What's Driving The Need For A Change In Key C-Suite Skills

For decades, when a company wanted to hire a CEO or key executive, they knew what they needed to look for. The best candidates would have technical expertise, superior administrative skills and a proven track record of successfully managing financial resources. Because these skills had a direct impact on business performance and results, they were considered the most critical when searching for candidates to fill executive roles. 

Over the past 20 years, however, a particular group of stakeholders has highlighted the increasing importance of corporate societal responsibility (CSR), environmental sustainability and public perception. The Millennial and Gen-X populations, who make up more than half of the workforce, are playing a crucial role in shaping a company’s reputation and societal impact. Unsurprisingly, this compositional shift in the workforce has caused executives to change their style of leadership.

According to 2022 research from Russell Reynolds, leaders need outstanding social skills to connect with a more empowered, socially conscious workforce in this technology-driven landscape. Employees no longer want CEOs who sequester themselves in their corner offices or operate in silos. Instead of the traditional command-and-control leadership style, the most effective executives are the ones who collaborate.

The Top C-Suite Differentiators Have Changed

A 2020 Korn Ferry report, "CEOs for the Future," indicated how leadership qualities that were once considered differentiators are now minimum entry requirements for a CEO. Some examples include leading a company successfully, anticipating and proactively managing disruption, operating with a vision and purpose and having an enterprise mindset.

While the traditional capabilities of managing financial and operational resources remain highly relevant, when companies search for today’s top leaders, they attribute less importance to those competencies than they used to. Instead, they prioritize one qualification above all others: strong social skills. In other words, companies are looking for C-suite executives who are good with people.

Today, firms need executives who can motivate diverse, technologically savvy and global workforces. Company leaders must play the role of a corporate statesperson by dealing effectively with a wide range of constituents, from sovereign governments to influential NGOs. They also need to rapidly and effectively apply their skills.

Technical expertise, administrative skills and successful management of financial resources are still critical for CEOs, but they're now table stakes. New differentiators have emerged.

5 Key Skill Sets That Today's Executives Must Develop

At Leading NOW, our research has always been key to understanding the critical competencies needed across all leadership levels. Based on the challenges we’ve seen global clients face, our 21^st Century Definition of Leadership—“Using the greatness in you to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes by engaging the greatness in others”—has become more relevant than ever and continues to drive the programming work we do today.

The following leadership skills and behaviors are clearly becoming imperative for success:

1. Critical Thinking: 
   While this skill has always been highly valued among senior executives, the way critical thinking is demonstrated has changed dramatically in recent years. Today, speed, imperfect data and uncertainties are all factors impacting executives’ ability to focus. So being able to interpret, evaluate and analyze information effectively and with a clear head is crucial.
   
   
2. Embracing Uncertainty And Navigating Discontinuity: 
   A leader’s job is to articulate a compelling vision, align people around it and motivate them to execute it. They must sense, size up and respond to unfolding events in the right proportion to gauge how the situation will impact the organization.
   
   
3. Persuasion And Influence: 
   The ability to persuade and influence others has become increasingly important. Our research finds this is in response to factors like flatter organizational structures; rapid change and uncertainty; diverse, empowered workforces; and the importance of innovation.
   
   
4. Aligning And Motivating: 
   C-suite leaders must recognize employees' value as critical stakeholders and then prioritize efforts to attract, develop and retain top talent. This requires a strategic approach that goes beyond traditional HR practices to create a workplace culture that fosters engagement, growth and fulfillment.
   
   
5. Humility: 
   Successful leaders are humble, and they demonstrate it through leading by example, actively listening, showing empathy and sharing credit.

Leadership today requires focusing on more than personal greatness and business performance. Leaders need to be inquisitive, agile, humble and willing to learn. At Leading NOW, we emphasize these five C-suite skills as part of senior leaders' development programming. Coupled with our research and the insights from Russell Reynolds and Korn Ferry, one thing is clear: Now and in the future, C-suite executives need to demonstrate inquisitiveness, agility, humility and an insatiable appetite for learning like no generation before them.

This article was originally written for the Forbes Human Resources Council, and published on the Forbes website in October 2024. You can see Kelly Lockwood Primus' other Forbes articles on her author page.