Leadership Link | July 2023

Welcome to this month's edition of Leadership Link! In this edition,?we share findings from our second survey of over 500 CEOs from around the world, that explores the deep links leaders see between culture and financial performance.?We also present our latest global sustainability report conducted with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre (ICGC), which examines the perceptions of boards towards a full spectrum of ESG issues and how the drive for sustainability is influencing and reorganizing the efforts of boards. Finally, we discuss how you can leverage assessments to unlock insights into the behaviors your leaders may need to drive a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment.

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Aligning Culture with the Bottom Line

Our second survey of CEOs around the world underscores the deep links leaders see between culture and financial performance. This year, we found that three times as many see culture as a key driver of financial performance than just two years ago; that to get there, they are focused more on employees’ mindsets and ways of working than on specific business outcomes; and that they are overwhelmingly seeing positive results.

Explore the interactive report here.

The Role of the Board in the Sustainability Era

Our global sustainability report, conducted in partnership with BCG and the INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre, finds that boards are adapting—making changes to how they approach their own composition, their governance and process considerations, and the metrics they track. The survey, a follow-up to similar research in 2022, also reveals that boards continue to wrestle with certain challenges, most notably how to integrate sustainability fully into company strategy. The survey highlights that these challenges are a global phenomenon, with very few differences evident in the findings across regions and sectors, despite the variances in governance practices, codes of conduct, and responsibility.

Read the full report here.

Are Your Leaders Inclusive? Here’s How to Be Sure

Businesses across sectors have made increasing efforts to identify and court diverse talent and leadership as part of greater emphasis on DEI agendas. That said, it’s not just about representation. Inclusiveness matters, and research suggests diverse teams generate higher performance on dimensions including trust and decision-making, up to 4x improvement over less inclusive groups. We are known primarily as a premier executive search firm and like all of our clients, we expect you to place great importance on diversity in your hiring, but what about the people already on your leadership team? How inclusive are they? A solid assessment can give the insights we need to start. It’s about progress over perfection. Assessments also help leaders and organizations capture baselines and track their progress, offering areas to consider for critical course corrections. Heidrick & Struggles' Jonathan McBride and Ellen Maag share how you can leverage assessments to unlock insights into the behaviors your leaders may need to drive a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment.

Read the article here.

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