Dick Patton

Leadership has never been easy. Yet given the current volatility of the external world—stemming from geopolitical uncertainty, activist pressure, a new generation of employees, and digital disruption—running a large company is both more challenging and less secure than it’s ever been, as the daily drumbeat of CEO departures shows.

Whether it’s racial tensions in a coffee shop or testimony before Congress about privacy, CEOs face a lot of pressure to make things right. But where do CEOs typically turn to when they need honest feedback Not the boardroom.

Between November 2017 and January 2018, Egon Zehnder conducted a global research project, surveying current chief executives from a wide cross-section of industries, countries, and corporate structures. A large number—402 of them—responded, sharing their perspectives on what the job entails, the level of preparation they felt they had received, their succession planning process, and how they lead and cope in these volatile times.

Only around one in three new CEOs feel fully prepared to take on the top job, reports Bloomberg citing Egon Zehnder’s study: “The CEO: A Personal Reflection.”

“Cladogenesis” is a term used by evolutionary scientists to describe the relatively sudden division of an existing species into two or more separate lines – thus creating new species – often in response to radical change in the environment.

Most CEOs and boards name succession, both for the CEO and for business unit leaders, as their biggest strategic challenge. While this leadership challenge exists for every industry, it is particularly acute in the consumer sector, where many of the successive waves of disruption first hit.

Egon Zehnder was privileged to be part of the 60th annual Consumer Goods Forum global summit on 15-17 June 2016. Held in Cape Town, South Africa, the summit provided a window onto the energy and opportunity of Africa— the world’s youngest continent and one of the fastest-growing consumer markets.

The news story seems common now. Information about a company – working conditions, political affiliations, government relations, etc. – is made public, and the public’s opinion of the company changes. The change, just like the news, can be detracting or encouraging. Regardless, one thing in clear: in an era of mass information, brand and organizational culture can no longer live in silos.