An urgency to act with agility
The majority of Nigerian CEOs (30 percent) in our study indicated that enabling long-term business success is their main motivation. In contrast, at a global level, 22 percent of CEOs are driven to deliver short-term growth.
However, Nigerian CEOs feel that they have less time to make an impact than previous generations of executives. Seventy percent of CEOs believe that the average tenure of a CEO is around 5 years, which is shorter than when they began their careers. As a result, 3 in 4 Nigerian CEOs believe that the average tenure of a CEO means there is more urgency to act with agility.
Evolving the leadership team
CEOs understand that leading an organisation in ‘interesting times’ takes more than talk about new business models and innovation; it requires courage and inspirational leadership, an ability to protect as well as provoke, and close involvement in all corners of the organisation.
C-level roles have already changed significantly over recent years as CEOs respond to new demands. The established direct reports of the CEO – such as the CFO and CRO – have been joined by new C-suite capabilities, from Chief Digital Officers to Chief Data Officers. While CEOs have added more firepower to their leadership teams, they are not stopping there.
Three-quarters of Nigerian CEOs (74 percent) said that they are actively transforming their leadership team to build resilience.