Following the 737 Max scandal, Boeing finally has a new CEO. Here's how he can rebuild public trust, according to an acclaimed Harvard Business School professor.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

David Calhoun.

• Boeing announced on Monday that David Calhoun would become CEO and President, effective January 13.
• Calhoun replaces previous CEO Dennis Muilenburg.
• Sandra Sucher, a professor of management at Harvard Business School, previously commented on Muilenburg's leadership. Her research centers around how companies build trust.
• Here are the four actions she recommends that Calhoun consider in 2020 to begin rebuilding public trust in Boeing.
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The way Boeing launched the 737 Max jet and the way it dealt with the fallout created a traceable thread of faulty management. That thread led right up to senior leadership, said Sandra Sucher, professor of management at Harvard Business School.

Boeing announced on Monday that Dennis Muilenburg had resigned as CEO and board director, effective immediately. David Calhoun, who had since October been the chairman of Boeing's board of directors, becomes CEO and president on January 13.

The leadership changes reflect what Sandra Sucher told Business Insider in November after Muilenburg announced he wouldn't be taking a bonus this year: Sucher suggested that leading Boeing meant more than having the necessary capabilities or making conciliatory gestures.

After two crashes, Sucher said that the question became if people would trust Boeing again as long as Muilenburg was still leading it.

Now "Calhoun has an opportunity to begin to restore trust in Boeing," Sucher said. Here's what she thinks he should keep in mind moving forward.

First, communicate honestly

"Boeing must immediately reverse the company practice of communicating its situation through misleadingly rose-colored glasses," Sucher said.

Boeing previously said that the 737 Max would be cleared by the end of 2019. However, on December 12, a leaked email showed that the head of the Federal Aviation Administration was concerned that Boeing was publicizing a return timeline for the 737 Max that was "not realistic." On December 16, the company announced that it would temporarily halt production in January.

A realistic timeline

Sucher's second recommendation is that "Boeing must stop all efforts to try to pressure the FAA into prematurely recertifying the 737 Max, recognizing that its only hope for trust and future sales is a clean bill of health from its US regulator, as well as the other regulators where its planes are flown."

This is especially important in light of an internal FAA analysis, after the first 737 Max crash, which found the plane could be expected to crash every two to three years. Regulators decided to let the plane continue flying despite this analysis.

Ensure that this doesn't happen again

Passengers have to believe that they're safe inside a 737 Max - and Boeing needs to ensure they actually are.

This begins with fixing the planes and offering support for airlines that own them, Sucher said.

"This includes all the problems that have surfaced since the crashes, ranging from fixing the [maneuvering characteristics augmentation system] software, designing full pilot training, including simulator training, and addressing the production problems in its Renton, Washington plant that may threaten safety as well," Sucher said.

Rebuild internal trust

Sucher's research suggests that trust is built from the inside out. Boeing's CEO should ensure that senior managers like Ed Pierson, who worked in the Renton, Washington factory when the 737 Max was manufactured, are heard, Sucher said. The New York Times reported that Pierson warned Boeing in June 2018 and again in October 2018, about safety hazards with the plane.

Sucher recommends that Boeing start restoring trust with its employees by requesting that they bring to light every problem and concern they have about the 737 Max and any other Boeing aircraft. There are two key qualifiers to this - employees shouldn't fear retribution, and they should know that the company will take their concerns seriously.

"Without a full catalogue of problems that must be fixed, Boeing will continue to wage an unending war, with surprises still to come that could threaten whatever trust the company is able to restore," Sucher said.

Get the latest Boeing stock price here.

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