Not often do I read someone else’s analysis of a thing I’ve been studying as long as I’ve been studying corporate communication, and don’t find a word wrong with it.
And yet:
American corporations have mostly responded to the second Trump administration with a blend of discreet acquiescence and active complicity. There are good reasons for this. But now, public opinion is starting to change; the midterms could be a bloodbath for Republicans, gas prices are on the rise, and the Iran War is already deeply unpopular.
When, and how, might the calculus of American companies start to shift, too? What, practically, might happen next?
That’s what Alison Taylor asks today on her Substack, “Higher Ground.”
In the final analysis, the tough-minded, unsentimental, far-thinking NYU Stern School professor answers her own question:
Overall, as 2026 continues to unfold, we should not expect our calls for courage or integrity to be answered with grandstanding or personal risk. We should remain clear that companies will follow public opinion, and not lead it. But, we should also be watching closely for these more subtle shifts in position.
We may find ourselves at a conference in a few years, hearing allusions to how everyone was always against the government’s overreach in 2025, but doing their best to exercise courage and quiet diplomacy. Whether this next round of revisionism will be welcomed and accepted is another matter.
Taylor is known for asking, “What are you pretending not to know?” I’m afraid many of communicators—me included—have hopefully pretended not to know a lot of things for many years, for many reasons and by some creative means, about how corporate leaders think, and why they act. Let’s stop that—and start being more useful, to everyone.
Alison Taylor will share strategies for exec comms pros—and answer our honest questions honestly—in her keynote appearance at the 2026 Executive Communication Summit. Join us?
