What are the priorities of senior leaders today?

'Businesses will succeed and thrive in a rapidly changing world by investing in leadership'

BY John Hilton 24 Aug 2019

Senior leaders in Australia recognise that despite the rise of technology, people are still their most important assets, according to Lighthouse Group’s Managing Director Peter Nankervis.

“Businesses can and will succeed and thrive in a rapidly changing world by investing in leadership, developing strong internal cultures and having the right structures in place to navigate change,” he added.

Nankervis’ comments come as Lighthouse Group’s Organisation Development Leadership Survey: Building Tomorrow’s Leaders Today. 2020 and Beyond found that senior leaders in Australia’s biggest organisations believe future planning and trend forecasting and investing in people are the top challenges facing them for beyond 2020.

“The good news is that many of the concerns voiced by the leaders who participated in the survey can be addressed by developing leadership strength across all levels of their organisations,” said Nankervis.

The report surveyed Australian CEOs and senior leaders on a range of issues related to leadership within their organisations, with all respondents occupying C Suite positions with companies of 200+ employees.

found that as businesses increasingly operate in a climate where advances and technology and industry disrupters have shaken up the business landscape, change (and the ability to embrace and adapt to it) has become the “new normal”.

According to Nankervis, senior leaders have been impacted across different industries.

“The research shows that CEOs face major challenges and don’t know where their businesses will be in five years and are concerned they aren’t far enough along the digital transformation pathway,” said Nankervis.

“The report found that 23% of leaders are concerned with where their industry will be in five years and how they need to shape strategies to prepare for this.

“Within this context, it is really interesting to see what senior leaders see as the key enablers. It was no surprise that ownership and accountability continue to be the number one mindset and behavior sought after by senior leaders.”

The research also found that recruiting the right people for the right jobs and investing in future leadership in companies were seen as being equally as important to an organisation’s longevity and ongoing success.

Further key findings include:

Growing talent and leaders within an organisation is the outcome that most motivated 23% of respondents to achieve in their own leadership roles.
Building a high-performing culture is seen as the most important strategic enabler to ensure future success within an organisation for 30 per cent of respondents.
Communications, customer acumen and strategic skillsets were seen as the most important to build within an organisation, with each being nominated by 30% of respondents.