Game Changers in Leadership Communication : Building Trust in a Low Trust World

This book vividly describes how formal and informal leaders can engage in communication to build or destroy trust when it matters most. It will serve as a suitable text for upper-division and graduate courses in organizational communication, leadership, public relations, and more. It will also be of interest to current and aspiring leaders.

Amid a world marked by skepticism, disruption, and eroding confidence, Game Changers in Leadership Communication vividly describes how formal and informal leaders can engage in communication to build or destroy trust when it matters most. Drawing on decades of research and real-world experiences, Pamela Shockley-Zalabak and Sherwyn Morreale reveal how everyday communication choices can result in leaders becoming either positive or negative game changers. Through interviews and case studies, the book provides thought-provoking and interactive guides and suggestions for Personal Reflections to help work through complex problems around trust and leadership. It integrates leadership communication theory with five research-based drivers of trust—competence, openness and honesty, identification, reliability, and concern for others. It addresses such salient topics as decision making, crises and disasters, global workforces, the global rise of authoritarianism, politics, AI, and ethics. This book serves as a primary or supplementary text for upper-division and graduate courses within the subjects of organizational communication, leadership, management, business, public affairs, and public relations, and will also be of interest to current and aspiring leaders.