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Uncertainty across geopolitics, technology, the environment, and the economy—combined with record-low trust in business—has created intense pressure on leaders.
Inhale deeply, exhale slowly, and pause to reflect on yourself and what you can control.
While this sounds like psychotherapy advice, organizational leaders from all sectors should pause in this moment of challenge and reflect on what guides their path through it. While many factors contribute to those choices, leaders' fundamental driver must be corporate character.
Just as people have character that emanates from a deeply-held understanding of who one is and what values drive them, so too is corporate character an anchor for an organization to think clearly about itself and drive its actions, especially in turbulent times.
Corporate character is an organization’s unique differentiating identity, expressed most evidently through its purpose, mission, values, vision, brand, and culture, which should direct its policies, strategies, business model and positions.
I’ve seen the power of corporate character firsthand. As president of Dillard University, I gave my leadership team two guiding tools: the university’s mission and the Page Principles—seven tenets of responsible communication. Every major decision—whether managing crises or advancing equity—was grounded in those values.
Now, as CEO of Page, the global association for senior communications leaders (and developer of the Page Principles), I see more than ever that this approach—leading with corporate character—holds the key for today’s business leaders. Such context is particularly valuable in a historically high-risk business environment in which leaders carefully navigate threats to their license to operate.
A global study by Page and The Harris Poll surveyed over 15,000 people across 14 markets, revealing a confidence crisis in business—only 26% believe companies can make a positive impact. Yet, when organizations act and clearly communicate the rationale behind their decisions, public trust more than doubles.
The takeaway is clear: People don’t just want to hear what companies stand for—they want to see action and understand the “why” behind it.
Many leaders feel 2025 is presenting too many issues at the same time, making it harder to determine which issues need attention, what stances to take (and not take) and how to manage the risk (of action or inaction).
Here is where the deep inhale, exhale slowly, pause and reflection on values and purpose– corporate character comes into play.
Boiling it down to the basics, corporate character is foundational to an entity being an authentic enterprise, a concept Page coined in 2007 and has since built a body of thought leadership around. All of an organization’s actions must be guided by its distinct identity–a set of intentional choices about what (purpose) and how (values) it will be.
Too often, leaders view societal issues—like DEI, ESG or AI—as political landmines to avoid. But avoidance doesn’t always signal a lack of corporate character; sometimes, it reflects a careful calculus to protect a company’s license to operate, particularly in polarized or highly regulated environments. Still, the greaterrisk lies in inaction, being performative or inconsistent. As the Confidence in Business Index shows, stakeholders across generations expect more from companies, with younger generations, like Gen Z, placing particular importance on issues like mental health and equity. These priorities can vary across markets, but the solution is the same: leaders must turn to their corporate character to decide when and how to engage.
Many organizations use structured frameworks to ensure their actions align with values while managing stakeholder expectations. Page members have leveraged similar tools to evaluate when and how to engage on complex societal issues.
To ensure corporate character is more than just a statement on a website, leadership teams should define it and apply it to decision-making. Examples of guiding questions leaders use include:
By leveraging corporate character as a leadership tool, Page member companies have been engaging with clarity, confidence, and consistency.
Once you build a shared belief based on this corporate character, you can activate on any of the issues of the day (e.g. DEI, ESG, immigration, trade policy, AI, indirect costs) supported by corporate character values and purpose lens.
While leaders should share their personal values with their teams, the organization’s corporate character should drive decision-making and serve as the collective centering point for the team.
Leading institutions like Yale recognize the power of values-driven leadership. Yale’s CCO Leadership in Multistakeholder Value Creation Program, developed in partnership with Page, trains senior executives to align purpose and values before tackling major business challenges.
Stakeholders across the globe are diverse in perspectives, geographies, abilities, skin color, nationality, genders, ethnicities and more. Listening to them and understanding what parts of their identity matter on particular issues is important.
One of the most critical stakeholders of any organization is its employees. In fact, a Page Principles says, “realize an enterprise's true character is expressed by its people.”
People are amazingly different and bring perspectives that make organizations more competitive. Finding, empowering and retaining the best talent free from discrimination and bias is critical to organizations’ success, and that takes intentionality. No matter what you call it - don’t demonize it, just do it.
Leading in times of great change and pressure is not new. Ofield Dukes, one of my mentors whom Page inducted into its Hall Fame, spoke often about being true to oneself and helping organizations to do the same as he advocated for making the world better through effective communications to establish the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and advocating for investment into post-apartheid South Africa, among other accomplishments.
Now it’s our turn. Inhale deeply. Exhale. Then act—grounded in corporate character, driven by values, and ready to lead.
Page is the premier global association for senior strategic communication leaders. It brings together the world’s top communicators to grow as leaders by learning from one another, supporting each other, and shaping the future of the profession.Its members include chief communication officers of leading global companies, non-profits, and government agencies; CEOs of top PR firms and other communications service providers; and distinguished educators from top business and communication schools. Membership is by peer nomination and subject to strict criteria. Learn more at www.page.org.
This blog post is adapted from a conversation on The New CCO podcast. Our Page-Harris Confidence in …