If it’s true that a business leader’s reputation speaks volumes for a brand—then The Estée Lauder Companies is in good shape. Reputation Institute (RI), the world’s leading provider of reputation measurement, management and intelligence services, has announced its first-ever CEO RepTrakThe study, in which the results indicate that Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO, The Estée Lauder Companies, is one of the world’s most reputable CEOs.
 
The world’s largest reputation study of its kind, the CEO RepTrak is based on more than 28,000 individual ratings collected in the first quarter of 2018 across the G15 economies. It includes unique insights into the dynamics behind reputational impact. The global study shows what drives CEO reputation, the direct correlation between corporate reputation and stakeholder support.
 
“The rubric for what it takes to be a great leader is quickly shifting,” said Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, chief reputation officer at Reputation Institute. “Assessing a CEO’s performance based solely on financial returns is no longer enough. There is a new era emerging in which the intangibles of reputation are driving political, social and economic change, and giving CEOs reason to reconsider their role as a leader. To be relevant as a contemporary leader today, you need to be a CEO with conscience.”
 
The RepTrak results show strong leadership across a range of industries internationally, including financial services, technology, food and beverage, consumer and hospitality. Within the global study, six of the top 10 CEOs are executives of U.S. companies and three are CEOs of European businesses. The list of top 10 business leaders globally recognized in RI’s 2018 CEO RepTrak® study (in alphabetical order) are:
 
Giorgio Armani of Giorgio Armani
Keith Barr of InterContinental Hotels Group
Fabrizio Freda of The Esteé Lauder Companies
Ralph Hamers of ING
Bernard Hess of The Kraft Heinz Company
Tatsumi Kimishima of Nintendo
Denise Morrison of Campbell Soup Company
Sundar Pichai of Google
Dirk Van de Put of Mondelez International
Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn
 
Key findings from the study demonstrate the importance for CEOs to be publicly visible leaders and willing to take a stand on key issues. Results revealed a direct and strong correlation between CEO reputation and how their organizations are perceived by the public, which in turn drives the supportive behaviors across stakeholder groups. CEO familiarity within the general public provides a +10.5 point lift in corporate reputation for the benefit of the company. In particular, CEO reputation has the strongest influence on the dimensions of Citizenship (+9.9 points), Governance (+9.6 points) and Leadership (+8.1 points). Overall, CEO reputation globally accounts for 14 percent of corporate reputation and 16 percent of corporate reputation in the US, one of the highest percentages worldwide.
 
The study results reveal the importance of CEO activism, with the dimension of responsibility – which includes behaving ethically and caring about social causes – comprising almost one-third of CEO reputation. The central characteristic identified with the top 10 CEOs include public perceptions for empathy, trust, consistency, social responsibility and openness.