This past weekend, more than sixty CEOs based in Minnesota signed an open letter urging “immediate de-escalation” and cooperation following unrest tied to federal immigration enforcement actions and two deadly shootings. The letter is measured. It doesn’t claim moral superiority. It doesn’t present itself as society’s conscience. It doesn’t pretend the world’s problems can be fixed in a few lines. Instead, it feels like an effort to steady the center of the room while everyone inside is trembling. And because it is so measured, some may be tempted to dismiss it as merely safe. Yet that restraint may be exactly what gives it significance. It surfaces something we keep avoiding. Business is not just an economic engine. It is a social institution. It shapes how people live their days, their sense of safety, their health care, their dignity, their feeling of belonging, and their capacity to envision a future. We can – and for decades have – argued about where that responsibility begins and ends, but we shouldn’t pretend it doesn’t exist. This article is part of Branding Strategy Insider’s newsletter. Join the world’s smartest marketers and subscribe here for actionable insights delivered straight to your inbox. So when the civic fabric frays, corporate leaders don’t have the option of stepping away from meaning. Even if they try to sidestep it, meaning finds them. It is assigned to them, rapidly, often stripped of context, and increasingly filtered through the most skeptical possible lens. Which is why the question leaders face is no longer whether to speak. It’s…