Are companies still recruiting leaders in the same way as usual, or are you seeing any notable changes?
In the words of Mark Hamill ‘everything has changed, but nothing has changed’. We’ve just been through a globally disruptive event that has affected every business on the planet in some way, so to think the recruitment landscape wouldn’t have been impacted would be naïve. Despite the early risk adversity following the immediate aftermath of the first lockdowns, from early 2021 onwards we’ve seen significant demand for talented senior executives and that hasn’t slowed even in spite of more recent challenges, ie: energy prices, cost of living crisis etc. Businesses still need strong leaders, but acquiring talent isn’t as easy for a number of reasons. Firstly you’ve got a far more competitive hiring market than pre-Covid, meaning companies have had to review pay and remuneration structures to be competitive, but as well as that, the ‘Great Resignation factor’ coupled with the emergence of even scarier global challenges that have come into focus since Covid means that leadership candidates now seem much more focused on higher level drivers such as social and environmental responsibility and genuinely being of service. This means employers are having to adapt their value propositions to stand a chance and those who lack authenticity are being found out through the recruitment process. It’s fascinating to see but it’s energising to witness how the confluence of global challenges seems to be accelerating the transition towards more purposeful leadership.
Are there specific leadership traits that are now more attractive
Authenticity has always been attractive, even more so today. There’s so much to do to make our businesses sustainable in the context of so much change and uncertainty, that we simply don’t have time for anything other than real, honest leadership. Authentic leaders have a magnetism about them, as people are drawn to leaders who truly live and breathe the narrative they’re promoting. When you combine authenticity with a noble purpose that really resonates with the context of the world we’re living in, you’ve got a winning formula for leadership that galvanises energy and engagement around a shared goal. The difficulty is measuring these things. Vision, integrity, passion, inclusivity, agility, transparency are all really desirable leadership values now, but you’ve got to be able to validate these qualities through the recruitment process otherwise you risk appointing the wrong leader which can be devastating.
Do you think successful leaders are looking for different things from companies?
It’s no different for individual leaders than it is for employers. Aligning values between the two just makes sense for everyone, so leadership candidates should absolutely be looking for employers who match their values, who have crystal clarity of a purpose that excites them and whose authenticity matches their own. I’ve been really encouraged by the increase in due diligence leadership candidates are taking to ensure these things before signing contracts, especially in the last two years.
Do you think leaders are adapting quickly and effectively enough to the pace of change in society and environmentally?
In short no. It’s definitely picking up pace, but nowhere near as quickly as it needs to be. Anyone who’s taken the time to read even the very basics of climate science and understand the scale and speed in which our world is changing, knows that we have to do way more, way faster. The challenges are complex but one of the biggest challenges is that leaders are so swamped in the muck and bullets of daily operations that they rarely make the time to step back and consider the bigger picture. Despite the snowballing threats, we’ve still got a real and significant fear factor that is preventing would-be sustainable leaders from being bold enough to innovate and disrupt. One of the qualities of sustainable leadership as cited by Dame Polly Courtice, former Chair of the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership is ‘Radical’. In the context of the scale of the threats of climate change, in the context of the time we have left to change, we absolutely need radical thinking from our leaders, but first they have to understand the scale of the challenge and believe they can make a difference.
How do you foresee the next three to five years in leadership development and recruitment?
Despite the challenges, I think this is arguably the most exciting time ever to be working in leadership development and/or executive recruitment. In the next decade, we’re going to see the leaders who embraced climate action early rise to the top. The need for leaders who can contribute towards these shared challenges will only keep on increasing. Imagine the world as a customer and the leaders as suppliers. We’ve got a customer with a great big fat problem – in fact many of them. We’ve then got a supplier base all bidding for the work. But these are complex problems, requiring very tailored and nuanced solutions. The traditional, transactional leaders won’t get a look in. Even those who manage to do a really thorough needs analysis aren’t assured of making the ITT stage. The leaders who take time to thoroughly understand the problem and then develop compelling solutions with substance having spoken to all stakeholders and really considered every possible factor within the system will be the ones who win the work. Systems thinking will play a huge part, as will altruism and inclusivity. The world is a demanding customer and the nature of the bid is heavy going, but I believe we’re entering a new paradigm of leadership and it’s hugely exciting.