Article Summary

In this article, Jenny Garrett OBE explores why leader silence on social and inclusion issues is never neutral – it is a choice with real consequences for trust and culture. Drawing on conversations at Anthropy26, she examines what values-led inclusive leadership actually looks like in practice, and why the leaders who thrive in uncertainty are those their people trust when it matters most.

I’d spent the morning in the Mediterranean Biome at the Eden Project. Plants from South Africa, California, the western Mediterranean – thriving not because they’d changed themselves to survive Cornwall’s climate, but because someone had deliberately built an environment that welcomed them. I carried that image into the afternoon sessions. And it kept coming back to me.

Because one of the most striking moments at Anthropy26 didn’t come from a keynote. It came from a quiet admission in a panel on leadership in uncertain times.

A senior leader – someone with decades of experience, someone who had navigated recessions, restructures, moments of genuine organisational crisis – described what it felt like to say nothing. Nothing when the riots broke out and colleagues were afraid to come to work. Nothing when DEI budgets started quietly disappearing. Nothing when the people around them were looking for a signal that their leaders actually saw what was happening.

The cost of that silence, they said, was significant. Not to the leader’s reputation. To the trust of the people who had been watching.

That landed with me. Because I hear versions of it constantly.

What Does Silence Actually Communicate?

A 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer found that 63% of employees want their CEO to speak out on social issues. And yet most don’t. Not because they don’t have views. Because speaking feels risky and staying quiet feels safe.

But here’s what I’ve learned from twenty years of working inside organisations: silence is never as safe as it feels. It just moves the risk somewhere else – usually onto the people who were already carrying the most.

When leaders go quiet on issues that matter to their people, they don’t communicate neutrality. They communicate a choice. And the people in your organisation – particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds who are already reading every signal carefully – hear that choice very clearly.

We saw this after the George Floyd murder. We saw it during the UK riots in 2024. We saw it when DEI rollbacks began sweeping across US corporations and the question rippled into UK boardrooms: are we next? Are we going to hold the line, or are we going to quietly step back and hope nobody notices?

Some CEOs called diversity campaigners asking for help crafting a response. The advice they got was consistent: it has to be your words, because non-authentic responses get called out immediately. Some did speak. Many didn’t. And the people watching knew the difference.

The Funding That Quietly Disappeared

The panel at Anthropy26 raised a specific example that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. 10,000 Black Interns – one of the most practical, impactful initiatives for economic inclusion in the UK – saw a significant fall in corporate funding over the past year. Not dramatic enough to make headlines. Significant enough to threaten the organisation’s survival.

The reason wasn’t hostility. It was silence dressed up as caution. Organisations quietly de-prioritising, re-categorising budgets, waiting to see which way the wind blows.

As one panellist put it: that’s lousy judgement. This programme exists not because of DEI. It exists to give everyone an equal opportunity to contribute. The moment you stop seeing it that way – the moment you let it become a political question rather than a human one – you’ve lost the thread.

Purpose Means Nothing If It Only Shows Up When It’s Easy

Most organisations have values. Most have statements about inclusion, belonging, equity. They’re on the website. They’re in the induction pack. They come up in town halls.

And then something happens. Something uncomfortable. Something where taking a position feels risky. And suddenly those values are nowhere to be found.

Your people are not reading your strategy documents. They are watching what you do when it’s hard.

I’ve seen this play out in organisations for twenty years. The leaders who build genuine trust – the ones whose people will follow them through real change, including everything that AI disruption is bringing with it – are not the ones with the most polished communication strategies. They’re the ones who showed up when it would have been easier not to. You can read more about the structural dimensions of that challenge in our two-tier workforce white paper.

Silence in those moments doesn’t protect you. It defines you.

So What Do Leaders Who Get This Right Actually Do?

In my experience – and I’ve sat in a lot of rooms with a lot of leaders navigating exactly this – it rarely starts with a big public statement. It starts with consistency in the small moments. The one-to-one conversation you don’t avoid. The budget decision you don’t quietly reverse. The team meeting where you name what’s happening in the world rather than pretending it isn’t.

The leaders I’ve seen build genuine trust across their organisations share something. They don’t wait until they have the perfect words. They show up imperfectly, honestly, and repeatedly. And when they get it wrong – which they do – they say so.

At JGG, the work we do through our Tri-Level approach is built on exactly this. We don’t just develop the individuals who are hitting barriers. We develop them alongside their managers and senior sponsors simultaneously – because lasting change only happens when the people at every level of the system are part of the shift. Values-led inclusive leadership isn’t a personal quality. It’s a cultural one. And culture is built or eroded in these exact moments – the ones where speaking or staying silent is a choice.

This Isn’t About Being Brave. It’s About Being Clear.

I want to push back on something. The framing of speaking out as an act of courage can make it feel more dramatic and more optional than it actually is.

Leaders are not being asked to take political positions. They’re being asked to be clear about their own values and the values of their organisation – and then to act consistently with them. That’s not bravery. That’s just leadership.

The panel at Anthropy made a point that’s stayed with me: in today’s environment, silence is not a neutral option. It is a position. And increasingly, it’s a position that your people, your clients, and the talent you’re trying to attract are making judgements about.

The leaders who will navigate the next decade well – including everything that AI is bringing with it – are not necessarily the ones with the best strategy. They are the ones their people trust when things get hard. And that trust is built or lost in the moments you choose not to stay quiet.

At JGG, our Inclusive Leadership programmes and AI-Ready Leadership work helps organisations develop the leadership culture and individual capability to navigate complexity with both clarity and courage. Download our two-tier workforce white paper for more on the structural shifts reshaping inclusive leadership right now. If your organisation is working through what authentic, values-led leadership looks like in practice, we’d love that conversation.

What’s the conversation you’ve been putting off having?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do leaders stay silent on social issues?

Most leaders stay silent not because they lack values but because speaking feels risky. The fear of saying the wrong thing, or of being seen as taking a political position, outweighs the perceived cost of silence. But silence communicates a choice regardless – and the people watching, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, hear it clearly.

What is values-led leadership?

Values-led leadership means being clear about your organisation’s values and then acting consistently with them – especially in moments of discomfort. It is not about making political statements. It is about showing up for your people when it would be easier not to, and building the kind of trust that makes genuine change possible.

How does inclusive leadership culture get built?

Inclusive leadership culture is built in small moments, not big announcements. It requires development at every level simultaneously – talent, managers and senior sponsors – so that the values are not just held by individuals but embedded in how the organisation operates. That is the foundation of JGG’s Tri-Level approach.