The Change Signal with Rachel Botsman
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Learn why trust is contextual, resistance signals engagement, and successfully navigating change requires embracing uncertainty.
In this episode of Change Signal, I dive deep with Rachel Botsman, the world’s expert on trust and Oxford University fellow, to explore how trust enables change — and how change can damage trust.
Rachel challenges us to identify our organization’s “trust states” and segment our communication accordingly, just as marketers would.
What if those resistant employees aren’t difficult, but deeply invested? What if your real trust influencers aren’t who you expect?
I love Rachel’s definition of trust as “a confident relationship with the unknown.”
It elegantly captures the tension at change’s heart and invites us to develop what Keats called “negative capability” — holding space for ambiguity instead of rushing toward false certainty.
For change leaders obsessed with acceleration and momentum, Rachel offers a provocative counterpoint: perhaps fragility, care, and patience need to become part of your change vocabulary.
Because as she memorably puts it, “Move fast and break things. Worst mantra ever. Don’t break people.”
About Rachel
Rachel Botsman is a leading expert on trust in the modern world. She is the author of three critically acclaimed books—What’s Mine is Yours, Who Can You Trust?, and How to Trust & Be Trusted—and was the first Trust Fellow at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, where she continues to teach. Her TED talks have been viewed over 5 million times, and her insights have shaped thinking in organizations from Salesforce and Adobe to the World Economic Forum.
rachelbotsman.com
Rachel’s books & podcast: rachelbotsman.com/podcasts
Her TED Talks: ted.com/speakers/rachel_botsman
