Russell Reynolds Believes Psychological Diversity Can Optimize The C-Suite

Consider the overly rules-oriented C-suite that cannot step out of its comfort zone to anticipate a disruptive competitor, or the rules-eschewing C-suite that ends up in legal trouble. Creativity and sociability may seem like unqualified positives, but a C-suite in which creativity is given too free a rein may end up distanced from pragmatic reality, and executives in a C-suite that is too sociable may have trouble confronting problems.

And imagine a C-suite where everyone was quite average on every dimension – the ship of strategy would effectively be sitting in still waters, unable to gain momentum in any direction.

To better understand how these balances are constructed in practice, we examined a hypothetical C-suite that we constructed from aggregate leadership and behavioral data in our proprietary database of 7,000 executives. Examining psychometric results for six C-suite figures – CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, CHROs, CIOs/ CTOs, and general counsel, we compared each group’s score to our overall database of executives to understand the most striking aspect of their leadership and behavioral styles, as defined by where they differed from the overall population in a statistically significant manner. We then looked in aggregate across the C-suite to see how these C-suite figures aligned and were at odds for these attributes.

We used our findings to answer four key questions:

1- What traits do C-suite leaders share?

2- How do a diverse array of leadership styles come together in a high-functioning C-suite?

3- What individual archetypes exist within the C-suite?

4- How might the C-suite change given current disruptive trends?

Given the rise of distributed leadership, in which authority is spread out among individuals, understanding what characteristics make for the most successful group is critical.3 Psychological diverse C-suites would work together far more closely and fluidly (and perhaps include an even wider array of figures in service of a truly broad and comprehensive approach).

Harmonious dissonance is not just nice to have: it is essential.

To view the full article, visit www.russellreynolds.com/insights/thought-leadership/harmonious-dissonance