What's the one thing CEOs should do in the second Trump presidency?

The results are in, and the outcome is clear.

America remains a deeply divided nation — and the election of a convicted felon as president is likely only to increase the rancor in the years ahead.

Another prediction?

The second Trump presidency will bring even more hot-button issues to the surface.

Expect fierce fights about everything from tariffs and trade wars to immigration and women’s reproductive rights.?

CEOs and their communications teams may be unable to duck these battles.

As one American comms adviser put it to Axios last week:?"What is our role in corporate America when it comes to democracy? Do we take a stance? Is that political?"

?It’s a take on a question we’re fond of asking guests on our?new?podcast, ‘Always On’.

?When should CEOs speak out on hot-button issues??

In the most recent episode, we put it to Kim L., head of global communications?and brand experience at Dutch banking giant ING.

“It’s become an increasingly important and challenging discipline to assess when is something important for us to talk about, why it’s important and are we doing it for the right reasons?” Kim said.?

He believes there’s been a shift from the kind of “performative” virtue-signaling that many companies displayed at the expense of strategic thinking.

“It's become clear to companies that you can't do that because if you make a statement in one direction, many people will disagree with you, and you only want to be part of that disagreement if it's important to you,” he said. “Why would you want to get involved in a heated debate if it's not important to you or your stakeholders?”?

Kim repeated that point later in the interview:?"The topics that are important for us or our stakeholders are also topics that we need to?discuss and be part of the conversation on." Spot that? Not just “us” but “our stakeholders”. Of course, each company must determine what's important to them — and pity those with no?clue?what their stakeholders think. But many US-based companies may face such a reckoning in the next four years.

When the moment arrives, will they know what’s important to their stakeholders?—?and do the right thing?

If CEOs and their comms teams aren’t already listening to them, they’d better start today.

?? IN POD WE TRUST

You can listen to the interview with Kim Larsen in the third episode of “Always On”, our new podcast in which Shahar Silbershatz meets experts in brand, marketing and comms to find out how they’re helping companies navigate our volatile world.?

Episode one featured Médard Schoenmaeckers, Global Head Corporate Affairs?at Boehringer Ingelheim, who discusses the pharma company’s successful rebrand and how CCOs can earn a seat at the table.

Episode two featured Ian Louden, Head of Brand, Worldwide, at ArcelorMittal, who talks about the steel giant’s longstanding Olympic sponsorship and why the company strategically avoids sponsoring other sports.

Listen to “Always On” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts — and hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode.

? STAY IN FOCUS

Speaking of being “always on”, we’ve made major updates to our Real-Time Tracker — including adding a separate brand tracker.

Unlike other?brand trackers, Caliber Focus is designed for how modern organizations track stakeholders and use data. Find out more here.?

We also put together this handy guide to brand tracking. It explains what every business needs to know about brand tracking — what it is, why it’s important and which mistakes organizations often make when tracking their brand.

?? REPUTATION READS

Here’s our selection of the most thought-provoking brand, communications and reputation-related stories we spotted this month:

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