-- ‘Self-Disruptive Leader’ Study Reveals That
Fewer Than Two in Ten Corporate Leaders Have the Skills Required to
Take Their Companies Into the Future --
According to an extensive Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) study –
capturing the sentiment of nearly 800 investors and including a
detailed analysis of more than 150,000 leaders – corporate
leadership is ill-prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
As part of Korn Ferry’s comprehensive Self-Disruptive Leader*
study, 795 investors were queried in a global survey. The result:
two thirds (67 percent) say that today’s private-sector leadership
is “unfit” for the future.
Globally, 67% of investors believe the current leadership stock
is not fit for the future. Following are percentages for each
country in the study.
Australia Brazil China France
Germany
HongKong
India Indonesia Japan Malaysia
Mexico Poland
SaudiArabia
Singapore
SouthAfrica
TheNetherlands
UK USA 64% 72% 82% 64%
48% 54% 72% 60% 80% 77%
71% 66% 68% 51% 77% 58%
72% 70%
This is concerning, given the importance of corporate leadership
to investors: 78 percent insist the CEO is critically important
when deciding in which companies to invest, and 83 percent cite an
exceptional CEO as critical to an organization’s success in
disruptive times.
Investors see the intense need for future-ready leaders, with
two-thirds (66 percent) saying they value future vision and
orientation over past performance. Sixty-nine percent say the need
for transformation is going to make leadership more important to
company performance within the next three years.
As part of the global Self-Disruptive Leader study (and further
validating investor sentiment), Korn Ferry delved into 150,000
leadership profiles worldwide. The results were even more
staggering: The analysis revealed that, on average, only 15 percent
of executives across the globe have what it takes be truly great
leaders in the rapidly-changing business world.
Proportion of Self-Disruptive Leaders by market
Hong Kong 17% Poland
17% Singapore 17% India
17% German 16% Japan
16% Netherlands 16% US
15% UK 15% Australia
15% Mexico 14% France
14% Saudi Arabia 14% Indonesia
14% China 13% Brazil
13% South Africa 13% Malaysia
12%
The data show that a majority of leaders can’t make decisions
and take smart actions quickly enough, motivate people effectively,
or build trust—all of which is needed to ensure their
organization’s survival into the future.
“Companies have a crucial role to play in cultivating leaders of
the future. To close the leadership gap, businesses urgently need
to revolutionize how they uncover future execs who have what it
takes—and accelerate their growth, as well as build a culture that
empowers talent at all levels to challenge and innovate,” said Korn
Ferry Senior Client Partner Khoi Tu.
According to The Self-Disruptive Leader study, a new model of
future-ready leadership is required. Building on existing concepts
of agile, digital and inclusive leadership, Self-Disruptive Leaders
also possess a strong portfolio of future-oriented skills: the
ADAPT dimensions* – which encompass the ability to anticipate,
drive, accelerate, partner and trust.
“For the last hundred years, leaders have been taught that
control, consistency, and closure are the principles of business
leadership. But dramatic changes to the global business environment
mean that this is no longer sufficient—trust, purpose and
energizing others are now central,” says Dennis Baltzley, Korn
Ferry’s global solution leader for leadership development and
co-author of the new report, The Self-Disruptive Leader.
The study argues that today’s disruptive forces in technology,
globalization, demographics and consumer behavior are exposing the
limitations of legacy leadership worldwide.
“As we accelerate further into the age of disruptive technology,
competitor landscapes are evolving more quickly than ever before,”
said Tu. “Self-Disruptive Leaders who can continually adapt to keep
pace with the market are the key to success in today’s disruptive
environment, but not all business leaders are ready for the
challenge.”
About The Self-Disruptive Leader Study
The Korn Ferry Self Disruptive Leader study is based on
proprietary data and opinion research. The Korn Ferry Institute
(KFI) mapped existing assessment constructs using machine learning
factor analysis to determine which skills best forecast future
success. This analysis defined the five leadership qualities for
future leaders: the ADAPT dimensions.
*The ADAPT dimensions encompass the ability to anticipate,
drive, accelerate, partner and trust:
- Anticipate: Demonstrate
contextual intelligence to make quick judgments and create
opportunities; focus on the societal needs that the organization
wants to serve; provide a direction to unify collective efforts
even among disoriented environments.
- Drive: Energize people by
fostering a sense of purpose; manage the mental and physical energy
of themselves and others; nurture a positive environment to keep
people hopeful, and optimistic, and intrinsically motivated.
- Accelerate: Manage the flow of
knowledge to produce constant innovation and the desired business
outcomes; use agile processes, quick prototyping and iterative
approaches to rapidly implement and commercialize ideas.
- Partner: Connect and form
partnerships across increasingly permeable functional and
organizational boundaries; enable the exchange of ideas; combine
complementary capabilities to enable high performance.
- Trust: Form a new relationship
between the organization and the individual that centers on mutual
growth; integrate diverse perspectives and values; help individuals
to uncover their sense of purpose and facilitate them in providing
their maximum contribution.
Leadership scores were aggregated at a country level and linked
to the Global Innovation Index, finding statistically significant
and practical correlations between the five leadership dimensions
and the Index.
KFI proprietary leadership assessment data is based on more than
150,000 participants and 18 major world markets (Australia, Brazil,
China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan,
Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa,
The Netherlands, UK, USA) in three knowledge-intensive sectors
(Financial and Business Services, Technology, Media and Telecoms,
Manufacturing).
Opinion research was then conducted with 795 investors and
analysts from the same 18 markets. The sample included experts from
asset management firms with global assets under management (AUM) of
at least $1 billion (the minimum was higher in larger markets like
the United States). Of the top 400 Global Asset Management
companies listed by AUM, 66 percent took part in the research,
representing $50 trillion of AUM (at time of publication), and the
research focused on the world’s largest investors — within the top
50 companies by AUM, the research penetration was 85 percent.
Full methodology can be found in The Self-Disruptive Leader
report.
About Korn Ferry
Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm. We help
clients synchronize strategy and talent to drive superior
performance. We work with organizations to design their structures,
roles, and responsibilities. We help them hire the right people to
bring their strategy to life. And we advise them on how to reward,
develop, and motivate their people.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190312005400/en/
Tracy KurschnerTracy.kurschner@kornferry.com1.612.309.3957
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