Last week I gave a keynote to a group of over 500 communications leaders who are navigating something we don’t talk about nearly enough.
We are doing our work in the lowest-trust era in recorded history.
Edelman’s trust barometer research should be setting off a three-alarm warning for every leader as trust in institutions, and leaders is at an all-time low. Abacus Data has come out with superb research on the public sentiment in Canada which describes the public mood as being deeply unsettled. This is a moment in which we are consumed with anxiety, polarization and a profound feeling of being unmoored – hard to think about tackling Canada’s productivity or innovation challenges when two-thirds of us are seized with preoccupations about the fundamentals of safety, shelter and security.
In this context, communication isn’t just about messages — it’s about trust. And without trust, nothing gets through.
In the session, I shared a simple equation at the heart of our craft:
Information + respect = trust.
Respect isn’t about niceties. It’s clarity. Accuracy. Straight dealing. It’s the discipline of telling people what you know, being forthright about what you don’t, and explaining why. In an environment where we are all breathing the same anxious air, this discipline matters more than ever.
This is where transparency becomes strategic.
Transparency isn’t “sharing everything.” It’s naming the boundaries.
When information is confidential — HR issues, procurement, business-sensitive material — you don’t sidestep the gap. You illuminate it. You explain the container: what it is, why it exists, and when it might change.
As I often counsel leaders: if you can’t offer content, offer context.
That small act does a remarkable amount of heavy lifting. It signals steadiness in a volatile environment. It shows respect for people’s need to understand the landscape, even when you can’t map every detail. And it builds credibility — the resource every communicator (and leader) is running on, and running short of.
Across organizations, I’m seeing a shift from information dissemination to sense-making. People don’t need more noise; they need orientation. They need help understanding what’s happening, what it means, and where they stand in the larger picture.
This is the power of strategic transparency.
Not because it’s soft — but because it’s stabilizing.
If trust is the currency of communication, transparency is how you earn it.
Not as a compliance exercise, but as a strategic choice that meets this moment, and helps others meet it, too.
