In 2013, Strategy& released the results of a survey designed to just how effective most major business leaders truly are.
When employees were asked to define the strengths of their companies and the leaders who represented of them, their responses were incredibly shocking.
63% of total subjects were deemed neutral or worse in terms of their ability to develop or execute a strategy. 35% were considered neutral or worse in both aspects. They make up the single largest group in the entire survey.
And how many are very effective at both? 8%. As you can probably guess, we’re not surprised.
What do Strategy& put these figures down to?
“Many companies focus too much on the outside when developing their strategy, and don’t combine that market-back perspective with a clear view of what their organisation is great at doing. In this survey, as in all the research we’ve done on the topic of value creation, we see that essential advantage lies within. A few differentiating capabilities drive a company’s identity and success,” says CEO Cesare Mainardi.
The top 10 companies that employees felt had the clearest identity were:
- Apple
- BMW
- Caterpillar
- Coca-Cola
- Honda
- LVMH
- Royal Dutch Shell
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
- Walmart
Each is a business recognised for who they are as much as, or more than what they specifically offer. No wonder then that four personal automobile manufacturers manage to have made the list.
The majority of employees stated that their main concern was scope; specifically that they felt leaders had too many short term initiatives instead of focusing on the one goal that would lay foundations upon which the company could grow.
Also of interest is the fact that only 7% considered leaders’ ignorance of external market forces as the most important issue. Perhaps now, 18 months later, and with the threat of ‘Uberisation’ of industries in preparation for the new workforce, that figure may be higher, but it goes to show just how much employees value leaders that can herald a vision to which they can rally.
It’s an eye-opening perspective, and a sobering reminder to business leaders of what will be required to face the global work revolution that is now dawning.