Jayne Juvan shared insights on the critical role of board leadership in building and preserving stakeholder trust in “The Trust Imperative,” recently published in Corporate Board Member. The article discusses the fragility of trust—one of a company’s most valuable assets—and how a single failure, breach, scandal, or lapse can cause a company’s stakeholders to question the decision-making ability of the company’s board.

Jayne explained that strong board cultures encourage candid communication and debate. To Jayne, the ability to openly and freely discuss and debate matters of importance is a hallmark of good governance. Strong boards encourage concerns to surface and then take steps to meaningfully address them.

Often, the warning signs of a crisis exist well before an issue becomes public. Boards that ignore concerns, stonewall stakeholders, or, worse, permit retaliation cause manageable issues to escalate into crises that undermine organizational credibility and trust.

Jayne further highlighted that the days when boards could reasonably expect that troubling incidents would remain behind closed doors are largely over. Jayne said, “Everybody can be a citizen journalist today. Anyone can put up a post that goes viral. That creates a different risk profile for boards because it’s no longer a matter of having good relationships with certain journalists. Now it’s a matter of how you present yourself in the marketplace as a whole so that you’re less likely to fall victim to one of those incidents.”

Ultimately, Jayne was underscoring that trust is not established in the midst of a crisis—it is earned through consistent, authentic leadership, meaningful stakeholder engagement, and a demonstrated commitment to accountability. Boards that cultivate credibility and responsiveness before challenges arise are more likely to receive the benefit of the doubt when difficult situations occur and are better positioned to protect the organization.

Read “The Trust Imperative” and more of Jayne’s insights in Corporate Board Member here⁠.