The study, which included interviews with over 100 senior executives within the European Union, shows since the financial crisis in 2008, a new range of challenges has led to a transformation and re-prioritisation of the leadership skills and styles required of the best European executives.
The study showed that being able to define what success looks like in a flat economy and communicating that to stakeholders is a key attribute. Another is, managerial courage: leaders need to make bolder decisions in an environment where they frequently have to act quickly on a limited amount of information.
The research highlights how the most successful decision-making styles have evolved over the past five years. Competitive and relationship driven leadership styles have been replaced by openness to new information and ways of doing business.
The study also found decision-making styles for the post-crisis executive need to be anchored in intellectual argument, competence and expertise rather than power and influence.
The report states that these changes have occurred because of the significant and fast-paced changes facing companies. One board member interviewed in the study referred to "a business faced with cascading change, to keep pace, the company's leaders must shift strategy more rapidly and more often, frequently with much less information than in the past."
Another senior respondent commented: "All decisions are short-term," and added that his company was setting three-months or six-month goals rather than annual ones.
Jim Tapper, managing director, Korn/Ferry, said: "Executives running companies in Europe today have a unique set of challenges to face. The future of a multi-nation currency is severely threatened, unemployment is exceptionally high and consumer confidence remains low.
"Fears of unsustainable sovereign debt and social tensions exacerbated by the austerity measures introduced to control it create even more uncertainty.
"Success in this unpredictable landscape requires leadership styles and skills that differ markedly from those that dominated in a more stable business environment."
"Executives must now have the fluidity to manage disruption and the agility to adapt their strategies based on rapidly evolving circumstances. Recruiting, hiring, developing and retaining executives with these rare qualities is not simply a luxury; many businesses have realised that increasingly, it is a matter of survival."
