FleishmanHillard Global President and CEO J.J. Carter participated in “License to Lead: Reclaiming the Art of Storytelling” at the World Economic Forum, a panel discussion exploring how organizations can earn stakeholder trust in an era of constant volatility.
The panel took place at Inkwell Beach and centered on a fundamental question: in this era of uncertainty, who gets to tell the story and who benefits when those stories shift?
Carter joined FleishmanHillard Chief Inclusion and Impact Officer Adrianne C. Smith, Forbes contributor Doug Melville and marketing leader Peter Sloterdyk to discuss this fundamental crisis facing leaders today: the widening gap between what organizations say and what they actually do.
The conversation drew directly from FleishmanHillard’s proprietary License to Lead research, conducted with 5,550 leaders and stakeholders across the globe to understand what actually earns trust in uncertain operating environments. The findings reveal a stark shift in stakeholder expectations and immediate commercial consequences.
While 90% of engaged consumers now expect volatility, they’re no longer willing to accept storytelling disconnected from operational truth. According to the research, stakeholders understand that strategic adaptation is necessary as leaders face pervasive uncertainty. What they say they won’t tolerate is silence or polished narratives that don’t match their lived reality. Those surveyed say that storytelling without operational truth is just noise.
The panel emphasized that authenticity equals accountability with leaders owning their missteps, explaining strategic shifts and demonstrating that they grasp the impact of their decisions on stakeholders before asking for buy-in. Leaders who fail to bring stakeholders along lose credibility faster than any communications misstep.
The research also surfaced a hopeful finding: people are willing to pivot and evolve if they believe in leadership. The challenge is earning and maintaining that license to lead every single day through consistent, authentic communication rooted in truth.
FleishmanHillard has developed a comprehensive playbook based on these global responses to help leaders navigate this new reality. Organizations looking to close the gap between narrative and operations can access the full License to Lead report below:
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