The ACE Model: How Authenticity, Clarity, and Energy Transform Leaders
9 April, 2025 · Allison Shapira
Founder and CEO of Global Public Speaking and bestselling author Allison Shapira shares how communication, not just expertise, sets great leaders apart in high-stakes moments.
As you move into more senior leadership roles, you spend more time communicating the messages of your organization, both to your teams and to external stakeholders.
How confident are you in the way you — or your senior leaders — communicate?
Words matter, especially in times of uncertainty. Employees pick up on subtle cues that can cause them to feel either anxious or reassured.
So, what are you communicating?
In my work helping leaders prepare for senior-level roles, I see what happens when leaders are experts in their field, but lack the communication skills to truly lead others.
My ACE Model of Leadership Communication, developed through more than two decades of work with global executives, identifies three core components that determine a leader's effectiveness when they communicate.
As you prepare to communicate with your team, whether it’s about adopting new AI systems or maintaining focus through uncertain geopolitical conditions, think about how you can incorporate these three components:
- Authenticity comes from communicating in a way that aligns with your core values rather than hiding behind an artificial “leadership persona.” Senior executives who can tap into their authentic voice will more effectively build trust, especially in times of uncertainty.
- Clarity calls for turning subject-matter expertise into clear, actionable insights. Honing this skill will improve both decision-making and execution, especially when presenting to the board or external stakeholders.
- Energy, often overlooked in leadership development, shows up in the physical and emotional presence leaders display in their interactions. A leader’s energy will affect the energy of their team in a phenomenon called the Leader Amplification Effect, coined by social psychologist and Columbia Business School professor Adam Galinsky.
By developing these competencies, you will start to see measurable improvements in team retention, employee engagement, and overall performance.
When you communicate with authenticity, clarity, and energy, you won’t just deliver a message; you will truly lead with your voice.
Allison Shapira
Allison Shapira is a Harvard lecturer, executive advisor, bestselling author, and keynote speaker who advises senior leaders on how to build trust and influence through communication. She studies the science of believability in the age of AI. She was recently inducted into the CPAE® Speaker Hall of Fame, an award recognizing the top 1% of speakers worldwide. For more than two decades, she has worked with Fortune 100 executives at companies from Bank of America to Intel. She has advised prime ministers, cabinet members, and newly-promoted senior leaders navigating high-stakes moments. Her latest book, AI for the Authentic Leader, explores how executives can integrate AI into their communication without sacrificing trust, credibility, or human connection. From corporate boardrooms to roundtables in Davos, she is helping define the leadership of the future. A trained opera singer turned executive advisor and entrepreneur, Allison brings personal experience to her work, having led teams and spoken or performed on global stages of up to 35,000 people. One of the proudest moments of her life was performing the American national anthem for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. She found her authentic voice not through performing the operatic works of others, but through becoming a singer/songwriter and writing her own music. Allison is the Washington Post bestselling author of Speak with Impact and Speak with Impact VIRTUALLY. She writes for the World Economic Forum and Harvard Business Review and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, and Bloomberg. Having studied ten foreign languages and worked across cultures worldwide, Allison helps leaders from different backgrounds communicate with authenticity and influence. When she is not teaching or working with clients, Allison is also an athlete, sailor, and world traveler.