Yearly Archives: 2024

At a glance

Geopolitical upheaval. Artificial intelligence (AI). Election uncertainty. These external forces are only adding to the challenges CEOs and boards face. We know from our work with these leaders how running an organization is only becoming more relentless and complex. But what if leaders could better understand what their peers are dealing with — and learn from their experience?

We speak every day with leaders around the world about their top concerns and how they are responding — whether that’s evolving how the top team works together, better leveraging board directors’ expertise or addressing cultural impediments to change. With our Measure of Leadership series, we’re expanding that ongoing dialogue so CEOs and board directors can hear from one another, at scale. We asked more than 2,000 CEOs and directors about a range of topics, including what keeps them up at night and how they are coping. We also surveyed more than 1,200 employees in the U.S. and U.K., comparing their responses and leaders’ views.

What did we find? Through both quantitative data and thousands of unfiltered responses, we learned that while the existential issues expected to consume them just a few months ago are on their minds, the world’s business leaders are most focused on issues they can more directly control: company culture, changing workforce dynamics and access to talent. Fewer than half of all leaders surveyed are prioritizing and addressing the disruptive emergence of generative AI, for example, while barely a quarter feel compelled to address geopolitical dynamics right now.