ZURICH – Feb. 19, 2026 – While growth remains every leader’s top priority, only a small share of organizations are truly pulling ahead. According to The Anatomy of Growth: Why Some Companies Surge Ahead While Others Stall, a new global study by Egon Zehnder, 29% of organizations achieved rapid growth (defined by more than 10%) in the past year, with 72% reporting growth overall. The research, based on insights from more than 500 revenue-driving C-suite leaders worldwide, reveals what sets apart those companies that accelerate performance and those that struggle to maintain momentum. The difference is not market conditions or luck but how leaders partner with the CEO, create alignment across the executive team, influence across the C-suite and shape organizational structures to drive collaboration.
The report identifies several key factors contributing to significant growth, including:
- Strategic partnership with the CEO is a growth multiplier. One of the clearest predictors of rapid growth is the nature of the relationship between revenue leaders and the CEO. Even more important than a direct reporting line, leaders who act as strategic thought partners, shaping company direction rather than just executing plans, are significantly more likely to operate in fast-growing organizations. Companies where revenue leaders work closely with the CEO achieve rapid growth 33% of the time, while organizations where leaders have little CEO interaction are far more likely to experience flat or declining performance.
- Alignment across revenue leaders more than doubles the odds of rapid growth. Organizations with strong alignment achieve rapid growth 39% of the time compared to companies with more siloed leadership teams. High-performing organizations consistently rely on shared KPIs, cross-functional leadership forums, and informal collaboration to reinforce alignment and accelerate execution.
- Leadership structures are shifting toward centralization. As growth becomes harder to sustain, companies are rethinking how revenue responsibility is structured at the top. Nearly one-third of leaders (31%) report increased centralization of revenue-driving functions in the past year, while 19% have moved toward decentralization, often to empower local decision-making. The research finds that organizations with a single, clearly accountable “growth owner” are more likely to believe their leadership structure is well-suited to executing strategy, and leaders in these models report feeling less siloed.
- Influence, empowerment, and capability building fuel sustained growth. More than half (52%) of revenue leaders say their influence across the C-suite and board has increased over the past year, and 65% of leaders in rapidly growing organizations feel more empowered compared to 43% of those in flat or declining organizations. In addition, leaders note resilience, adaptability, and courage, alongside AI and data literacy, as critical capabilities for navigating today’s complexity and sustaining growth.
Egon Zehnder is the world’s preeminent leadership advisory and executive search firm, inspiring leaders to navigate complex questions with human answers. We help organizations get to the heart of their leadership challenges and offer honest feedback and insights to help leaders realize their true being and purpose.
We are built on a foundation that supports partnership in the truest sense of the word and aligns our interests with the interests of our clients. Our 600 consultants across 71 offices and 37 countries are former industry and functional leaders who collaborate seamlessly to deliver the full power of the Firm to every client, every time. We believe that together we can transform people, organizations and the world through leadership.
Pree RaoLeader of Egon Zehnder’s Global Marketing and Sales Practice