Originally published on PRovoke Media, December 18, 2025

Adweek’s recent report on the leaked Omnicom Media Group town hall is a reminder of a simple truth leaders often underestimate: In moments of major transformation, people don’t just process information, they interpret experiences. People experience change emotionally first, cognitively second, and behaviorally third. And when the experience and the communication fall out of sync, people fill in the gaps themselves. They always have, but the stakes are higher now.

Trust is in short supply across industries and especially across healthcare, marketing, and technology. In an era where many assume brands are hiding something, and where frontline teams have lived through years of burnout, restructurings, and economic swings, organizations have to assume that silence is almost never interpreted neutrally.

The Omnicom story is not about a leaked link. It’s about what happens inside any organization — agency, health system, payor, or tech company — when employees don’t feel informed, involved, or supported during change. A leak isn’t the crisis; it’s a clue. It reveals where trust is strong and where it’s frayed.

And that makes this moment a gift, not a crisis. Because it’s a chance to rethink how leaders communicate when the stakes are high and the uncertainty is thick.

Transparency builds trust when it’s steady, not situational

One of the clearest findings in Unlock Health’s research on authenticity is that people reward consistency over polish. In a national study, consumers defined authenticity through transparency, trustworthiness, and staying true to values, not perfection.

Employees are no different.

In times of upheaval, when organizational structures shift and roles get redefined, teams look for signals they can count on. They don’t need (or expect) every answer. But they do need clarity about what is changing, why, and what happens next.

Inconsistent or incomplete communication doesn’t just invite speculation. It formalizes it. In the absence of steady truth, people will build their own narratives — often the darkest possible version, shaped by past experiences rather than present facts.

The solution isn’t more communication. It’s more reliable communication. It’s more consistent communication. Leaders earn trust through cadence, not volume.

Empathy resonates most when it’s paired with clarity

Many organizations have evolved enough to acknowledge the emotional weight of change. Fewer have learned to match that empathy with specificity.

“Yes, this is hard,” only works if it is followed by, “Here’s WHY. Here’s what it means for our work, our teams, and our future.”

Healthcare systems see this dynamic every day. So do agencies. So does every industry going through transformation, which is to say, all of them.

People look for meaning as much as information. And employees don’t just listen to updates. They interpret them, often through a lens shaped by uncertainty, past experiences, and what they observe in leaders.

Empathy without direction creates anxiety. Clarity without empathy creates resistance. Effective change requires both, delivered plainly, without jargon or false optimism.

Structure explains the “what,” but people still need the “so what”

Org charts, operating models, and integration roadmaps are essential. But structural documentation doesn’t help people answer the questions that actually govern their day.

Will my work change?
Will my team change?
Will our priorities change?
Do I still belong here?

These are human questions. They deserve human answers.

A common mistake leaders make during major change is assuming the business case is enough. But people don’t orient themselves around business cases; they orient themselves around meaning and around what that meaning signals for their future. And if leadership doesn’t help shape that meaning, employees will source it from wherever they can.

Change fatigue is predictable and addressable

Healthcare organizations understand this acutely. So do agencies navigating consolidation. When multiple shifts hit at once — new technology, new expectations, new economic realities, new pressures on cost — readiness dips. Even top performers feel wobbly.

Addressing change fatigue doesn’t require elaborate programming. It requires listening, acknowledgment, pacing, visible prioritization, and the courage to say, “We will not fix everything at once.”

People can adapt to almost anything as long as they understand the sequence, the impact, and the support available to them. What they cannot do is adapt in the dark.

Leader alignment is the foundation of how change is experienced

People assess credibility through behavior as much as through message. If leaders appear misaligned, uncertain, reactive, or not on board themselves, employees assume the worst, even if the message is technically correct.

Misalignment is not a communications issue. It’s a leadership issue. And employees experience it in micro-moments long before they experience it in a town hall.

The inverse is also true: when leaders show up with shared purpose, shared language, and shared visibility into decisions, employees feel steadier, even if the news is hard. When leaders are aligned, employees have fewer competing signals to reconcile which reduces anxiety and accelerates adoption.

The real headline is not the leak

A leaked link is a symptom. The real headline is the environment that allowed that link to become newsworthy in the first place.

In organizations where people feel informed, valued, and supported, leaks land as context, not crisis. In organizations where people feel disconnected or unsure, leaks land as confirmation of their fears.

The opportunity is to rethink how trust is built from the inside out.

Authenticity is not a brand stance. It’s an operating principle. It’s alignment between what leaders say, what they do, and what they reinforce over time.

In healthcare, authenticity is directly tied to patient trust. In organizations, it is directly tied to employee trust.

What effective transformation looks like

Effective transformation blends strategy with humanity. It acknowledges that people experience change through emotion first, information second, and action third.

It helps people see:

• What’s changing
• Why it matters
• How it affects them
• What support they can count on next

Leaders who communicate this way don’t avoid hard truths. They illuminate them. They make space for uncertainty. And they stay present long after the big announcement.

Because the real work of transformation doesn’t happen in the town hall. It happens in the days and weeks after, when employees decide whether they believe what they heard — and whether they believe in the people saying it.

Brian Storts is Unlock Health’s director of change management and Rick Toller is the agency’s head of strategic communications.