A Bedrock Characteristic

Jan 28, 2026
Katelyn Reilly
Newsletter

Hello from Steyer,

Just a short note from me today. We’re in the thick of a busy first quarter in client work, and the sales and ops teams are going flat-out to set us up for a strong year to come as new information comes pouring in.

I’m still thinking hard about trust— at work, in the news, in our institutions and communities (and in the new season of The Traitors)—because I believe trustworthiness is a bedrock characteristic of functional systems.

andre-borud-rxsIvc9XaXk-unsplash

I’ve been doing my best to balance unflinching engagement on the issues of the day with the heads-down work of long-term business building, and fortunately, trust makes for an excellent bridging theme.

One way to build trust is to be reliable even under stress: to show up for others in the most “boring” but essential ways, even when chaos swirls around us or inside of us. As employers, we can’t be everything to our teammates, but we can make sure payroll runs on time, that work expectations are clear, and that cries for help reach listening, compassionate ears. We can ensure we’re doing the work to find and win new business so that we can keep jobs as stable as possible. We can focus on our mission of good jobs. So that’s what Tony and I are doing.

Next time, I’ll share what I learned from reading a(nother) book I knew in advance I’d disagree with—this one about capitalism and trust in the workplace. In the meantime, you can reach me at kreilly@steyer.net – I’m always glad to hear your thoughts!

Thanks,
Katelyn

Photo by André Borud on Unsplash