How Great Leaders Build Trust in Uncertain Times With Dean E. Carter

Dean E. Carter is the CEO of Instill, a company dedicated to driving cultural transformation within organizations through advanced AI and real-time organizational intelligence. With a proven track record of stabilizing at-risk engagements and building billion-dollar businesses, Dean has held senior executive and board leadership roles at renowned companies such as Patagonia, Sears, Fossil, and Guild, and is the co-author of the #1 bestselling book Employee Experience Design. He is widely recognized for developing innovative employee experiences, nurturing the next generation of leaders, and shaping workplace cultures that balance both business performance and human wellbeing. In this episode… Uncertainty has a way of exposing the cracks in leadership. When pressure mounts and answers are unclear, what actually keeps people aligned, motivated, and willing to stay in the boat together? According to Dean E. Carter, a longtime people-first leadership thinker, trust is built through everyday actions, not grand speeches. He points to simple but powerful moments, like keeping your word, listening with intent, and leaving people and organizations better than you found them, as the real foundations of leadership. In times of disruption, those habits become the difference between teams that fragment and teams that rise together In this episode of In Good Company: Where Relationships Drive Results, Lisa Kilrea is joined by Dean E. Carter, CEO of Instill, to discuss how leaders build trust in uncertain times. They explore why trust breaks down when leaders default to process over people, how relationships drive performance even in crisis, and what it means to design employee experiences with — not for — your teams. Dean also shares advice on using transparency, consistency, and learning to lead people through change with confidence.