The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer found that just 51% of Americans trust CEOs. The report found that overall consumer confidence in businesses and their leaders has decreased significantly in the last ten years. Trust is essential to long-term loyalty, and, in many ways, it’s the basis for a thriving society.
Experienced executive and Implus LLC CEO Michael Polk believes effective executives earn the trust of their employees and investors and bear at least partial responsibility for the trust gap found in the Edelman study. “CEOs have the responsibility to paint a picture of their company’s future and then do everything in their power to realize the ambition established for their employees and investors,” he says. Michael Polk, an industry veteran who led multi-billion-dollar business turnarounds, offers insights into what it takes to regain and sustain trust in the CEO role. “Trust is earned through consistent delivery of results and clear, transparent communication.”
Michael Polk’s View Of The Changing Role Of CEO
In the early years of his career in consumer-packaged goods, Michael Polk was exposed to a number of traditional CEOs at companies like Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods. “I looked up to my leaders and gave them respect based on their position of authority. I admired them and believed in them, but I didn’t really know them very well because I was layered deep in the organization and they did not make themselves very accessible. They had position power and engendered followership because of this. I had no expectation that they needed to earn my followership,” he says.
Today, CEOs are no longer sequestered in an ivory tower. “Things clearly have changed over time, in part of function of a series of business scandals and controversies in sectors outside of consumer goods that challenged employees’ perceptions of leader ethics and values resulting in new expectations of CEOs by employees and investors,” says Michael Polk. “This coupled with generational expectations that leaders become more accessible has caused CEOs to adapt and evolve.” While this expectation has changed and the pace of business has accelerated with technology, Polk does not believe the involvement of the CEO in decision making or the need to deliver results has materially changed. Michael Polk says, “In my business lifetime, CEOs have always been expected to make choices early in their tenure and achieve results fast. You have to be decisive, strategically clear about what you’re trying to do, and get on with it within the first few months of landing in the chair.” He adds, “The thing that has changed is that your employee and investor confidence and support has become more dependent on their understanding of the roadmap you have established and your consistent delivery of results. Communication skills, authenticity and accessibility are critical enablers.”
And if CEOs don’t measure up? Companies are more willing to replace them than ever before. In the past, CEOs could be in the role for decades. Today, the average tenure is around seven years for a public company CEO. The changing role of CEO has placed even more pressure on the leaders of public companies. However, Michael Polk’s approach shows that bridging trust gaps is possible. It comes down to communication, authenticity, and modeling the right behaviors.
A Foundation of Accessibility and Open Communication
Employees are more likely to trust leaders who communicate well and often. In Polk’s experience, that means opening the lines of communication. While leading Implus LLC, a Berkshire Partners portfolio company, Polk regularly interacts with the Implus team. He and his leadership team have conducted monthly Townhalls since he joined in February of 2020, “Having the opportunity to connect with 200 to 300 people during our monthly Townhalls is an essential part of driving alignment and engendering followership,” he shares.
It’s difficult for CEOs to be available to everyone, but in Michael Polk’s experience, being as available as possible fosters genuine trust. “Today, employees expect to be able to get to know you, to be engaged with you, and to hear how you think,” he says. “If you want to engender followership, which I think is super important to get things done, then you have to be present and make yourself more accessible aand perhaps more vulnerable than leaders in the past have done. I know that’s worked for me.”
Open communication isn’t just about availability; it’s about clarity. Polk believes in over-communicating the strategic direction and ensuring everyone understands the “why” behind decisions. As part of the transformation he is leading at Implus, he gave each employee a copy of the company’s strategic plan, a tangible way to keep them grounded while navigating change. This approach ensured employees felt included in the journey and understood the larger purpose driving daily decisions.
Modeling Values Through Hands-On Leadership
While Michael Polk served in leadership roles in large public companies like as the former CEO for Newell Brands for most of his career, he really enjoys working at a smaller company. “I play a different role in terms of my leadership profile. I’m leading by doing and modeling behaviors that I want the relatively young and less experienced members of the team to adopt,” he says. Instead of spending as much time with shareholders, Polk is problem solving with the team, effectively playing the role of player-coach. Not only has this yielded improved results, but it has also given employees better insight into what’s expected of them and the culture leaders want to build.
Restoring Trust in an Era of Rapid Change
Trust in and followership of leaders is essential to business success. Michael Polk believes that any trust gaps that exist between executives and their employees and investors can be closed through active leadership. Polk’s roadmap for accessibility, transparency, and hands-on involvement shows that fostering an environment of mutual respect is the key to restoring confidence. “I think leaders who are present and accessible, are their authentic-selves, and make sharp, clear and fast choices are likely to being successful in today’s fast-moving dynamic business environment,” he says.