By: Catherine Davis

Building trust at scale has become a critical challenge, with most modern businesses constantly undergoing company-wide transformations to survive. Trust depends heavily on stability and consistency—something a constantly shifting and changing company can’t provide.

In light of this, Nellie Wartoft, CEO of Tigerhall, has made it her mission to help business owners address this issue head-on. With her talent management and corporate transformation background, Nellie possesses unique perspectives on how businesses can foster a culture of trust that spans large teams, even in rapidly evolving environments. 

On a recent episode of the Operations Room podcast, she shares her thoughts on the matter. 

The People Factor in Transformation

Wartoft, who founded Tigerhall to address organizational challenges from the talent side of the business, highlights a startling statistic: 70% of enterprise transformations fail, with the main cause being people-related issues. “It always came down to this ‘people’ and ‘people’ were always the issue,” she explains. 

Understanding the connection between human behavior and business success drove her to explore the role of behavioral science and psychology in corporate transformations.

Central to her insights is the breakdown of traditional corporate culture into “us versus them” dynamics. In large organizations, this divide between leadership and employees creates barriers to effective change. Wartoft stresses the importance of moving towards a “we” mentality, where all members of an organization are united in their efforts to drive transformation. 

This shift, she believes, starts with trust.

Trust as a Foundation for Success

“Trust is by far the biggest element that makes or breaks a transformation,” Wartoft states. Drawing on both third-party research and Tigerhall’s own data, she emphasizes that without trust, no organizational change can be successful. However, she warns that building trust is not a simple task, especially at scale.

Nellie offers a practical approach to building trust, advising leaders to accept that mistakes will happen. “You are going to do things wrong. I’ve trusted people I shouldn’t have. But does that mean I suddenly shouldn’t trust anyone? No!” She believes that while bad actors will always exist, overgeneralizing mistrust can paralyze organizations. 

The key is to learn from these experiences without letting them undermine trust in the broader team.

Communication: The Cornerstone of Trust

Communication is at the heart of Nellie’s strategy for building trust at scale. She advocates for open, raw, authentic interactions rather than overly formal, scripted approaches. “Sending formal emails that have been vetted by 25 people isn’t how you build trust,” she says. Instead, she encourages leaders to engage directly with their teams through video messages, podcasts, or in-person discussions, where personality and authenticity can shine through.

Wartoft draws parallels to social media platforms, noting the difference in engagement between TikTok and Instagram. “TikTok grew because it’s raw and authentic. Instagram is polished. People resonate with realness.” In a corporate setting, leaders should aim to connect with employees personally, using humor and relatability to foster openness and trust.

She also highlights the importance of transparency when delivering difficult news. Leaders often avoid sharing negative updates, but Nellie warns against sugarcoating tough realities. 

“No one believes everything is positive,” she points out. “If people are going to lose their jobs, tell them. Hiding it only makes it worse.”

Addressing Organizational Politics

One of Wartoft’s significant concerns as a CEO is the rise of office politics, mainly as companies grow. In her view, office politics often emerge when employees lose sight of the customer or the core problem the company is trying to solve. Instead, they focus on processes that make them look good within the organization, which can derail genuine progress.

“My greatest fear as a CEO is for Tigerhall to become political,” she admits. To combat this, she believes it’s essential for leadership to set the tone by promoting a culture of open communication and constructive feedback. “Your culture is who you hire, fire, and promote,” she says, referencing a philosophy from Netflix. “If someone is critical and you fire them, you teach everyone else that they shouldn’t be critical.”

Building a Trust-First Culture

Wartoft’s advice for fostering trust involves three key elements: authentic communication, acceptance of mistakes, and transparency. She urges leaders to be mindful of how they handle critical feedback, stressing that the way organizations respond to criticism sets the tone for future employee behavior.

Ultimately, Nellie Wartoft believes that trust is built through big gestures and day-to-day interactions that shape an organization’s culture. As companies scale, the challenge of maintaining trust grows, but by following these principles, leaders can create an environment where trust flourishes and transformations succeed.

Check out The Operations Room podcast to hear Nellie’s full episode, or visit the Tigerhall website to learn more about Nellie’s company. 

Published by: Josh Tatunay