The companies that will come out of today's crisis strong and prosperous will be the ones who seize the communications initiative, who engage audiences, who present a vision, who take responsibility. After the global corporate debacle, business-as-usual won't cut it--and that extends to communications. It's no coincidence that social media is exploding just as lack of trust in companies and governments reaches new highs. Leaders must join the conversation or find themselves and their institutions circumvented.