Korn Ferry: Leadership Development: CEO's Strategic Powerhouse

Korn Ferry research has identified the alignment of business and talent strategies as a critical task for directors, CEOs, and chief human resources officers. And some of the notable strengths of the top 20% of CEOs, based on Korn Ferry’s comprehensive leadership performance simulation, include developing strategies and driving growth. But even these outliers among CEO talent don’t do it alone. Success requires the hard work of leaders at all levels, who must make countless decisions and behave in ways that support the strategic direction and overarching purpose of the organization.

In a recent survey by Korn Ferry with almost 7,500 respondents, more than 80% of whom said they were at the C-suite or director level or above, 62% have examined their organization’s leadership capabilities and see gaps that need filling. Further, only 17% of survey respondents said they were confident they have the talent needed to deliver on strategic priorities.

Effective leadership development is a CEO’s most underutilized tool to advance the execution of an ambitious strategic agenda. The Korn Ferry survey revealed that nearly 40% of respondents said they don’t regularly review leadership needs against their business strategy.

Leadership development falls short all too often because it lacks relevance. The key to making it more effective is rooting it more deeply in the real world to produce real outcomes. To illustrate, you can refer to Korn Ferry’s Four Pillars of Leadership Development:

• Context
• Whole person
• Development as a journey
• Purpose

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