Your CEO’s words are now a KPI: Why every leader needs a style guide

Start with discovery and listening.

Orsi Korman is account director, content, at HAVAS Red.

Communicators have moved from broadcasting polished messages to helping executives build trust, credibility and real connection — in- and outside their organizations. The stakes for executive visibility have never been higher. Every communication can shape reputation and trust in real time.

An executive style guide gives leaders — and their communications teams — a repeatable way to show up authentically across every channel and ensure every announcement, LinkedIn post and town hall consistently reflects a leader’s voice and values.

Laying the foundation

An effective guide starts with discovery and listening. Interview each executive to understand their purpose, leadership philosophy and communication comfort zone. Review past speeches, emails and social posts. Analyze employee and stakeholder feedback. Consider where AI tools may assist — surfacing tone patterns, spotting jargon — while always applying human judgment.

One Fortune 500 client recently used this process to discover that their CEO’s most memorable remarks weren’t the polished speeches but the unscripted, more personal posts. That insight reshaped their entire content mix and is now baked into the executive’s style guide.

Use these insights to define the leader’s personal brand: the values, voice and perspectives that shape how they connect with different audiences. This upfront work does more than speed approvals. It builds mutual trust between communicator and executive — an essential step when quick, high-stakes responses are needed.

Key elements of a modern executive voice

Like a corporate style guide, an executive version captures essential facts and preferred language, but with added depth. Key elements include:

• Vision and priorities clearly linked to enterprise strategy and companywide messaging.
• Proper names and key terms for business units, products, programs and metrics within the executive’s portfolio.
• Signature words and phrases that express the leader’s voice and convey the desired tone — along with jargon and clichés to avoid.
• Positioning guidance for hot topics, such as business ethics or workplace flexibility, including principles for when and how to engage.
• AI guardrails outlining where automated drafting may assist and where a human touch is non-negotiable.

Capturing these elements keeps every communication — from a speech to a spontaneous LinkedIn post — aligned and on brand.

Translating voice into action

The true power of an executive style guide lies in documenting how a leader communicates. This goes beyond grammar and punctuation to cover:

• Tone and personality: Is the voice conversational, visionary, data-driven or a blend?
• Preferred formats and channels: From internal videos to thought-leadership articles or quick social updates.
• Review and approval habits: Who must see drafts, how quickly and in what format?
• Guidelines for crisis or sensitive topics: Escalation paths, statement templates and response principles.

Post-pandemic workplace norms continue to shape employee and stakeholder expectations. Leaders are expected to sound human and approachable, using inclusive language and concise, plain English. An up-to-date guide makes it easier for every communicator — from core team members to outside agencies — to maintain that authentic voice, even under pressure.

Living, breathing and measurable

A style guide should never be static. Schedule regular check-ins — quarterly or biannually — to capture new messaging priorities, evolving market issues and fresh employee insights. Make the guide digital, searchable and trackable, so you can measure how well it supports clarity and consistency across channels.

Technology will keep raising the bar. Voice cloning, real-time translation and synthetic media make it even more critical to document the human fingerprint of a leader’s voice — and to update guardrails as those tools advance.

The best guides also include a feedback loop. Monitor engagement data — open rates, social comments, employee pulse survey results — to ensure that leadership communications resonate and build the trust they are designed to foster.

More than a writing tool

An executive style guide does more than standardize words. It is a trust-building playbook. By aligning each communication with a leader’s authentic voice and values, it helps executives:

• Strengthen credibility with employees and external stakeholders.
• Navigate sensitive issues confidently and consistently.
• Foster transparency and psychological safety, which fuel engagement and retention.

For communicators, it provides a single source of truth that shortens review cycles, prevents off-brand messaging, and frees creative energy for storytelling and strategy.

Bottom line: In a world where every word can move markets and algorithms, an executive style guide is no longer a nice-to-have but a strategic necessity. If you advise leaders, start the conversation now — before someone else defines their voice for them.

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