Measure of Leadership: CEOs and Directors on Navigating Change | Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (2024)

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP

Measure of Leadership: CEOs and Directors on Navigating Change | Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (2024) | A comprehensive survey of over 2,000 CEOs and directors reveals their top priorities and challenges in navigating business uncertainty. Leaders focus on ethical decision-making, company culture, and talent management while cautiously approaching external disruptions. The study highlights the need for ethical leadership in addressing gaps between leaders' and employees' perceptions during uncertain times.

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👀 DID YOU SEE?

✨ OVERVIEW

Spencer Stuart's "Measure of Leadership" survey provides insights into the ethical challenges CEOs and board directors face in today's uncertain business environment. The study, involving over 2,000 leaders and 1,200 employees, reveals that business leaders primarily focus on internal issues such as company culture and talent management while cautiously approaching external disruptions. The survey highlights significant gaps between leaders' and employees' perceptions on various topics, emphasising the need for ethical leadership to foster better alignment and communication within organisations.

🧩 CONTEXT

Business leaders face increasingly complex ethical challenges in an era of geopolitical upheaval, rapid technological advancements, and economic uncertainty. The survey was conducted to understand how CEOs and directors navigate these issues ethically and provide insights to help leaders learn from their peers' experiences. The study comes when organisations grapple with post-pandemic workplace changes, the emergence of generative AI, and a heightened focus on environmental and social issues, all of which require strong ethical leadership.

🔍 WHY IT MATTERS

Addressing the ethical challenges identified in this survey is crucial for organisational success and resilience in today's volatile business environment:

↳ Ethical leadership in uncertainty—With 78% of leaders feeling high levels of business uncertainty and 25% worried about their organisation's sluggish response to challenges, there's a clear need for ethical, agile, and responsive leadership approaches.

↳ Ethical alignment between leaders and employees—The survey reveals significant gaps between leaders' and employees' perceptions of company culture and workplace policies. For instance, while 75% of CEOs and directors say culture is a priority they're working on, only 51% of employees believe leaders are actively addressing it, highlighting an ethical imperative for transparency and communication.

↳ Balancing ethics in internal and external challenges—Leaders must ethically focus on strengthening their organisational foundation through culture and talent management while also preparing for external challenges like AI adoption and geopolitical risks.

💡 KEY INSIGHTS

↳ Ethical culture as a top priority—CEOs (78%) and directors (73%) rate company culture as a top priority being addressed in their organisations, recognising its crucial role in ethical organisational agility and performance.

↳ Ethical talent management—69% of leaders say changing workforce dynamics and access to talent is a priority, with an additional 17% planning to address it soon, reflecting the ethical importance of fair and sustainable talent practices.

↳ Ethical approach to AI adoption—Only 40% of leaders call generative AI a priority they are already addressing, with another 27% planning to address it. This cautious approach reflects ethical considerations in technology adoption and its impact on the workforce.

🚀 ACTIONS FOR LEADERS

↳ Strengthen ethical CEO-board partnerships—CEOs and boards should work together more closely to drive ethical organisational performance, with 63% of CEOs increasing communication with their boards.

↳ Prioritise ethical and transparent communication—Leaders must engage and motivate employees through frequent, transparent, and ethical communication, especially during times of change.

↳ Cultivate ethical diverse inputs—CEOs should develop broad external networks and internal ecosystems that provide diverse perspectives and honest feedback, ensuring ethical decision-making. 53% of CEOs are already tapping into their networks for more significant support.

↳ Foster ethical collaboration—Encourage C-suite leaders to embrace their role as ethical enterprise leaders, not just heads of functions, to improve decision-making and organisational agility.

🔗 CONCLUSION

The Spencer Stuart survey provides valuable insights into CEOs' and board directors' ethical challenges and priorities in today's uncertain business environment. While leaders focus on internal issues like culture and talent management, they must also prepare for external disruptions such as AI and geopolitical tensions. The findings highlight the need for more substantial ethical alignment between leaders and employees, more agile and ethical leadership approaches, and improved collaboration at all organisational levels.

🎯 KEY TAKEAWAY

In today's complex business landscape, successful ethical leaders must balance strengthening their organisational foundation through culture and talent management with preparing for external disruptions. They must also foster greater ethical alignment and communication with their employees and board members.

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