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Radhika Panjwani is a freelance writer from Toronto.
“It’s frankly a horrible job. I wouldn’t want it. Being a CEO of a big company is a 100-hour-a-week job. It consumes your life. It consumes your weekend. It’s super stressful. Sure, there’re enormous perks, but it’s also all encompassing,” said Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economics professor who has devoted his career studying chief executive officers, on the Freakonomics radio show in 2018.
The journey to the apex of an organization is much like summiting Mount Everest, says a McKinsey & Co. blog, which advises contenders eyeing the top job to:
- Take a gut check: A hard – and honest – look at why they want to become a CEO; how they will add value, behave and feel as a CEO. If the job’s appeal is purely to satiate the ego, “the top [much like Mt. Everest] will be a hostile, extreme place where no one will rescue you during times of trouble,” the blog warns.
- Elevate ones viewpoint while bravely delivering results: this means scanning the horizon to be aware of where the world’s heading and having an intuitive understanding of your employees, customers and board’s sentiments.
- An aspiring CEO candidate must have the humility to recognize their innate self-serving bias and counteract it with objectivity. They must fill skills gaps and routinely evaluate their progress. And importantly, refuse to engage in office politics.
- Understand the CEO selection process: This requires knowing who the key players are and researching the steps and process.
CEO outlook in Canada
Odgers Berndtson, a global leadership advisory firm with offices in more than 30 countries including Canada, recently published its Global CEO Market Snapshot report. It reveals three significant influences in the global CEO landscape.
First, growth initiatives or their lack thereof, are affecting the demand for leaders. Second, more and more organizations are investing in disciplined CEO succession planning programs and third, burnout and attrition because of the pandemic has resulted in CEO departures and vacancies. The report also highlights a lack of CEO candidates who have the mindset and skillset as well as strategic vision to helm tech and “green” industries such as solar, wind and batteries.
All signs point to a need for a more strategic and agile approach when it comes to constructing and fulfilling CEO mandates, said Kim Stangeby, a partner and head of board-CEO advisory practice with Odgers Berndtson.
A CEO today must be knowledgeable and have a strong grasp of societal and environmental issues and artificial intelligence. They must also recognize issues such as increasing inequality, political polarization, geopolitical instability and a deteriorating climate, she said.
“Canada is evolving from its roots in its traditional industries and this has both direct and indirect implications,” Ms. Stangeby said. “A direct impact is that Canadian organizations need leaders that have a solid understanding of building viable businesses anchored in emerging industries. The indirect impact is the ability [of the CEO] to reflect sustainability-related expectations [ESG] into a long-term strategic agenda.”
Skills to succeed
CEOs must now have an understanding of two new macro elements, technical and human. Technical involves artificial intelligence, data and cyber-security, whereas DEI, hybrid and the future of work, fall into the human category.
The top 3 skills aspiring CEOs need today, according to Ms. Stangeby are:
- The ability to navigate a bigger and more complex matrix: Strong leadership skills have always included an affinity to collaborate, but success today needs to go beyond that. Strong CEOs must be willing to sacrifice their own interests to win as an overall collective.
- The ability to self-manage: When leaders are pulled off-centre, it affects everyone around them. C-suite leaders need to be disciplined in the art of self-reflection so as not to create a drag on performance.
- The ability to let go and think on your feet: Every C-suite role requires an aligning of scarce resources to maximize outcomes. Whether these are called strategic, operating or business plans, C-suite players need to demonstrate comfort in wrecking and rebuilding them throughout the year to adapt to disruptions and shifting priorities.
Technical skillsets
For more than 15 years, Andy Morgan, the head of edX for Business, has helped provide future-focused learning and development solutions to meet the business needs of today. His organization, edX for Business, provides upskilling and reskilling solutions for enterprises across the globe.
Mr. Morgan says in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the skills required for success are constantly shifting with an estimated one-third of an employee’s skillset becoming irrelevant after five years.
Our research suggests executives are aware that nearly half of the skills that exist in a workforce today won’t be relevant in 2025 and nearly half of their workforce is unprepared for the future of work. For top executives, including prospective and current CEOs, understanding and leveraging AI will be paramount to future success, he said.
“As AI continues to redefine the modern workplace, it falls upon business leaders to both equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and to pave the way for their teams,” Mr. Morgan said. “Providing consistent learning and development opportunities not only fosters professional growth but also becomes a significant factor in employee retention. In the age of AI, upskilling extends beyond the rudiments of AI technology.”
What I’m reading around the web
- This story in Forbes suggests employees who want to quit their jobs must ask themselves where will the folks – with whom you interact daily or will interact with at a future employer – be in five years? The response will give you clues about upward mobility.
- Time and perfection are your enemies, notes Equifax chief information security officer Jamil Farshchi in this PwC Strategy + Business blog. Mr. Farshchi offers other hard-won advice for executives on how to lead under pressure.
- This article on Psychology Today offers several solutions to calm the mind from anxiety.
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