COVID-19 has brought with it a pressurized operating environment the likes of which few of today’s CEOs have ever experienced—it has “unfrozen” many aspects of the CEO role.
I came across a new article from McKinsey today which I could have summarised in 7 words: The CEO Gig Has Now Become 100x Tougher.
It is worth a read but beware as if you are an aspiring leader it may put you off from your ambition to descend to the top job. The article focuses on the need for leaders to make 4 major shifts:
- Aspire 10x higher
- Show up every day with humanity
- Fully embrace stakeholder capitalism
- Harness the power of P2P networks
I’ll have a wild guess and estimate that 1 in 10 leaders will make the full shift, 3 will intentionally try, and maybe 1-2 will have no choice but to try.
“When the pressure decreases, will CEOs go back to operating as they did before? Or will the role at the top be thoughtfully reconsidered and reconceived by those who occupy it? Clearly, not every CEO will choose to make permanent the four shifts we’ve discussed. The more that CEOs do, however, the more the moment has the potential to become a movement—one that could create higher-achieving, more purposeful, more humane, and better-connected leaders” – McKinsey
It will be very interesting to see what happens over time, and which way leaders go.
