive change. The physical environment started to change, too. The site, once neglected and run-down, was cleaned up and maintained.

 

• For the first time, leaders were showing up, not just in meetings, but on the ground. The management team walked the site daily, talking to employees, engaging with them, and showing a united front.

 

• Managers stepped up, not because they were told to, but because they wanted to. They began owning and driving the change rather than waiting for directives. The focus naturally shifted from culture-building to operational improvements, showing that the cultural wounds had healed enough for people to focus on the actual work again.

 

“I caught up with management just last week and asked them about the results they’d witnessed since the engagement. For the first time in the company’s history, they’d achieved the highest quality audit ratings, with reduced production issues and higher employee morale.” – Kate Clayton. 

Key Lessons for Leaders

When trust is broken, people don’t just need to hear that things will change. They need to see it, feel it, and experience it over time. Kate Clayton and Pete Williams recommend the following for any leaders facing a cultural crisis in their organisation:

 

• Face the issue head-on. Ignoring a broken culture won’t make it go away – it will only deepen the wounds. Acknowledge the problem and commit to the work ahead.

 

• Align leadership first. Cultural change starts at the top. If leadership isn’t aligned, the message to employees will be inconsistent and questioned.

 

• Start with self-reflection. Leadership needs to own the problem before they can fix it. Take a step back and reflect on past actions, blind spots, and leadership behaviours that contributed to the breakdown. 

 

• Use a process that embodies the culture you’re trying to create. For example, if you involve people and listen to and use their input, they are more likely to buy into the change that is trying to happen and to be the change themselves. 

 

• Don’t rush the groundwork. It’s tempting to move quickly, but real trust takes time. The early stages, such as listening and building safety, are critical. 

 

• Focus on action, not just conversations. What happens between team sessions is more important than the sessions themselves. Make sure people have clear next steps and take accountability for implementing them.

 

• Give power back to the people. When trust has been broken, employees often feel powerless. To rebuild trust, give agency back to individuals and teams. Encourage them to focus on what they can control.

 

• Equip and empower managers. Middle managers are the bridge between leadership and employees. If they aren’t equipped to lead through change, transformation will stall. 

 

“If you want to foster a healthy, inclusive culture where people are heard and valued, then the actual process of manifesting that culture has to be the same – inclusive and valuing.” – Kate Clayton.  

 

Rebuilding trust is not a quick fix. Trust has to be earned, day by day, choice by choice. That’s what culture change really is: a commitment to show up differently, again and again, with everyone involved being heard and committing to a collective goal. 

 

Do you need to repair what’s broken amongst your team? Contact the Aephoria team to arrange culture change initiatives for your organisation. 

About Kate Clayton

Kate is an ICF-accredited executive coach, group facilitator, truth seeker, and speaker. She’s also an Associate at Aephoria and has more than 30 years of experience working with various start-ups, social enterprises, entrepreneurial businesses and corporations to build cultures that deliver growth. 

 

Kate combines Integrative Coaching with strategic thinking, weaving these together in practical ways that help leaders, teams, and organisations move forward with greater possibilities. 

 

Connect with Kate. 

About Pete Williams

Pete Williams helps business leaders thrive, drawing on decades of experience from startups to MD of a multi-billion, award-winning company. With an MBA, an MPhil in Management Coaching, and over 10,000 hours leading organisations, he combines academic insight with real-world expertise.

 

An EMCC Senior Practitioner, COMENSA Credentialed (CSP) and ICF-registered coach, Pete has worked with executives and teams across sectors and continents, amassing 5,000+ coaching hours. His passion is empowering leaders to excel and drive lasting success.

 

Connect with Pete.