6 ways for leaders to hone their “visual literacy”

We are entering a predominantly post-literate era, where communication is less about deep reading and more about immediate visual recognition, visual credibility, and emotional resonance with what and who we see. More leaders find they are now operating in a mediascape where memes, emojis, and short-form videos often carry more weight than traditional written reports. 

This shift toward the visual favors intuitive, right-brain communication, making it harder to rely on rational argument and easier to connect through shared symbols and emotional cues. This is an evolution that calls for contemporary leadership to master an essential new skillset — visual literacy. 

Visual literacy calls on one’s ability to critically interpret the images used in communication, especially relevant with the rise of AI imagery (some estimates suggest that by 2050, 75% of what we will see will be AI-generated). While the concept of visual literacy has been with us for fifty years, we are far behind in developing it, and it’s time to catch up. 

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Visuals in the business arena are all-pervasive, from our slide and video presentations to communications and multimedia branding initiatives. Short-form video platforms like TikTok and Instagram have become the primary stage for executive visibility — with business-oriented LinkedIn catching up fast. Not only did video creation on LinkedIn increase 100% in 2024, but CEOs are also more active than ever on the site: 85% of CEOs from the FTSE100 are now posting on LinkedIn, up from just 12% two years ago.

Casual-looking, home-recorded business videos are more frequent than ever in these post-pandemic years and show executives speaking to us about the state of the market and corporate earnings as they walk their dog, run on the treadmill, or show off their homes. Leaders may not, however, be conveying the right message to the people who matter most. They might not even realize that they aren’t fully in control of the effects they are creating.

So, how can leaders develop and refine their visual literacy and direct consumers’ attention more precisely where they want it to go?

#1 Familiarize yourself with “visual thinking”

Up to 65% of us may be visual thinkers: people who predominantly think and learn, discern and interpret the world, through picturing things in the mind. When we are not thinking analytically about those visuals, we tend to believe that “what we see is more trustworthy than what we hear.” Yet we are not quite able at this point — as leaders and companies publishing them, nor as a public consuming them — to comprehend the impact that images have on us. We cannot read them: we memorize about 15% of what we read as opposed to 60% or more of what we see. So it’s crucial to be visually literate (to know what it is that you are memorizing) in a world that is overtly visual. 

In The Visual Detox, I break down visual categories such as color, composition, angles, perspectives, and distance. These are just some of the components of what we see, and how these components are assembled can affect how we interpret what we see. Marketers, advertisers, political strategists, and creatives choose each component carefully to trigger a new consumer behavior, a political vote, and other responses. 

#2 Take a quick audit

To develop your visual critical thinking, take an audit. Assess your current visual information, and absorb your sector’s visual trends in terms of positioning yourself and your company. What are the current visual conversations on various outlets? How do you, as a leader, fit into them? And your company? Simply go online and Google whatever is available about your C-suite executives. Analyze the imagery of other leaders and businesses within and outside of your sector, then audit your company’s visual presence in a similar manner. Get a team involved and record all the ways you appear. Look at social media, news feeds, images, reviews, videos, and LinkedIn profiles of your C-suite, along with your corporate website. Have your team note the misalignments: What you are telling yourselves the business represents may not correspond with what your consumers and stakeholders perceive. That means it is time to build a new visual strategy.

#3 Establish your visual identity

Business leaders’ visual literacy is crucial to making the desired impact. Using visual critical thinking and analyzing visual trends among your clients and partners, you can better evaluate the impact your visual story-telling has on those you wish to persuade. Since COVID the lines between the visual identity of your private persona and your visual identity as a leader have become increasingly blurred. A business leader’s videos are a consumer’s first approach to the business; they visually position the company, and you as leader. But one size doesn’t fit all. It would not be suitable, for example, to create the same visuals for a local startup seeking funding as for an established corporation with a global presence. The former has to convey more visual excitement and look more impressive than its size, whereas the latter needs to be more visually relatable.

Leaders now need to add images to their analyses and funding pitches — and they need a visual strategy for that. Gone are the days of suit-and-tie pitches, and long written reports published for shareholders and customers. We now expect the more viral, informal, short videos of CEOs speaking about the state of the market and corporate earnings — resilience, drive and determination now have to be visualized. Businesses and CEOs must be visually aware, consistent, and understand the context and perceptions of their audiences. That is the only strategic way to convey the right message, in the right setting, at the right moment, to the audiences you wish to convince. 

#4 Fine-tune your visual strategy

It cannot be over-emphasized: Your visual presence is wordless communication. You have performed a visual audit with your team. Now you can develop your new or revised visual strategy. Define a timeline for the implementation and testing of new actions. Determine the different places you wish to be seen in (retail, digital, social media, press, presentations, products). Draw the visual trends and demands from each space and the visual thread/narrative you therefore need to weave as a company. Make sure that your values and the feel of the brand are represented in it. Pick each still and film image with intention and continue to work with your creative team to analyze outcomes. Develop, test, and fine-tune your visual strategy, and you’ll control your visual story.

#5 Beware of biases

While we may all equally strive to put our visual narratives out there, it’s worth understanding that we still live in a world where leadership is visually praised and seen in a certain way: white, male and over 50 years old. AI-based image generators have been “caught” mainly depicting a CEO or leader from this bias. Rest assured that consumers are not only watching, they are “seeing.” Your consumers know that only 6 CEOs in the FTSE 100 come from ethnic minorities, and that only 11 of the 100 are women. Those leaders must insist on projecting images that convey their personal identity so that it’s perceived to be credible, authentic, and authoritative. Behind the best visual strategy is the awareness that we live in a world that is visually biased about what leadership should look like and hence the need for those in roles of influence and leadership to help diversify it.

#6 Research the origin of images

Beware of visual misinformation as well as the ethics behind the images you use. Always make sure you and your business are not promoting or republishing fake imagery — one-third of manipulated images go undetected — or AI-generated images that are not compensating those creating or shown in them. (Note that this is not just about AI but any image that has been changed from its original context/source). Do not repost images so quickly that you do not understand the source of the image and the hidden messaging it carries. The way to start is by knowing the origin of images and the context of their capture. It is notable that the BBC takes such an approach with BBC Verify.