New research reveals that companies continue to prioritize execution and strategic leadership in their CEO hiring decisions, despite widespread claims that modern leaders should focus more on interpersonal and "soft" skills.
The finding comes from University of Chicago and Dartmouth College researchers, who published in a working paper with the straightforward title "Have CEOs Changed?" The study analyzed nearly 5,000 executive assessments from 2001 to 2019.
The assessments, conducted by a consulting firm specializing in executive evaluations, measured traits such as analytical thinking, charisma, and interpersonal abilities. Researchers grouped these traits into four categories: general ability, execution versus interpersonal skills, charisma versus analytical thinking and creative-strategic versus detail-oriented approaches. The findings show that CEOs hired during this period consistently outperformed in execution and strategic leadership, with no notable increase in interpersonal skills over time.
The research also highlights shifts in CEO traits before and after the Great Recession. On average, post-crisis CEO candidates demonstrated lower overall ability, were more execution-oriented, less charismatic and less creative or strategic than their pre-financial crisis counterparts. While traits like charisma and creative-strategic thinking were more prominent in CEOs hired before the crisis, these qualities declined slightly in importance in recent years. The researchers suggest this trend may be due to a shrinking pool of candidates with exceptional strategic skills, even as companies maintain their focus on execution-oriented leadership.
The discovery that interpersonal or "soft" skills have not increased over time among CEO candidates or hires challenges the notion that CEOs must emphasize collaboration and empathy to align with the evolving expectations of millennial and Gen Z workforces.
Find the working paper here and a summary of its findings here.