Egon Zehnder: Many CEOs embracing a new era of leadership

A majority of CEOs say they expect “groundbreaking systemic changes” within the next decade, according to a study from Egon Zehnder. With those changes coming, CEOs acknowledge their responsibility in collaborating with governments to help shape positive transformation across society.

The survey of global CEOs shows that 80% believe their role has expanded beyond just leading their companies. There is a general acknowledgement from this vast majority of CEOs that they increasingly need to coordinate with public stakeholders to solve societal problems.

Climate change is considered the most significant area of opportunity, with 32% of CEOs believing they should play a role in cooperation between businesses, governments and additional stakeholders. Around 30% said that they should be placing their most focus on AI and Gen AI, and another 13% pointed at the need to promote a fairer economy.

“CEOs are embracing a new era of leadership,” said Michael Ensser, global chair of Egon Zehnder. “They are positioning themselves as key architects of societal progress. As complexity increases, they recognize that fostering curiosity and openness within their organizations will be critical to meeting the challenges ahead.”

Most CEOs (68%) said that they see doing business as an intrinsic part of geopolitics and that business leaders need to accept their part of the responsibility in that. On the contrary, some others (20%) said they see solving geopolitical challenges as the sole responsibility of governments, not businesses.

Despite the differing opinions, there is certainly heightened tension between global superpowers – like China and the United States – which is often complicated by issues like trade, tariffs, espionage, and access to resources and technology.

Overall, there are many different issues that CEOs have to contend with. The respondents noted that the issues they see as existentially critical to running their organizations properly are things like talent, AI, market disruption, geopolitical instability, and climate change.

In order to stay on top of everything, CEOs said that they value certain adaptive skills for the future, including honing the ability to listen and cultivating a culture of openness and curiosity. In line with that, they also value their ability to consider diverse and challenging views.

“I have become convinced that the most important task for a CEO is providing a sense of purpose. One that makes people become convinced that it makes sense and it is relevant to work here both professionally and personally,” said one CEO to Egon Zehnder’s researchers.