C-suite leaders and boards who did not grasp the significance of recent US elections missed a rare opportunity to alter their competitive landscape and embrace a new breed of stakeholder.
“Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”
Over the past two decades, the U.S. has had three dramatic and historic presidential elections that have substantively transformed global business—and have made “citizens, people and consumers” stakeholders whose voices and actions cut through the clutter and noise.
C-suite leaders and boards who did not understand—or more importantly ignored—the significance of these elections (and other elections globally) missed a rare opportunity to alter their competitive landscape and embrace this new breed of stakeholder.
Companies who do not rapidly adapt to the changing corporate and political landscapes will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage come 2017.
The time is now for corporate boards and C-suite executives to:
- Reassess the facts, data and assumptions that have informed your public affairs and engagement strategies—because they probably aren’t relevant in this new political environment;
- Reorder your corporate priorities to take advantage of the new “blank slate” the election offers – allow your stories and perspectives to influence and shape this new landscape;
- Reconsider that forging new relationships—and letting go of others—will be a continuous and dynamic process for the next 12–24 months. Fresh thinking and new allies will certainly lead to new opportunities;
- Redefine their fundamental corporate narratives to more strongly align with the rhetoric and positions of the new—and emerging—leadership across this nation and the globe;
- Realign your business ethos towards people rather than markets to take advantage of the evolving Trump administration’s goals of jobs, investment and infrastructure.
Corporations have a unique opportunity to communicate to the Trump administration and leaders on Capitol Hill a vision of and path to what this future can be.
We stand ready to help.