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After four years and nearly 100 episodes of exploring what it means to build trust on purpose, we're coming to you today with a different kind of conversation; one that's deeply personal and one of the hardest we've had.

Ila shares why she's stepping away from the podcast, and Charles reflects on what these four years of partnership, friendship, and shared commitment to trust have meant. This is two people who have walked each other through profound conversations about vulnerability, care, and what it means to show up authentically, now navigating a significant transition together.

We built this community believing that trust is something we choose to cultivate intentionally, especially in moments of uncertainty and change. Today, we're living that truth.

We talk about what we've learned from each other, from our guests, and from you, our listeners, who have been part of this journey. We share what Ila will carry forward from this work, and how Charles will continue the conversations about trust in new ways.

This episode is about gratitude. It's about honouring what has been while making space for what needs to come next. It's about trusting the process, even when it's not the one we would have chosen.

Thank you for being part of our story. Thank you for trusting us with yours.

With deep appreciation and love, Charles & Ila

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.

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You've messed up. You know it. Your team knows it. A lot of leaders know that sinking "Oh sh!t" feeling of realizing they've done something to break their team's trust.

In this episode, we dig into a real story of broken trust: the situation, the impacts, and what ultimately turned things around.

We walk through the moves that reopened honest dialogue and rebuilt psychological safety; from the leader acknowledging their oops without making excuses to co-designing a repair plan with the team. You'll hear practical guidance for leaders to work through a sticky situation: prompts to surface the problem, ways to structure the repair conversation, and tools to prevent repeat breaks.

Above all, this conversation emphasizes the foundation that makes repair possible: care. When people feel considered before decisions are made, they'll give you grace when you stumble and they'll stand with you as you repair.

If you listen and it helps you lead with more courage and care, follow the show, save it, share it, and leave a quick review to help others find us.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.

Send us a message - we'd love to hear from you

What if moving faster with AI didn't mean giving up your judgment?

We sit down with Lindsay Semas, an AI leader who's spent years building trustworthy technology at scale, to explore the gap between what AI can do and what we should let it do - from drafting emails to shaping customer strategy.

We start with the quick wins: smarter research, better first drafts, fewer browser tabs. Then we get into the harder stuff: how to earn trust in AI outputs by asking for sources, questioning what's missing, and matching your scrutiny to the stakes. Lindsay introduces a sliding-scale approach: lean on AI for synthesis, but keep humans in the loop when outcomes touch customers, compliance, or your reputation.

The real heart of the conversation: Governance. Lindsay walks us through how her company built a cross-functional trust council, complete with checklists, accountability structures, and clear guidelines on when AI decisions need human oversight. We also tackle the anxiety around job displacement and the pace of change.

Whether you're leading a team or just trying to use these tools better, this one's for you.

Subscribe, share with a colleague, and let us know what resonates.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.