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Minds Over Matter: Increasing CEO Capacity for Success — Volume 31, May 2022

The pace of change is only going to increase. If you aren’t willing to be a lifelong learner, you will not perform for your stakeholders.

A respondent in our recent CEO study

In the three years we have been publishing CEO Insights, we have witnessed a remarkable expansion of expectations for CEO leadership. When we began, we were tracking the rise of an increasingly vocal minority of CEO leaders (whom we then called “conscious capitalists”) seeking to leverage their business platforms to further social causes. Their numbers grew soon thereafter, when the Business Roundtable took the mission further by issuing a statement which redefined the purpose of a corporation to include “a fundamental commitment to all stakeholders,” and not just shareholders. Expectations for CEOs only became greater under the mounting urgency of environmental activism. While leaders and organizations were grappling for their positions and paths forward in this shifting environment, COVID-19 hit, and CEOs were challenged to both keep their businesses afloat and guarantee the well-being of their employees. Then they were hurled back into the spotlight during the acute social unrest of the summer of 2020. By 2021, Edelman would report that 66 percent of their global respondents believed that CEOs should take the lead on change rather than wait for governments to impose it. It’s no wonder that Ron Williams, former Chairman and CEO of Aetna, who regularly counsels CEOs navigating the expanding social and political pressures of their role, recently told The Wall Street Journal that being a CEO today “is an even more challenging job.…Running the business turns out to be table stakes.”

The Need for More Capacity  

While few now question the idea that CEO roles have expanded significantly, many, if not most, people are still wondering exactly how CEOs are going to meet these high expectations. We took these questions to 1,000 CEOs across the world and asked them what it would take for them to be successful: An astonishing 97 percent told us, “As CEO, I need the capacity to transform myself as well as my organization.” What CEOs know is that leadership capacity is about the structure of their thinking—not what they think but rather how they think about it. The reality is that all the tools in the world will not permit change if one’s mindset does not allow and support the change. Because CEOs are being asked to carry so much more as leaders, it is only natural that they would need to search for new ways to actively expand their mindsets and thinking abilities so they can effectively respond. 

Integrating the Developmental Approach   

In the past, leadership programs have generally centered on adding to the relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies in order to influence what CEOs know and do (what is known as “horizontal development”). The focus has been on the what—what good leadership looks like. There is no question that this way of supporting CEOs has served them well for a long time and continues to. Still, as more CEOs are telling us they feel less prepared to navigate the complexities they are presented, this type of development isn’t enough. Leaders now need more. They need to be taught how to actually expand and balance their thinking given the demands of their role. This involves unlearning habits that no longer serve them and creating the space and awareness to develop underlying thinking structures or capacities (what leadership experts call “vertical development”).

With the previous focus on competencies, we have asked ourselves what is lacking in the leadership container (as a metaphorical term for the leader’s mind) and tried to add to it. But we have likewise left out a detailed exploration of the container itself—how it is structurally conceived, how much it can hold, and how it could be made to hold more to meet expanding needs and circumstances. The objective is to integrate these vertical goals so that in the future, leaders are growing simultaneously in both directions. In this way, leaders can become better versions of their current selves and harness the ability to keep growing—exactly what they are telling us they need. 

Today’s Most Essential Leadership Capacities 

In our work with CEOs (and rising CEOs), three interdependent capacities have risen to the fore as the most essential and promising enablers for the growth leaders seem to need right now.   

At the base, CEOs benefit greatly by starting inward, working to improve their sense of self-awareness, which refers to their commitment to self-reflection, and introspection—keeping an eye toward broadening the solution space. With this work, CEOs aim to:  

  • Better identify the values and motivations driving their behavior
  • Understand the behavioral impact on the team, and by extension the organization   
  • Assume their new role with a commitment to discovery and growth—as the mid-point of their career experience, rather than the culmination of their own personal and professional prowess
  • Staying open to ongoing learning and expanding their knowledge in order to boost their leadership skills and effectiveness

By their own assessment, CEOs have a long way to go in sharpening their relational skills—their ability to collaborate and work with others—especially as their role has expanded to involve a wider group of stakeholders. About 500, or half, of the respondents to our study report what we might call a relational deficit. 

Many CEOs we have worked with believe that developing greater self-awareness is the key to unblocking relational challenges. Learning more about oneself unlocks the curiosity to really learn about others and how to actively listen to what is going on in their teams and the world. By enhancing their relational capacity, CEOs are seeking to:       

  • Listen with curiosity and humility, to learn, not to fix (or win)
  • Develop a sacrosanct relationship with the team and the Board 
  • View stakeholders as gateways to new possibilities rather than parties to manage 
  • Learn from experts to test their own thinking and make informed decisions

Finally, CEOs have told us that they need to further expand their capacity to adapt and respond most effectively to today’s many fast-moving challenges. Adaptivity requires CEOs to possess both the will and the ability to change nimbly, to keep learning, and to navigate vast complexity and ambiguity. It is about keeping an open mind and having the courage to try new things when necessary. CEOs who are clear-sighted and adaptive can find innovative solutions to complex problems by:         

  • Managing and working with paradoxes, and finding the right balance between long- and short-term strategies     
  • Tapping institutional strengths to energize and stretch the organization to move forward
  • Developing an inspiring vision to lift the collective ambition of the business, team, and Board 
  • Being bold and determined to reach new heights while remaining flexible about the best way to meet the goal     

These capacities are interdependent; they grow and enhance one another. To develop the curiosity and resilience to be truly adaptive, for example, CEOs need to master the relational capacity to listen, to bring a broader set of stakeholders into the conversation, and to communicate authentically and inspire others. That, in turn, requires CEOs to keep honing their capacity for self-awareness, drawing on the help of others to illuminate their blind spots and habitual responses, as well as their sources of energy and meaning. When mindfully attended to, the ongoing development of these three capacities promises to strengthen CEO leadership to more effectively navigate the extreme complexity they are facing.

CEOs across the world have told us in no uncertain terms that they need to keep growing to be able to do their job, and they continue to display the willingness to do so. When we asked if there was a silver lining to leading through the great disruptions of the past few years, they offered several things—less travel, more family time, more time for reflection—but one thing stood out above all others: CEOs clearly recognized the capacity for change and growth that so many leaders and organizations had demonstrated. “The massive setback brought about by the pandemic has also brought with it an enormously high willingness to change,” one explained. “Suddenly, everything becomes conceivable,” another elaborated.

It is with this ongoing willingness that leaders will continue to meet the enormous challenges of their roles ahead and grow the leadership capacities they know they will need—to be more self-aware, relational, and adaptive—for both those changes we might expect and, perhaps, those we won’t see coming.

Browse the Volumes

Volume 1: New Captains of Consciousness

Volume 1: New Captains of Consciousness

Infusing CEO leadership with social responsibility and accountability: Edelman reports that people are shifting their trust to relationships they feel they can influence, above… Read more

Volume 2: Supporting CEO Leadership

Volume 2: Supporting CEO Leadership

“We simply can’t learn to be more vulnerable and courageous on our own. Sometimes our first and greatest dare is asking for support.” Read more

Volume 3: Leading a Collaborative Enterprise

Volume 3: Leading a Collaborative Enterprise

CEO leadership is, by its very nature, a collective and relational endeavor. Still, we often speak of CEOs as if they are forces unto… Read more

Volume 4: The Uncharted Leadership Voyage

Volume 4: The Uncharted Leadership Voyage

The CEO turnover rate is at a record high and appears to be accelerating. How can we better prepare CEOs for today’s reality, where… Read more

Volume 5: The Boardroom as Leadership Laboratory

Volume 5: The Boardroom as Leadership Laboratory

CEOs struggle with developing their leadership teams; boardrooms are living labs for leadership experimentation. Why CEOs should expose their senior executives to board work… Read more

Volume 6: Cultivating Inquisitive Leadership

Volume 6: Cultivating Inquisitive Leadership

Curious, bold leadership is not something you simply have or don’t have; you build upon what is there, you learn it and continue to… Read more

Volume 7: CEOs and Stakeholder Capitalism

Volume 7: CEOs and Stakeholder Capitalism

CEOs face new requirements from stakeholders that calls for greater resilience and purposeful leadership. Read more

Volume 8: Demystifying Courageous Leadership

Volume 8: Demystifying Courageous Leadership

Coming to courageous leadership depends upon practice—it is the building up of small moments of courage, toning the cognitive and emotional muscles of boldness… Read more

Volume 9: In the Eye of the Storm

Volume 9: In the Eye of the Storm

Five tips for CEOs while they work to manage the business and create psychological and emotional safety for their employees during the COVID-19 crisis. Read more

Volume 10: Towards Scenario Planning in the Uncertainty of a Global Crisis

Volume 10: Towards Scenario Planning in the Uncertainty of a Global Crisis

After weeks of being immersed in immediate questions from COVID-19, CEOs are starting to tackle the challenge of preparing for what is next. Read more

Volume 11: Embracing Uncertainty to Accelerate to a Brighter Future

Volume 11: Embracing Uncertainty to Accelerate to a Brighter Future

All over the world, we are hearing CEOs ask the same question: What is the best way to lead and move forward when we… Read more

Volume 12: The Road Ahead for CEOs: Shifting Identity to Enable Change

Volume 12: The Road Ahead for CEOs: Shifting Identity to Enable Change

CEOs have stepped up like never before to do their part in accelerating the movement for justice and reconciliation forward. Read more

Volume 13: A Rising Tide: Creating Inclusive Systems of Leadership Selection

Volume 13: A Rising Tide: Creating Inclusive Systems of Leadership Selection

Since the U.S. erupted in racial protests, many CEOs have taken a public stand against systemic racism, pledging to help dismantle it. Read more

Volume 14: The Advancing Impact of CEO Engagement

Volume 14: The Advancing Impact of CEO Engagement

There is extensive speculation about the impact that leading through COVID-19 will have on the future of the CEO position. Have the past five… Read more

Volume 15: Beyond Resilience Narrowly Defined: The Practice and Impact of Positive Leadership

Volume 15: Beyond Resilience Narrowly Defined: The Practice and Impact of Positive Leadership

Principled, positive leadership is magnetic and indelible. It is what 2020 is calling for. Read more

Volume 16: Leveraging New Possibilities from Old Polarities

Volume 16: Leveraging New Possibilities from Old Polarities

Leaders today need to better manage polarities - but what are those polarities, and how do you reconcile them? Read more

Volume 17: CEO Leadership for a New Future

Volume 17: CEO Leadership for a New Future

The CEOs who seem to adjust best remain cognizant that “what got you here, won’t get you there.” Read more

Volume 18: Creating CEO Allyship for LGBTQ+ Inclusion

Volume 18: Creating CEO Allyship for LGBTQ+ Inclusion

By connecting on a shared human and empathetic level with their LGBTQ+ colleagues, CEOs have the means to enact real and lasting change, and… Read more

Volume 19: Revitalizing CEO Leadership

Volume 19: Revitalizing CEO Leadership

This is a promising moment in time for CEOs to consider how they want to show up as leaders, to listen for and look… Read more

Volume 20: Prioritizing People

Volume 20: Prioritizing People

CEOs are depending on their CHROs, asking: What else can we do to have a positive impact on employees and make a difference now… Read more

Volume 21: Creating New Pathways to Success

Volume 21: Creating New Pathways to Success

Five steps that take leaders through the process of devising options or alternative pathways to reach performance goals. Read more

Volume 22: Featuring “CEOs: Architects of Prosperity”

Volume 22: Featuring “CEOs: Architects of Prosperity”

Our new series, “CEOs: Architects of Prosperity,” has been created to highlight the expanding expectations for CEOs across a wide range of issues affecting… Read more

Volume 23: Balancing Acts: One Leader’s Approach Through Uncertainty

Volume 23: Balancing Acts: One Leader’s Approach Through Uncertainty

A lot of ink has been spilled around how to lead businesses through mounting complexity and uncertainty, but much of what might have been… Read more

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