The business world braces for Trump’s inauguration

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BARBY SIEGEL: For years now, communications have risen — you know this Bob — to the C-suite level. It is a business strategy linked to every aspect of the business.

Because it is tied to reputation and what the company stands for internally and externally.

Now, everything that has come before is really going to be leveraged even further as we all navigate a new world, like with any new administration. Probably, this one brings with it a few more challenges.

So, I think it is more pronounced because of the very polarized environment in which we are.

In my business with clients, words really matter.

BOB SAFIAN: That’s Barby Siegel, CEO of global communications agency Zeno Group, working with top business leaders around the world. I wanted to talk with Barby ahead of Monday’s inauguration of Donald Trump to better understand how businesses and brands are adjusting their messaging in response. Some high-profile executives have flocked to Mar-a-Lago and even opened their checkbooks to support inauguration activities. But privately, most CEOs are unsure whether or how to speak out on societal and business issues at the risk of alienating consumers, employees, or someone in the White House.

Barby takes us inside this challenge, emphasizing how leaders can avoid paralysis and lean into opportunity. So let’s get to it. I’m Bob Safian, and this is Rapid Response.

I’m Bob Safian. I’m here with Barby Siegel, CEO of global communications firm Zeno Group. Barby, it’s great to have you with us.

SIEGEL: Thank you so much, Bob. I’m so happy to be here with you today.

Copy LinkHow business leaders are preparing for Trump to take office

SAFIAN: So Monday is Inauguration Day, and I wanted to dig into how brands and CEOs are navigating in this moment, as well as sort of the pressures and opportunities facing communications and PR professionals at the same time. I should mention to our listeners that I have a consulting relationship with Zeno. You and I have worked together.

SIEGEL: That’s right.

SAFIAN: It’s not going to affect anything I ask, but it does mean I know a bit about it. To start us off, what are the top two or three questions that you’re getting from companies and leaders right now?

SIEGEL: I think we could probably spend many hours, Bob, talking about this subject, and it’s something we have been preparing for, for quite some time. In fact, last week we did a virtual webinar with a former Secretary of Commerce, someone from the Business Roundtable, someone from the World Economic Forum to talk about this very issue about how companies and brands should be preparing.

For the new administration, the first hundred days, if you will, we had over 200 clients join us, and I share that with you to show the interest in this issue.

They were very specific about just everybody taking a beat and listening. You don’t need to be the first one to step in. There’s a lot of discussion with our clients every day about really understanding who you are and the business that you’re in, and on what topics it makes sense for you to engage.

And what we don’t want clients to feel, although some are, is kind of paralyzed by all the forces that are out there now. So, I think everybody just needs to know that change is coming. And as our panelists said, there will be probably some very quick moves starting Monday.

What’s happening in the U.S., the whole world is watching, and so are your employees. And our colleague from, formerly from the World Economic Forum made a point that really struck me. He said if you’re a CEO in the U.S, pick up the phone, send a note, remember that you have employees outside the U.S. who might be feeling uncertainty and need just a little bit more assurance that you’re there and you’re paying attention, even though the center of action is here in the U.S.

Copy LinkConcern around equity and sustainability efforts

SAFIAN: I mean, these sort of strategic reassessments happen with every big shift in power. Are there examples of concerns and changes clients made four years ago, eight years ago? Like how does that compare to now, to this moment?

SIEGEL: Well, I think that people know a little bit more what to expect or be worried about because this is a return to an administration. And I think there is a lot now around diversity, equity, and inclusion in particular and companies being afraid to be a target and trying to now mitigate legal risk.

So I think that is top of mind and ESG, sustainability, all of that. So I think those issues are really rising to the top in terms of companies being worried about the moves they’re making and being a lightning rod, if you will.

SAFIAN: I mean, I can imagine some companies want to keep programs that sort of go against the grain of the Trump White House, but there’ll be more quiet about it or relabel the effort. Like how much is that what’s happening?

SIEGEL: I think companies are rethinking how they communicate, and what we are telling clients is the most important thing is to not lose sight of your values. Administration aside, the world has changed — AI, all kinds of things.

But what cannot change is your values and the core of who you are. And that is a lot of what we are spending time working with clients on to preserve that and not let all these external forces and conversations pull you off course into a place where you should not be.

Copy LinkWhen should business leaders engage in political issues?

SAFIAN: It’s an interesting moment because many CEOs and businesses are uneasy about being drawn into politics or cultural issues. We’ve certainly seen that reticence in our reporting at the same time. You see other business leaders, Elon Musk, foremost among them, more outspoken than ever can seemingly say whatever they want without repercussions.

What do you make of that? How do you know if it’s good or bad to speak your mind as a business leader right now?

SIEGEL: Again, I think it comes back to what are your values? What business are you in, and what’s your purpose? And does speaking out on any particular topic add value to your business, add value to your employees? I’m not suggesting that clients be paralyzed or say nothing.

But what you say needs to be part of who you are. If you’ve never spoken out on a particular issue, you probably shouldn’t start speaking out on it now.

SAFIAN: And I guess you have to be committed to it, even if there is some cost to be paid for it. I’m thinking about like there was news recently about a bunch of major U.S. banks pulling out of an initiative called the Net Zero Banking Alliance, a sustainability initiative.

I’m not suggesting that Zeno was part of that, but you could look at that and say, “Oh, it’s a bad thing to take a stand on climate with Trump in office,” or you could say like, “well, we were only doing it for good PR to begin with. We weren’t really committed to it.” So is there a message or a lesson in how you apply the stands that you’re going to take?

SIEGEL: So in terms of understanding the issues that you want to have a point of view on, we have a very simple formula: A, B, C. Authenticity. Is it true to who you are? B, is it relevant to your business? And C, and I think this is the most important thing, competence. By doing X, Y, Z, can you make a meaningful impact on your business, and in turn, on society?

Every issue, Bob, is not right for every company. No matter how much is swirling around, you can understand that there might be a desire on a company’s part to say, I got to get involved in this and I got to get involved in that. But no company can get involved in every issue. And again, it needs to go back to: is it right for us? Does it align with our values? Does it align with our business? There is a risk-reward calculation that we do need to make.

I mean, one of our panelists on the session that I just mentioned said that in many ways the Chief Communications Officer, now he or she has a seat at the table in the C-suite counseling the CEO. But on many days, that role is a bit of a chief risk officer because you do need to make an assessment as to whether this is the right move or message for you and your business.

SAFIAN: That’s different than the way it was four years ago or eight years ago.

SIEGEL: I don’t want to pin this all on the new administration, but for years now, really, since the murder of George Floyd, we could go back that far and the pandemic, communications has risen — you know this Bob — to the C-suite level. It is a business strategy, interlinked to every aspect of the business because it is tied to reputation and what the company stands for internally and externally. So we have all known for years now that as communicators this is our moment to be the stewards of reputation, the stewards of trust, the stewards of earning trust. And the election and the new administration is one more piece of that.

I would not say that it is driving it 100 percent because we have been there, we have arrived there. Now, everything that has come before is really going to be leveraged even further as we all navigate a new world like with any new administration. Probably, this one brings with it a few more challenges.

For a lot of Chief Communications Officers, their titles are being changed to Chief Corporate Affairs Officers to reflect the expansion of their role, government affairs, public affairs, risk, talent in some, in some organizations. And we haven’t talked about it, but it is.

It’s extremely important that we not forget the employees that are depending on us and they really need to come first in any calculation about what move you might make.

Copy LinkThe importance of internal communication

SAFIAN: Yeah, the communications function is not just external, it’s internal. And sometimes those voices internally are the ones that spread the message for you.

SIEGEL: If you don’t have your employees really understanding what you stand for and why you’re making the moves you’re making, that’s a problem. And it used to be way back in the day, employees were the last. You talk about all the stakeholders, Wall Street and your retailers, if you’re a retailer. And by the way, we should probably let our employees know. Now it’s number one.

They are your best advocates. And as you say, a disgruntled employee has the power and the platform to make his or her feelings known.

So, I think it is more pronounced because of the very polarized environment in which we are.

And the quickness with which people react to something, oftentimes with no grace. In my business with clients, words really matter. Clients do need to pause a moment and consider before going out.

We can move quickly and with speed and agility, but you gotta be smart about it.

It’s really hard because our own research has shown that one of the reasons business leaders don’t want to speak up is that no matter what you say, somebody will be unhappy.

SAFIAN: Yes.

SIEGEL: I mean, we have seen that.

Before you speak out, you have to do the work to understand what the implications are. And again, ask yourself, is this the right topic for me to speak out on?

Copy LinkUnderstanding the risk and opportunity of speaking out

SAFIAN: Most CEOs — there are a handful, we know who they are — but most of the CEOs we deal with are doing things that are good for their business.

SIEGEL: They all say the same thing. I don’t want to do something if it’s about me. I want to do it because it’s going to add value to the business. There are other CEOs who are just out there as their own personality,

SAFIAN: I mean, it sounds like you’re more concerned at this moment about the risk in this environment than necessarily in the opportunity.

SIEGEL: There is opportunity for business and companies to step up and fill a void as a purveyor of trust and truth and transparency. We just need to understand what’s coming and understand what the opportunity is.

SAFIAN: Barby is deft at walking that line between chastising business leaders and encouraging them. The environment has changed, and that needs to be taken into account — but we also need to not hide what we believe.

After the break, we get deeper into that challenge, focusing on DEI initiatives, what it means to be a fearless business in 2025, and more. So stay with us.

[AD BREAK[

Before the break, Zeno Group’s Barby Siegel shared her ABC’s for assessing what issues are right for a business to speak out on — especially as the Trump Administration gets underway. Now, Barby shares why she regularly seeks guidance from Gen Z-ers, and reflects on the deterioration of DEI efforts. Plus the importance of resisting divisiveness. Let’s jump back in.

Copy LinkStrategically navigating DEI

You mentioned earlier, diversity, equity, inclusion, DEI initiatives — a lot of companies are publicly pulling back. A few, Costco most notably, trying to hold firm. How are you approaching DEI at Zeno, and how do you talk with your clients about it?

SIEGEL: We believe that a diverse workforce is a business strategy and is vitally important. I think what we’re seeing is that companies are facing pressures from all sides.

And for many, the largest threat is a legal one, and they’re trying to mitigate the risk. And what we hope is that despite some of the moves they’re making, we hope and we do believe that they are still doing the hard work internally to be sure that their workforce, let’s say here in the U.S., reflects the country in which we live.

In running Zeno, having these distinct perspectives and life experiences is so important. I don’t know how we would do our work without that. I would not be honest with you if when I read the news every day and I see companies pulling back, it is disheartening, but we believe that the work is being done.

It’s just being talked about in a different way.

SAFIAN: Part of the diversity you want, I would assume in a workforce is also political perspective. You want people who see all sides of it. How do you make sure you have that kind of sort of mindset diversity in your organization?

SIEGEL: Zeno is a very inclusive organization. All points of view are welcome. And I voted one way, and I know that there are people in the organization who voted another way, and that is okay.

We don’t encourage people to get into it on politics, cause it can be very divisive, and I think that’s best kept to people, but you know, in our offices, we try to run CNN and Fox, and for the sake of our clients, Bob, we need to understand all sides of the issues and the story and who’s saying what.

Copy LinkLeveraging generational insights in business strategy

SAFIAN: Your research team identifies key trends each year, which I sometimes get a sneak peek at, which I appreciate. And one of the trends this year was sort of about the, I don’t want to say bifurcation, but on the one hand, gender-related, like women having more power, more confidence, and at the same time a sort of reappraisal or reassertion of masculinity in certain areas.

And it’s interesting to me because there are these trends that are in conflict in some ways, which mirrors the cultural and political conflicts that we’re also seeing.

SIEGEL: We named this research for this year, Age of Agency, which is all around people starting to take decisions back into their own hands.

The other thing that we study, as you know, are the generations. And in the workforce, we’re in a five-generation workforce. And so we talk a lot in our research about how the different generations respond to the different trends. And in fact, we did something at Zeno that you might find interesting,

It’s called Project Gap, and it’s a global board of advisors to me and my leaders of Gen Z and young millennials from around the Zeno world. And we get together quarterly, and we talk about different issues, and it’s an opportunity for me to hear from them about what’s on their mind because this agency is run by the older generations.

Therein lies the gap. But we want to set the agency up for the future.

We can’t judge people anymore — maybe like you and I were when we started our careers — by the years.

These young people have insights and perspectives that can be so additive to business.

Copy LinkEmbracing fearlessness in business decision-making

SAFIAN: Zeno’s mission is built around being fearless, which I’ve always felt that includes standing up for values, including moral and ethical considerations. What does fearless mean to you in this environment?

SIEGEL: To me, fearless for us and for our clients and for business is not letting this environment paralyze us.

We have to make the moves that are right for business and society. We’ve always said, since fearless began at Zeno 15 years ago: fearless, not reckless. Fearless needs to be applied in the right way aligned with whatever culture you might be operating in. The definition of fearless is probably different for a pharmaceutical company than it is for an apparel company.

At Zeno, when we talk about fearless, it’s about speaking up, it’s about having a different point of view, it’s about saying something that may not be popular. But especially in these times when there is so much misinformation and divisiveness, our clients, I believe, want us to be fearless.

They want us to push them into a new space.

SAFIAN: I feel like there are a lot of businesses that want to think of themselves as fearless but are not always willing to do the things that actually make it that way. To what extent is your role to sort of push them along that road a little bit, get them out of their comfort zone, which may not be the easiest way to keep clients to make them uncomfortable.

SIEGEL: There are so many times when clients say, “We want a really big idea. I mean, we really want something different.” And then they get that, and then it’s watered down, and it’s not that big, and it’s not that disruptive.

And how we get clients there is by bringing that outside-in point of view and showing them what might be possible and why it is strategic. It can’t be fearless for the sake of being fearless.

It can’t be disruptive for the sake of being disruptive. It has to be grounded in insights, data, and strategy, and we need to be able to show them that there will be an impact. You have to know when to walk away from an idea if it’s not going to make sense for the business.

We like to leave every client meeting with somebody saying, “You know what, I now think of something differently, or I see the world in a different way.” We need to be that provocateur. We’re not saying that we need clients to go all the way, but just think a little bit differently.

And whether there’s a new administration or not, those are good muscles and good things to do to advance business.

Copy LinkA time to reflect and reevaluate your practices

SAFIAN: For the business leaders who are listening, both the opportunities and the challenges of this moment, do you have a framework to suggest for them about how to approach this moment in terms of communication? Are there questions that they should keep top of mind?

SIEGEL: I think it’s important, and I know I’m doing this myself, to take a critical eye to how you’re doing things. It is hard to make change and to say, “I know we’ve done it like this for X number of years, but we’re going to do it differently.” I talk about, for me, my steel spine. Being able to make some of those tough changes to move the business forward. I’m not saying that business needs to get rid of everything that’s come before. You have a good foundation. You have your values. But the world is changing. People are changing, the world of media has changed, it just stands to reason that it is a good time to take a step back and saying, “are we fully set up for moving our business forward into the future?”

At Zeno, we’re constantly evaluating and reevaluating our talent, the skills that we need.

It’s not what it was ten years ago.

Copy LinkWhat’s at stake for businesses in the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency?

SAFIAN: Donald Trump is about to become president again. So what’s at stake in that environment for your clients right now? And what’s at stake for Zeno itself?

SIEGEL: I think for every client, it’s different in terms of the executive orders and the actions that the president is going to take. Certainly, some of our clients are already scenario planning and thinking about it, of course.

But I acknowledge that given what we are hearing, it’s gonna be an interesting first 100 days.

SAFIAN: A lot of change,

SIEGEL: A lot.

SAFIAN: And as much as businesses like change, they like change when they’re the instigators of the change, not necessarily when it happens to them. Right?

SIEGEL: Yeah. And again, our advisors who spoke to us, they said to listen, ask questions, fight the urge to react to everything or to be the first to react. Remember your employees. Take care of them. Know your values, whatever move you make, make sure you have a business case.

I don’t know exactly what’s gonna happen, but we’re gonna be there ready using all the data and tools that we have and helping clients protect their reputation and speak up in all the right ways, whether that’s internally or externally.

We cannot be paralyzed.

SAFIAN: Well, Barby, this has been great. Thank you so much for doing it.

SIEGEL: I do want to just say to you what I said when we started, that if anybody who hasn’t listened to it must. Your January 14th podcast, talking to some of the people impacted by the wildfires, it was really moving.

And it is a time that we do need to come together and leave the divisiveness on the sidelines and focus on our humanity.

SAFIAN: Amen. Amen.

SIEGEL: Thank you. So good to see you.

SAFIAN: Divisiveness has become a defining pillar of modern society, along with rising vindictiveness. It’s only natural that, with a new U.S. administration coming in, most business leaders are choosing to keep their heads down, to avoid attention. What Barby is saying is that can be a smart strategy — or it can be shortsighted. It’s up to each business to decide how it presents itself. After all, moments of stress are when brands and leaders most distinguish themselves.

Personally, I’ve been disappointed that some business leaders haven’t shown more fearlessness, that there’s been such a quick capitulation to the power of a new administration. I’d like to think that business is one of the checks-and-balances in our system. But maybe I’m just being naive. Businesses have to operate in all kinds of environments, and it’s precisely that flexibility that enables marketplace success. One thing is for certain: with a new Trump Administration, there will be lots of change ahead. And that means lots of rapid response. We’ll continue to chronicle how it all unfolds. I hope you’ll keep tuning in. I’m Bob Safian. Thanks for listening.