New Leadership Requirements
New Leadership Requirements
“Whac-A-Mole.” That’s what Wanda Austin—former CEO of the Aerospace Company and now a director of Amgen, Virgin Galactic, and Chevron—called the way executives have had to lead over the past three years. Leading in an untethered world meant that success depended upon how quickly you could react. Retooling a factory to manufacture PPE on the fly? Getting a corporate technology system set up for at-home work in a week? Speed became the default setting as more and more systemic shocks occurred.
Yet as chaos has become the norm, many members cautioned that the react-first approach is not only unsustainable but also may not be strategic. Speed is good, but only if it’s aligned with strategy. That’s what survey respondents told us. They ranked adaptability and vision as the most important capabilities for leaders in today’s environment. Said Radha Subramanyam of CBS: “The one positive that came out of COVID is the realization that the world is not going to adapt to us. We have to adapt to it. It’s the only way to move forward.”
Figure 7
Please rank the following skills or capabilities leaders need in the current environment. (n=181)
| Skills/Capabilities | Rank | Adaptability | 1 |
|---|---|
| Vision | 2 |
| Resilience | 3 |
| Empathy | 4 |
| Risk assessment | 5 |
| Personal courage | 6 |
| Stakeholder management | 7 |
| Political awareness | 8 |
| Social media awareness | 9 |
Ironically, leadership in an untethered world may turn out to be more about slowing down—something that feels strange, almost luxurious at the moment. Said Luis Ubiñas, a director at AT&T, Electronic Arts, and others: “I advise [leaders] to take a deep breath. Don’t make decisions before they need to be made, without all the information, without understanding potential negative consequences. Stop, breathe, think.” Another key is to focus on the priorities that are truly vital, said Margaret Keane, executive chair and former CEO of financial services company Synchrony. This is particularly important for CEOs, she said. “The most critical thing a CEO has to do is figure out her top three to five priorities. You need to align yourself to where you want to be in five years and have the right team around you.”
After adaptability and vision, members ranked resilience and empathy as critical capabilities for leading in this environment. It’s worth noting that all of these “soft skills” outranked both risk assessment and stakeholder management. “Who we put in positions of power is the most important decision we make,” said Joly. “When recruiting, I used to put a lot of emphasis on experience and expertise. Increasingly, I’ve now spent more time on what kind of a leader this person is. Today, leaders need to be clear about their role, which is to create an environment for others to thrive in.”
Vulnerability: Once Unacceptable, Now Embraced
Not long ago, vulnerability was for the weak. Now, admitting and embracing it is quickly becoming a requirement for any authentic leader. In our survey, 63% of respondents said they feel either very vulnerable or vulnerable when making a complex decision relating to a major external crisis. What’s interesting is not so much that they feel that way, but that they admit that they do. Said Jackie Yeaney, former chief marketing officer of data visualization company Tableau: “The notion of vulnerability has become a centering point for me. I realized how important it was to share with my team as much as I could because it opened the door for them. Midway through COVID, my youngest son had serious mental health issues. I felt helpless. In an all-marketing call, I shared with the team and cried. I had over 50 people reach out to me with their own stories. People need the permission and realization that they aren’t alone.”
This openness extends all the way to the top of the organization. Although you’d expect that fewer senior leaders would admit to vulnerability, it’s actually the opposite: 64% of CEOs said they feel either very vulnerable or vulnerable. Only 5% of respondents said they did not feel at all vulnerable. That requires some retraining by executives who succeeded by projecting confident competence. Said Grainger CEO D.G. Macpherson: “The skill that’s most important in leaders now is to be clear you don’t know everything. The historical leader who served from the top of the mountain is not very helpful.”
We hope that you have found this research useful, and that some of the perspectives expressed by fellow members are helpful as you address these challenges. Please share your feedback with us or ask further questions by contacting info@untethered-world.com.
Founded in 2004, World 50 consists of private peer communities that enable CEOs and C-level executives from globally respected organizations to discover better ideas, share valuable experiences and build relationships that make a lasting impact. The busiest officer-level executives and their most promising future leaders trust World 50 to facilitate collaboration, conversation and counsel on the topics most crucial to leading, transforming and growing modern enterprises. World 50 communities serve every significant enterprise leadership role. World 50 members reside in more than 27 countries on six continents and are leaders at companies that average more than US$30 billion in revenue. World 50 is a private company that serves no other purpose than to accelerate the success of its members and their organizations. It is composed of highly curious associates who consider it a privilege to help leaders stay ahead.
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