I had breakfast this morning with Heidrick & Struggles CEO Kevin Kelly (disclosure: friend and client). He told me about his soon to be released book, Leading in Turbulent Times, based on recent interviews with thirty CEOs across Asia, Europe and North America. Just after the fall of Lehman Brothers and AIG bankruptcy, boards asked CEOs to “hunker down” and conserve cash. There were almost no CEO changes for the ensuing six months. Now that stability has apparently been achieved in the global economy, the pressure from boards of directors for short term performance is unrelenting.

Kelly gives four principles for CEOs seeking to achieve optimal performance:

1) Be visible, to your employees, customers and investors
2) Utilize your soft skills, not just the hard ones. Learn how to be “soft” in hard times. Top performing CEOs have high Emotional Quotient, not just superb intelligence
3) Communicate, then communicate even more
4) Think long term—invest in research, top talent, new products

It is interesting to hear a top recruiter acknowledge that skills in PR are central to success for a CEO.

Kelly’s book covers common ground with the new study from the Arthur W. Page Society and Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics (http://awpagesociety.com/site/resources/awp_trust_report) called The Dynamics of Public Trust in Business—Emerging Opportunities for Leaders. After a description of the drivers of trust (mutuality, balance of power and safeguards), the report goes on to recommend five steps to re-build trust:

1) Create values for enterprise and assure adherence
2) Maintain strong relationships with mediating institutions
3) Embrace transparency
4) Explain contribution the firm makes to society
5) Work with others in your line of business to build trust (lowest common denominator theory)

How can a PR person reconcile these two pieces of intellectual capital? Recognize that trust is premised upon action and communication. Great companies are expected to deliver returns to shareholders and make a contribution to society. Trust recovery depends on cooperation between business, government and civil society (note recent Edelman Trust Barometer findings of co-dependence of business and government trust ratings—for the first time!). CEOs are important but not sufficient voices for their companies, as engagement is created by mid-level employees with serious knowledge of products and less perceived bias to exaggeration. Repetition of story and co-creation help to establish credibility of content (people have to hear, see or read a story five times before believing it—average person has eight sources of news daily). We are designing our Edelman Trust Barometer 2010—if you have any ideas for great questions, please send them along soon as we go into the field in October.