How does your leadership team compare to sector peers?
Digital trust – how leaders are perceived online and whether stakeholders believe what they see – is now measurable. While CEOs are being judged on what they say online, it is their behaviours that stakeholders use to decide whether to trust them. This diagnostic establishes the baseline. The value is in what happens next – benchmark, act, remeasure.
The controllable, closed elements of an executive's online presence. What stakeholders see before any interaction occurs – largely static, fully editable, and not inviting response.
Behaviours
50 pts
How trust is earned in open digital environments. Posting, commenting, responding, and engaging publicly – visible, interactive, and scalable through response and amplification.
How we rate perceived stakeholder trust. Both Signals and Behaviours are assessed independently. We then also apply a modifier tied to a leader's Behaviours, and any gap between both metrics, to provide an accurate rating of their trust level with stakeholders.
Executive Summary – CEO Cohort
Individual leader trust ratings across the cohort, broken down into signals and behaviours.
Ratings reflect visible evidence only. They are not a measure of performance. A rating of 100 is not the target; the right rating depends on organisational strategy, stakeholders, and context.
The differences between these four CEOs reveal distinct leadership trust archetypes, each portraying a different message to key stakeholders – which, in turn, creates materially different trust outcomes.
Benchmark
Executive A
Earned Authority
CEO-as-sense-maker. Explains complexity, trade-offs, progress. Authority is socially reinforced – community defends and contextualises on their behalf, creating a reputational buffer. Has earned the right to selective silence through sustained credibility elsewhere.
Executive B
Broadcast Leader at Inflection Point
Strong outbound engagement demonstrates capacity for two-way leadership. But stops short of closing the loop on their own posts. Untapped engagement capacity can become reputational liability if not activated.
Executive C
Governance-First, Institution-Led
CEO-as-institution, not individual. One-way signalling with high discipline. Strong with regulators, boards, and markets. But trust is assumed, not earned – silence reads as distance to stakeholders.
Executive D
Warm Voice, Unmet Expectations
Values-led, empathetic, community-oriented tone that signals closeness, care, and belonging. But zero replies and zero outbound engagement create a mismatch. When leaders sound close, stakeholders expect them to act close. The risk is not backlash – it's inconsistency.
All four CEOs demonstrate zero reply behaviour on their own posts. Combined, 805 inbound comments across the cohort remain publicly unanswered. The first CEO to introduce consistent reply practice would immediately differentiate from peers and shift the competitive dynamic.
0 / 4
CEOs replying
805
Unanswered comments
131
Executive D's unanswered
1st
Mover advantage
The risk of not being believed is far greater than the risk of not being seen.
Signal–Behaviour Alignment
Signals create expectation. Behaviours confirm – or undermine – it. The gap between them is where credibility erodes.
Signal–behaviour alignment
In a searchable environment, stakeholders see the promise and the silence in the same scroll – erosion happens faster than in any previous era of reputation management.
Symmetry matters. While two executives may both generate a combined score of “50”, a 40/10 split between Signals/Behaviours carries more risk than an even 25/25 split. The wider the gap, the greater the risk of unmet expectations and credibility erosion with stakeholders, even if the overall score looks moderate.
Leadership Team Overview
Beyond the CEO, leadership trust assessment can extend across the broader leadership team. The following roles represent common executive positions where visible online presence supports organisational reputation and stakeholder engagement.
CFO
Chief Financial Officer
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Not Assessed
COO
Chief Operating Officer
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Not Assessed
CMO
Chief Marketing Officer
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Not Assessed
CHRO
Chief Human Resources Officer
--
Not Assessed
CTO
Chief Technology Officer
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Not Assessed
CRO
Chief Risk Officer
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Not Assessed
CCO
Chief Communications Officer
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Not Assessed
GC
General Counsel
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Not Assessed
Scope: This dashboard focuses on CEO-level leadership trust. Broader leadership team assessments are available as part of a full organisational diagnostic engagement.
Trust Bands & Framework
Trust bands, scoring model, and the five behavioural dimensions that underpin the diagnostic. Available following engagement.
Diagnostic Overview
Detailed cohort analysis and references to individual CEO diagnostic reports. Available following engagement.
Strategic Recommendations
Prioritised actions tailored to each executive's trust profile. Available following engagement.
Organisational Goals
Strategic priorities and how online leadership presence aligns with organisational objectives. Available following engagement.
Next Steps
Recommended actions and engagement pathways. Available following engagement.
The Question
This diagnostic establishes the baseline. The value is in what happens next.
Where would your leadership team sit?
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