The grass is not as green as it looks when it comes to corporate C-level leadership. Are C-suite jobs becoming more complex and short lived? If you are an aspiring C-suite leader, what does this mean for you?
These are selected notes from recent Korn Ferry Insight articles:
* According to recent updates from Korn Ferry, around 222 CEOs (US) left their roles in January, the highest number for the month in at least 23 years. This comes after a record 2,221 top bosses – at US public, private, or government organizations – left their posts in 2024, a figure which itself topped the prior record of 1,914 set a year earlier.
* Disruption is a major cause of CEOs leaving, and then the CEO actually leaving is probably impacting that disruption further. Directors, themselves under pressure from a surge in activist investors, are showing less patience with CEOs who aren’t delivering positive results. At one point in 2024, nearly 40% of CEOs who left were forced out.
* When a CEO quits, it’s almost always a shock to the system. “All types of dynamics surface calling the success of the company’s future into question”.
As a result, experts say that firms need to make a special effort to develop promising talent. That may mean identifying potential successors who are currently working two or even three layers below the CEO job.
* Firms also seem to be reducing C-suite roles by collapsing and combining positions. Some tech companies have merged the CFO/COO roles, for instance, while others have folded CCO duties into those of the CMO – a role that has added responsibilities for sales, customer experience, and more – or have rebranded them under titles like CRO. This may be because combining roles could enable firms to respond faster to changes involving markets and competitors. The role-merging has happened thus far only on a small but noticeable scale.
* Developing C-suite leaders with cross-functional experience also helps firms build a pipeline of ready successors. Still, experts caution that consolidation in the C-suite runs risks. The executive who’s taking on the additional responsibilities might not perform well in their new role. Burnout is a risk.
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These are some of my reflections:
1. Companies have to increase focus on consciously developing and retaining leaders. Only focused efforts lead to positive outcomes at a systemic level.
2. A CEO change mostly leads to further leadership, talent and structural organizational changes. This can lead to major disruptions for talent, especially when uncertainty is high. Key talent engagement and retention should be on top of a leader’s agenda in such environments.
3. When a senior leader takes on multiple functions, time and attention tends to become a major challenge. Consciously or sub consciously, some teams and topics will get lesser leadership attention, leading to frustration for those members. This could lead to further disengagement. In such scenarios, it becomes critical for C-level leaders to ensure a strong second level of leaders, who can lead with high autonomy.
4. There seems to be increased chatter about broader job cuts in organizations in 2025 as well (which normally accompanies organization, work structure changes across all levels). eg. even when teams get consolidated, there are leadership and direction changes, which end up impacting even the junior levels.
5. Based on the trend of consolidation of leadership responsibilities, cross-functional/generalist experience could be back into serious leadership development focus.
Sources:
* The Shrinking C-Suite?; March 18, 2025; Korn Ferry Insights
* The Great CEO Exodus… Continues; March 12, 2025; Korn Ferry Insights
PURPOSE & IMPACT
Category: Coaching (page 1 of 6)
A March 2025 article in the IMD site from a clinical/organisational psychologist, Merete Wedell-Wedellsborg, covers perspectives on this complex topic.
Selected notes from the article below:
“What to do when those in positions of authority behave in ways that contradict widely accepted norms of civility, empathy, and ethical leadership.
The only path forward is to engage and maximize your influence by building enough power and clout to respond effectively and understand the psychology of omnipotent leaders.
* Omnipotent leaders see themselves as exempt from the norms of ethical or socially acceptable behavior due to a heightened sense of self-importance and entitlement. The mission (or rather their mission) justifies most, if not all, means to an end. Such leaders often exhibit moral licensing, believing past good deeds justify present transgressions. A tell-tale sign is excessive risk-taking and skirting formalities and rules of procedure.
* Omnipotence can also be understood within the broader framework of leadership overconfidence and hubris. The hubris syndrome is a condition wherein prolonged power and success lead to narcissistic tendencies, overconfidence, and diminished capacity for critical self-reflection.
Three key approaches can be employed while engaging with omnipotent leaders:
* Rather than challenging an omnipotent leader head-on, anchor your ideas as a natural plot in the leader’s vision, define yourself as a main character, and shape the narrative early. Whoever speaks early sets the stage.
* Frame feedback to omnipotent leaders that align or complement their self-image. Validate their leadership before steering the conversation toward constructive insights.
* Speed matters – shape the story before they do. Build rapport by finding even the smallest points of agreement. If escalation is inevitable, don’t go for it alone.
In a world where power dynamics are accelerating and all-powerful leaders set the tempo, the challenge is not simply to resist or comply but to navigate strategically and psychologically. “
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What other approaches have worked for you?
Source: Three ways to deal with the almighty boss; Merete Wedell-Wedellsborg; 14 March 2025; I by IMD
Image Source: TungArt7, Pixabay
We are seeing this phenomenon play out quite a lot. Success or expertise in some areas does not translate to expertise in other/all areas.
At a personal level, we need to be really conscious and careful about whom we listen to or believe blindly. It’s always helpful to reflect, ask questions and think deeper before giving the benefit of doubt to any point of view (including experts) and allowing it to influence/become our own. It’s also important to remind ourselves and watch out constantly to not fall into this fallacy.
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“The idea that expertise in one area automatically translates to expertise in another is a cognitive bias, often called the “spillover fallacy” or “ultracrepidarianism,” where individuals mistakenly assume their knowledge in one field applies to unrelated areas.
The Fallacy:
Expertise is highly specific to a particular field. A person’s knowledge and skills in one area don’t necessarily extend to other, unrelated domains.
Examples:
A brilliant scientist might be a poor writer, or a world-renowned geologist might not be knowledgeable in philosophy.
Someone who is an expert in a particular programming language might not be an expert in other programming languages or in web development.
(Success/expertise in business might not translate to expertise in science.)
Related Concepts:
Dunning-Kruger Effect: This cognitive bias describes individuals with limited competence in a specific area overestimating their abilities.
Curse of Knowledge: This bias occurs when experts assume others share their knowledge and understanding, leading to difficulty explaining things clearly.
Why it Matters:
Recognizing the limits of one’s expertise is crucial for effective learning, decision-making, and collaboration. Overestimating one’s knowledge can lead to poor decisions, wasted resources, and even harm.
How to Mitigate:
Seek diverse perspectives: Consult with experts (listen to multiple points of view with an open mind) in different fields to gain a broader understanding of a problem.
Acknowledge your limitations: Be open to the possibility that you don’t know everything and be willing to learn from others.
Think like a beginner: Try to understand concepts from a novice’s perspective to better grasp the complexities of a field.”
Develop, constantly work on a growth mindset.
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A valuable comment that I received from an ex colleague on this topic:
“The mindset to think like a beginner is a blessing if there is a mentor. I did waste a lot of my time when I was learning something new since there was no one to guide me. Rabbit hole is one aspect where I spent my whole weekend on something and I couldn’t answer what new did I learn related to the new topic I was planning to learn. Finding a mentor never occurred to me at that time.
Today, AI can play the role of a mentor to provide roadmap when I start learning something new so that I can save my time and energy. Yes, asking the right questions and validating the response is one of the key thing.”
Source: Notes from Google Search Generative AI, with few personal edits
Image Source: OpenClipart-Vectors, Pixabay
What makes it difficult to address toxicity in organisations, especially when they centre around star employees?
If you do not address toxicity, the resulting damage to teams and organisations can be immense. The more senior level this happens, the higher the potential for damage.
According to a recent post from Stanford faculty, Dr. Bob Sutton, based on an interview between Wall Street Journal and Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn, they even observed how a star job candidate treated the driver who picked him. How the candidate treated the driver was part of the job interview.
Bob wrote in his book, “The No Asshole Rule”, “the difference between how a person treats the powerless versus the powerful is as good measure of human character as I know.”
When a leader of a large, successful enterprise like Siemens shares perspectives, it’s valuable to listen, reflect and act. This is the gist of how Siemens President and CEO Roland Busch responded to the question, “What leadership qualities are most critical in the Intelligence age?”, during a LinkedIn event, from Davos on January 23, 2025.
Coincidentally, I was discussing Growth Mindset and Psychological safety during a session with a group of experienced managers on the same day.
1. Growth Mindset – Constant learning, trying new things, keep on going even after failing, learning from mistakes. (Belief that everyone can learn and push the limits).
2. Collaborative spirit, build a network, especially important while working in a virtual world.
3. Empathy, with strong communication skills to communicate, connect with people.
4. Especially in management, Empower people. Let them do what they are good at, and that goes together with Accountability.
Last but not least, having a solid set of values.
Couple of additional notes:
* He also said in his experience, diverse teams deliver better results than those that are homogeneous.
* Also, emphasised the importance of staying curious, open.
From the Siemens website:
Siemens Limited is a technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, digital transformation, transport as well as transmission and generation of electrical power. Globally, Siemens employs 312,000 people. It had a revenue of EUR 75.9 billion in fiscal 2024.
Siemens’ long-term commitment in India began in 1867, when the company’s founder Werner von Siemens personally supervised the setting up of the first telegraph line between London and Calcutta. Today, Siemens has a strong manufacturing footprint across the country, various Centres of Competence and R&D centres as well as a nationwide sales and service network.
There is a 2011 HBR article with the title, “We Need More Mature Leaders”.
It definitely seems to feel that way while seeing many news articles and discussions nowadays.
While we can say a lot about mature leaders, how do we observe immature leaders/leadership? Here are some notes from “Understanding Leadership Maturity (John Mattone Blog, July 2024)”. The list is not comprehensive, there are surely many more. This also indicates where getting leadership coaching early could be helpful.
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“Recognizing the signs of immature leadership is crucial for addressing and correcting these behaviors before they lead to significant negative outcomes.
Immature leaders are often emotionally reactive and have poor interpersonal skills, which can harm their teams and organizations.
If a leader does not possess maturity, the below signs may show:
* The impression that they simply do not care about the opinions or feedback of other colleagues.
* Refusal to listen to others and remaining stuck in their own ways.
* Constantly interrupting others without allowing them to speak about new ideas or feedback.
* Leaning on emotions, rather than facts, during challenges or obstacles within the workplace.
* Not paying attention to how they come off to others and how this impacts them.
* Using unclear messaging and communication creates confusion within the workplace, which could lead to conflict and mistakes.”
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Some leaders don’t realise they need help and drive ahead, blissfully unaware. Others know but don’t care or use excuses, regarding why they can’t change but are still great/successful (while their teams suffer). There is much hope for the category of leaders (and their organisations) who are self-aware, identify the leadership behavioural gaps within themselves and work on getting better.
Another Christmas is nearing. While the world is evolving in many ways difficult to understand, there is valuable wisdom and reminders for improvement from the Bible.
Here are few selected notes, especially those with links to personal development. Personal development is continued work in progress, with a basic intent to become a better human being. There is no one perfect state, only continuous improvement actions and improving wisdom in life. It is valuable to take some time during the last week of the year to reflect on one’s own progress and evolution in life.
* “…So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another….And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity.” (from Colossians 3)
* “If you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon.” (from Isaiah 58)
* “Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.” (from Ephesians 4)
*”Pride leads to destruction, and arrogance to downfall.” (from Proverbs 18)
* “Intelligent people are always eager and ready to learn…” (from Proverbs 18)
* “…When you stop learning, you will soon neglect what you already know (from Proverbs 19)
* “What you get by dishonesty you may enjoy like the finest food, but sooner or later it will be like a mouthful of sand.” (from Proverbs 20)
* “He remembered that they were only mortal beings, like a wind that blows by and is gone.” (from Psalms 78)
* “We leave this world just as we entered it – with nothing. In spite of all our work there is nothing we can take with us”. (from Ecclesiastes 5)
* “Be grateful for every year you live. No matter how long you live, remember that you will be dead much longer.” (from Ecclesiastes 11)
This is a revisit to a short, interesting 6 minute Ted talk video.
Remembered this when I noticed a LinkedIn post about someone’s death last week. An ex-colleague from years back had also passed away couple of weeks back.
Reflection –
* What would you want/like to be remembered for? Or not?
* What would your connections (at least the people who crossed paths with you) honestly say about you?
Steve Jobs famously said, “..Almost everything-all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important…”
I’ve been following leadership frameworks over the years. Leadership frameworks are quite interesting to study because they tend to highlight the critical elements and expert thinking about effective leaders and leadership.
This new framework shared in IMD (Switzerland) seems to reinforce the fundamental elements and bring together nicely (with case examples).
According to the article, Patrick Flesner who developed this ‘Leadership House’ framework, has experiences in top-level sports, roles as a partner in prestigious German law firms, leadership position in a publicly traded company, partner in a venture capital fund and author. Probably, bit of the European context as well.
Selected Notes:
* The Leadership House is built on a solid foundation of trust. Trust provides a strong feeling of safety. In trusting relationships, it’s about the issue, not the person.
* A strong team is the first pillar. It’s about more than hiring the right people and putting them in the right roles.
* Having the right people has two dimensions: the first is functional fit and the second is cultural fit. A strong culture is a competitive advantage and separates the best teams from the rest.
* Purpose and vision are important but almost always intangible. It is vital to clarify what must be done to achieve your company’s vision and turn it into reality. We should invite team members to the goal-setting process and ask them about what they believe must be done to turn purpose and vision into reality. In this way, our team members will become the owners of the goals and do whatever possible to achieve them, which is psychologically very powerful.
* We must ask our teams to translate shared goals into “joint plans”. We must show what each team and its members must do (and, importantly, deliver in terms of results) so we achieve our shared goals. Joint plans are more granular and make execution possible.
* Team members are held accountable for both the tasks and the results they achieve. This is why it is so important that joint plans also show the results to be delivered.
* We can only hold team members accountable if we empower them.
* Without execution, there are no results; without results, there is no effective leadership. Execution is where leadership shifts from theory to practice, yet it’s often where leaders struggle the most. One of the key challenges is finding the right level of involvement – too much oversight risks micromanagement, stifling creativity and independence. Too little involvement leads to confusion and a lack of direction.
* No leader has all the answers, and that’s fine. Leadership isn’t about knowing everything but about creating the conditions for your team to find the answers together. In life and business, outcomes depend on external factors, and, often, a bit of luck. What we can influence and control is building a great team, setting it up for success, and working together toward shared goals.
Source:
I by IMD; The Leadership House: Building solid foundations for leadership and business success; Patrick Flesner; 18 November 2024
I came across a very relevant and interesting opinion piece in the Business Standard today, titled “Startup Fever” by Ajit Balakrishnan.
Some important notes from the author that got me thinking:
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“…what gives me sleepless nights is that in India, amid all this clapping and cheering abouts startups, at policy making level we need to dive a lot deeper into the startup process…
Statistics from the United States and India show that nine out of ten startups don’t make it; ie. only 10 per cent survive and prosper.
A further analysis shows that 20 per cent of startups fall apart after a year, another 30 per cent close down within two years, 20 per cent shut their doors within five years, and the remaining 20 per cent dissolve within ten years…
Which conveys learning to deal with failure in a startup venture appears to be as important, if not more important, than learning to celebrate success.
…Statistics reveal that the most important reason for failure among startups is that the product/service created does not appeal to the market (market fit).
Second – initial funds startup had at its disposal are used up too quickly.
Third – failing to hire the right people. The founders should complement each other’s skills.
The final reason for failure – something that could happen in the environment beyond your control but damages your business…”
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The opinion piece starts with a reference to an individual suicide scenario, potentially of a startup founder.
Our world tends to celebrate only the few startup successes. Is there a way to cherish the learnings and journeys of those that fail?
Startup founders and teams live through constant high stress and pressure. It is critical to work through the challenges together as a team, and build a healthy internal environment that supports each other during times of both success and failures. The impact of leadership mental and physical health could roll over into many areas, including health of the organization. Don’t leave people hanging, and share graciously during success as well. In the larger context and meaning of life, the universe seems to have a way of balancing. There are various aspects of the organization that can be analysed and improved.
External support networks and the systemic support could be game changers for leaders who may feel lonely. Sometimes, for those who have not faced any previous major failure in life, a major failure like this can be debilitating. Finding ways to cherish the journey and experience, relationships, building personal and organizational resilience (including learning to work through failures), and connecting the dots to larger context (seeing it as part of evolution) can add to the meaning of work and life.
This also reminded of a famous quote from Steve Jobs.
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever”.
About Tojo Eapen
Leadership Coach, Consultant, HR Leader with diverse, global experiences (U.S.A, Europe, APAC).
Master of Human Resource Management from Rutgers University, New Jersey, U.S.A. Recipient of the U.S. Garden State Council SHRM HR Leadership Scholarship.
Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from College of Engineering, Trivandrum, India.
Certifications: MBTI, Hogan, RBL Leadership Code, SHL 360, Team Management Profile, NeuroLeadership Results & Team Coaching.
Facilitated coaching sessions, workshops and programs with multicultural teams in Helsinki, London, Berlin, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kerala, in addition to multiple Global/Virtual sessions.
Mission: Enable healthy, purposeful, and impactful organizations, through leadership knowledge and wisdom.
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