CHICAGO — A significant shift in CEO positioning has emerged, according to the third edition of Golin's CEO Impact Index, which shows that business transformation narratives now take center stage in executive communications.

The study analyzes and ranks communications strategies of the Fortune 500’s top 250 CEOs across eight dimensions, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding what drives executive impact in today’s business environment.

The Index findings – from the back half of 2024 – suggest that the traditional formula for CEO positioning has undergone fundamental change. What was once a balance of business results, higher purpose and authentic personal stories has been replaced by a sharp focus on business fundamentals and transformation.

Six key findings:

  • Effective CEO positioning goes beyond media relations. While traditional media remains crucial, the most influential leaders create impact through diverse channels. Top-ranked CEOs scored three times above average in industry awards, 6.5 times higher in major event speaking, and more than double in employee engagement ratings compared to their peers.
  • LinkedIn remains CEOs' safe harbor in a fragmented social media landscape. Despite only 18% of Index CEOs fully leveraging LinkedIn, those who do are seeing record levels of engagement, demonstrating that quality of interaction matters more than posting frequency.
  • AI discussions have moved from concept to execution. AI is the #1 megatrend focus of CEOs, but theory is not enough. There is increasing appetite for CEOs to demonstrate AI's tangible business impact, from cost reduction and improved efficiency to enhanced customer experiences.
  • CEOs pivot to a results-driven approach amid growing scrutiny around DEI. Leaders are shifting from broad societal commentary toward focused communication on measurable outcomes and specific business impacts of their DEI programs.
  • Top CEOs mobilize their employees as advocates. CEOs in the top 50 of the Index enjoy an average approval rating of 76% from their employees – 10 percentage points above those in the bottom 50. This translates to workplace morale, with the top 50 seeing 74% of employees willing to recommend their company versus 64% among the bottom 50.
  •  Visible CEOs are associated with transformation and growth, regardless of sector. A clear and compelling transformation narrative benefits all CEOs, regardless of industry. Companies led by top-ranking Index CEOs enjoy better annual share price growth and annual revenue growth than their Fortune-ranked peers.

The report found that every CEO ranked at the top of their industry had a strong transformation story to tell. Those sectors that saw the biggest gains in the second half of 2024 include aerospace, food services and financial services.

Only 13 of the 250 CEOs achieved above-average scores across all eight criteria. These "star" CEOs primarily come from technology or tech-adjacent sectors, as well as a few from financial services and airlines.

Based on the Index results, Golin is recommending six strategic actions for CEOs to maximize their impact in 2025:

  • Plan a well-rounded approach. While media presence matters, the strongest CEO reputations are built on multiple pillars. In 2025, CEOs who orchestrate a robust positioning program reaching multiple stakeholder groups while navigating an increasingly polarized environment will emerge as the most influential voices in business.
  • Take a measured approach to social media. Approach CEO social media strategy with caution and precision as platforms become more political and fractured. LinkedIn remains a valuable space for CEOs to invest in strategic platform development as the only professional-focused social platform.
  • Advance your AI narrative. To gain and keep credibility, CEOs must move beyond hypotheticals to demonstrate tangible AI results. Leaders should show how they're implementing responsible AI governance frameworks that protect privacy, eliminate bias, and ensure transparent decision-making.
  • Anchor DEI in business performance. When commenting on DEI, focus on tangible business results—showing how inclusive practices drive growth, develop talent, enhance customer experience, and create market opportunities.
  • Mobilize employees as advocates. By fostering authentic workplace experiences and measuring employee advocacy, CEOs can transform their workforce into powerful surrogates, creating a multiplier effect that extends influence far beyond direct communications.
  • Stay focused on your transformation and growth narrative. CEOs should sharpen their transformation narrative, regardless of industry. Business performance can impact CEO perception, and vice versa, with favorability and growth working hand-in-hand.

I spoke to Megan Noel, Golin’s global president of corporate affairs, and Jonny Bentwood, the agency’s global president of data and analytics, about the findings of the report.

MPS: This is the third iteration of the CEO Impact Index. Why did you decide to do this research in the first place?

JB: There were so many different pieces of IP coming out on corporate affairs, but everything was laser focused on one thing, like ‘to be successful, you must have a LinkedIn strategy’ or ‘to be successful, you must be talking about AI’ or ‘to be successful, this is the one thing you have to do’ – and that just seems bonkers because there was so much confirmation bias around the one silver bullet that ‘everyone must do’. But in reality, to be successful as a CEO falls across several different areas. And what we wanted to do is understand the significance of each of those different areas. So it became a diagnostic tool to understand what a CEO must do in order to be successful, and what companies should do for their own executive visibility. We're also getting to understand how enterprises and CEOs are changing how they communicate and what is successful or not.

MPS: Were there any surprises when you got the findings back this year? What really stuck out for you?

MN: The headline finding that we had coming out of this year's research is that the old playbook for building CEO positioning is dead. It used to be talk a little bit about the business of the business, then have a social or environmental platform, plus a third ‘human’ pillar that is around leadership style. For the 20-plus years that I've been in comms, that has been the formula that we've worked with for CEOs. And what we found was a tremendous shift in a short amount of time: the CEOs that were doing really well on our indices were the ones that were talking about business transformation and how they're moving their business forward.

They are feeling an immense amount of pressure – with the pace of technology and the geopolitical landscape – to continue to rapidly change their business, so as a CEO looks at this across the stakeholder funnel, they have a constant need to communicate about the changes they are doing to their business and why. And we found the ones that are consistently communicating, talking about those changes, explaining them, are the ones that are not only building trust with their stakeholders, but are also financially doing well.

We looked at the potential correlation between revenue and share price of those CEOs that did well on our indices compared to just the traditional 250 indices, and the ones that did well on our indices were also having outsized revenue and share price. Correlation doesn't mean causation, right, but what we do think is interesting for the third time in a row is that those CEOs that are good communicators are also doing well with their business – and as communicators, we’re always trying to get to the business impact.

JB: If we take the current weirdness out of it and just look in the past, one of the things that really got me thinking was megatrends, and the different things that people are talking about. The first half of last year was all about what we could do with AI, but in the second-half it flipped from the theoretical to application. And those CEOs that were most successful talked about how they actually applied it to their business. And what was fascinating is that this wasn't just a tech industry discussion. This was Walmart talking about how they're bringing it into stores to help it easier for people to buy. It was right down to the grassroots level from every industry.

MPS: What would you advise CEOs who are trying to get the balance right in talking about AI, so they are seen as a leader in AI implementation, but are not overhyping it?

MN: It's about connecting it to the business. It's about moving it from ‘here's the investment’ to ‘here's the payoff’. Here's how we're improving the customer experience. Here's how we're changing the employee experience. Here are the operational efficiencies and gains. Those are conversations every business leader is having. The ones that are not only leading the pack, but are the most credible, are able to show that they've not only invested in AI, but they're seeing a difference in the way that the company runs and operates and how it shows up in all the places that matter for its stakeholders.

MPS: How is your advice to leaders on how they use LinkedIn effectively changing?

MN: We talk a lot as communications professionals about the fragmentation of the media environment. Together with the social media environment, it’s actually hyper-fragmentation. There used to be a small set of platforms that dominated the space, but with the introduction of new social media platforms, it became a more competitive environment and, like anything, it then becomes segmented to the types of audiences that you're trying to reach and trying to influence. And what we see time and time again is that LinkedIn has emerged as the place for the C-suite. It was built for that. It's a professional community and we see it as a huge opportunity for CEOs. But what we saw in the report is that a large majority of CEOs aren’t taking advantage of the platform, so there is still huge untapped potential to use it as a social channel, but equally use it as an owned channel and use it as an employee channel, to reach really important stakeholders.

JB: What was fascinating was that over half of Fortune 250 CEOs are still inactive or absent from LinkedIn. But for the ones that really got into it, the ones that used it well, it wasn't just about them humble-bragging. It was about them getting involved in meaningful dialogue and the people who really championed it had employees as their biggest advocates to help spread the message. And so it's not only how active are you, it's the way that you’re posting, the community and the thought leadership and the discussions, and who's engaging with you and enjoying that message. Compared to the negatively of X, LinkedIn is a safe harbor to just talk about the value of the business.

MPS: Another area where we’re seeing a lot of change and rollback is on DEI. How are you advising leaders to communicate effectively around diversity, equity and inclusion now?

MN: DEI is a really interesting and fast-moving landscape. First and foremost, if you're a federal contractor in the American system, you have to be compliant with the law. So federal contractors, obviously in tandem with legal counsel and policy counsel, have changed communications programs to be in compliance with the law. Period. End of story. Second, what we are seeing is that there are many companies that are still very committed to DEI as part of their business model. Take a healthcare company, for example, that's serving communities around the world. It's really important for them to have a diverse workforce for people to show up and to represent the communities they serve. But we're seeing a shift in the language, from it being about big societal benefits or big announcements, to reframing the language in business terms. It's about talent acquisition, about talent retention, our communities and our customers, and continuing to bake this into business language.

MPS: What do you think will be the focus for successful CEO comms in 2025 and into 2026?

MN: We’re now doing this research every six months, because the world is changing so quickly. Obviously we don’t have a crystal ball, so we can't predict the future. But my bet would be a continued focus on AI and the changing nature of it. And then how you navigate the changing geopolitical landscape and how CEOs are effectively or not effectively communicating, or changing their posture from previous years. Front and center in a CEOs mind will be not only position themselves, but more importantly position their company for success moving forward.

JB: To add to that, I think we’ll see more on the economic uncertainty that’s arriving from recent times, as well as more of a focus on supply chain and what that means to the individual CEO and how that could impact their business and their employees.

MPS: What's the one piece of advice you would offer to PR and comms professionals who are supporting CEOs through this era of transformation, so they can lead with authenticity and impact in a really polarized environment?

JB: When it comes to the best CEOs’ communications, there's no one silver bullet. We need to have a measured view across all the pillars of executive communications. Just going all-in on AI is not going to be enough. They need to think about their stakeholders, their trade, earned media, LinkedIn, and events and awards, and have a measured approach across each area.

MN: I would echo that, but I would say CEO positioning has become even more critical to the overall enterprise or company positioning and that they go hand in glove together. Those sophisticated communicators that recognize that and then lean into creating the right strategy, who will meet each of the different stakeholders where they're at, are going to be the most effective CEOs. It’s a challenge, but more importantly it’s a huge opportunity, if done in the right way, to use the CEO as a real asset to the entire company’s positioning.

MPS: Megan, do you find it stimulating it and inspiring having this level of corporate affairs challenge in so many in so many different areas right now, or is it just hard work?

MB: I absolutely love it. It is so invigorating – not just me, but I think for our entire profession – to get up every single day and have the opportunity to work with clients, to work with CEOs, to work with business leaders on really challenging, complex business assignments that have huge reputational impacts. I'm such a believer in the corporate affairs model because it brings these disparate parts – government, sustainability, impact, communications – together under one roof: reputation. And for those that grew up in the industry and now get to connect those dots, it’s hard, but it’s so fun and it’s such a privilege that business leaders trust folks like us to be in that role. So we certainly want to show up – and show up really well.