97% of CEOs say they need to transform themselves and their organisation. 45% admit that their greatest blind spot is not listening. A cultural upgrade of our organisations and leadership is necessary — from exploiting resources to unlocking human potential.
In the global Egon Zehnder 2021 CEO study, 97% agree with the statement "I need the capacity to transform myself as well as my organisation". This is a multiple increase from the time before Corona. 45% of CEOs indicate that their greatest blind spot is 'not listening'. At a conference, Egon Zehnder's chairman shared that there has been a shift in the key qualities they look for in potential CEO candidates: the most important quality is now 'curiosity'.
We take this as an expression of the fact that we are in the midst of an emerging cultural upgrade on many different levels. Our previous modernist worldview and management approach is stretched to its limits and can no longer keep pace. True, our performance-oriented, system-optimising, objective-driven management methods have increased productivity, efficiency and profitability in our organisations. But the limit to how much we can exploit resources in this way — including human resources — has been reached.
Stress is widespread. Employee satisfaction and engagement are lagging, and so is the reputation of many organisations. Greater meaning is being called for — also among leaders. Innovation is progressing too slowly. Even new agile working methods are not making the organisation sufficiently flexible. People as well as leaders expend far too much energy on maintaining facades, protecting egos, avoiding open personal conflicts, navigating hidden agendas and political power struggles, and manoeuvreing around bureaucratic obstacles and complications.
Leaders' own working lives are often burdened by an overload of meetings, emails, short-term firefighting, slow decision-making processes, and incomplete implementations. There is a widespread sense of being a bottleneck, and of being stressed oneself and lacking time for overview and strategic vision and renewal.
How can we flourish and thrive as human beings and be successful organisations in a time characterised by social upheaval, exponential technological development and a globalised society and market dynamics, which emerge through unpredictable complex interplay of many factors?
Our answer is that it requires a cultural upgrade of our organisations and management approach. A recalibration of the balance between our performance and learning orientation; between individual and community. Between the drive for planning and control, and trust that we together can experiment our way forward in unknown territory.
Our organisations are shaped by a worldview and management language that sees the organisation as a 'system' and a 'machine' that can be optimised. An upgrade of our worldview and language, so that we see organisations as social networks and living organisms, will open entirely new doors. A shift from 'exploiting human resources' to 'unlocking human potential' in our organisational culture and management approach will provide a wholly new lens through which to look.
In a world that is more digital, we must be more human.
The key to succeeding with our organisations and leadership will largely be the ability to create strong and trust-based relationships that enable creative and critical thinking and co-creation, as well as the ability to unlock the personal and cultural growth potential with which we as human beings are equipped by nature.
It's time to re:lead.