David Bersoff, Head of Research at Edelman Trust Institute, and Sandra Sucher, Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School (and Edelman Trust Institute board member) wrote an article for HBR.org about how leaders can build stakeholder trust in uncertain times, which was released last week. We're sharing an excerpt below, and a link to the complete piece. 🗞️
On The TrustMakers, we featured two experts in the tech space: Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, and Benedict Evans, an analyst and writer who offered his expert commentary on the Flash Poll. 🎙️
And if that's not enough, enjoy a data-inspired meme by the winner of our team retreat competition.
How Leaders Can Build Stakeholder Trust in Uncertain Times
By Dr. David M. Bersoff and Sandra J. Sucher
This excerpt is pulled from a recent, co-authored commentary published on HBR.org.
These are trying times for corporations. The marketplace is rife with unpredictability, especially when it comes to economic and trade policy. The 2025 World Economic Forum’s Chief Economists Outlook report concluded that “uncertainty has become a defining feature of the global economic landscape,” with 82% of chief economists gauging uncertainty as “very high.” This year, the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, which tracks data from around the world, spiked to its highest level in three decades.
When businesses are navigating this level of uncertainty, they tend to veer into self-protection mode and focus on strategies like cost-cutting and hoarding cash. But this inward focus can alienate your business from your stakeholders—customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, and communities—at a time you need them the most. If trust is to be built rather than lost during these challenging times, leaders’ attention must expand beyond their company’s uncertainty to understanding and responding to their stakeholders’ uncertainty.
In this regard, consider a few data points from the Edelman Trust Institute that indicate current levels of consumer and employee anxiety:
76% of consumers are concerned about the products that they use daily becoming more expensive due to tariffs and trade wars
70% of consumers say they’re worried about not being able to afford the things they need because of inflation
75% of employees express concern about their pay increases not keeping up with the inflation rate, causing them to lose ground financially
58% of employees worry about automation and/or other innovations taking their job away
Suppliers are also experiencing precarious times as companies alter their supply chains in response to global trade and tariff uncertainty. Suppliers are also experiencing precarious times as companies alter their supply chains in response to global trade and tariff uncertainty. In 2025, 71% of U.S. and 77% of European CEO’s said they plan to alter their supply chains in the next three to five years. That is up from 54% in the U.S. and 61% in Europe in 2024.
This uncertainty-driven anxiety is leading stakeholders to elevate and expand relationships that help them weather the uncertainty and curtail relationships they deem as too risky, a drain on their limited resources, or merely nice to have.
In other words, stakeholders are prioritizing relationships with companies that engage in trust-building behaviors over those organizations that seem oblivious to their challenges or that they see as being preoccupied with their own problems.
This means business leaders must make a mindset shift: Instead of following the natural instinct to focus inwardly on survival, you must instead seek to understand how uncertainty is playing out in the lives of your stakeholders. You can then use this information to create “certainty bubbles” that alleviate their anxiety.
Dr. David M. Bersoff is the Head of Research at the Edelman Trust Institute. Sandra J. Sucher is Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School.
Shared Belief Across Politics That Employers and Government Need To Step Up on AI
On average, percent who say
2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Flash Poll: Trust and Artificial Intelligence at a Crossroads. AI_COM_LMT. How would each of the following effect your enthusiasm for adopting or increasing your use of generative AI in your work life and/or personal life? 4-point scale; bottom 2 box, increase enthusiasm. General population, 4-mkt avg., by political leaning. *Political leaning not asked in China. **Only asked among those who are an employee of an organization (Q43/1).
Global Virtual Event: Trust and AI
You’re invited to join Edelman for an exclusive briefing on the findings of Trust and Artificial Intelligence at a Crossroads.
Presentation of the report:
Margot Edelman, Global Tech Practice Lead, Edelman
Satyen Dayal, Managing Director, UK Technology, Edelman
This past October, the Edelman Trust Institute team came together in New York for a two day retreat. As part of the agenda, each team member was tasked with creating an original meme based on one of the insights from our Trust Barometer reports this year.
After a round of reviews and team vote, our favorite from the collection was Tess Peterson's (SVP of Thought Leadership) Arthur-inspired interpretation of the fact that 6 in 10 worldwide hold grievances against business, government, and the rich.
Shout out to Tess for her creativity.
A Podcast From Edelman and Advertising Week
The TrustMakers is where listeners learn from global experts about what it takes to build trust in today’s society.
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation, joins Edelman’s Richard Edelman to discuss how one of the world’s most visited platforms has maintained trust in an era of misinformation, polarization, and AI-generated content. Technology analyst Benedict Evans joins Edelman’s Sat Dayal to discuss the findings from the new Edelman Trust Barometer Flash Poll on AI. .
