How to improve trust in executive comms with the ‘rule of three’

Trust in executive leadership comms has declined in the past four years.

“People who believe that leaders are intentionally misleading them is up,” said Fernaz Khadem, university communications director at Stanford University, during Ragan’s Employee Experience Conference.

“In a poll of about 250 C-suite executives and about 600 entry level employees…85% of leaders said they have an effective communications strategy compared with only 62% of junior employees,” she said, referencing a 2023 Axios poll.

In order for executives to regain trust from employees and stakeholders, communicators coaching them must abide by what she calls the “rule of three,” Khadem said.