Reshaping the Rhythm of Leadership

Converging Internal and External Pressures

It’s getting increasingly difficult to remember a time when the business environment wasn’t dealing with intense volatility. Today’s leaders are navigating persistent economic uncertainty, operational disruption, and rapid technological change. At the same time, they continue adapting to constantly evolving workforce shifts that repeatedly alter how work gets done.

Therefore, it is not surprising that “economic uncertainty and market volatility” emerged as leaders’ number one external factor challenging senior leaders, cited by 41% of our interviewees in the 2026 View from the C-Suite Research. “Inflationary pressures and increased costs” and “heightened data security risks” followed second and third, respectively, each cited by 30% of leaders.

But external pressures are only part of the picture. As organisations operate with tighter resources, retaining top talent, team effectiveness, and employee morale and well-being become critical to success. This is shown with leaders ranking “retaining top talent” as their most significant internal challenge—a rise of eight places compared with 2025.

That might seem counterintuitive at a time of slowing labour-market mobility, but top talent is always in demand, regardless of the broader labour-market picture.

It would be easy to hope for a return to a more predictable operating environment, or perceived normality. One where leaders had the time for the traditional plan-execute-review rhythm to play out. But those days are in the past.

These shifting and unpredictable pressures are changing the rhythm of leadership. In practice, leadership can no longer be episodic or cyclical; it has become a state of continuity, where leaders must sustain judgement under uncertainty for far longer than before. And now, this need for strategic fluidity is exposing a new critical gap among leadership teams.

The Emerging Gap

For the second year in a row, leaders ranked “lack of clarity around strategic objectives” and “ineffective decision-making processes” as the top two constraints on leadership effectiveness. And this year, one in four leaders also believe their current decision-making processes do not adequately support their organisation’s needs.

What is encouraging, however, is that leaders clearly recognise the challenge. These issues they identify are around decision making and strategic clarity, which may seem alarming—but this means there is a growing awareness that fast and flexible decision-making is becoming an increasingly important core leadership competency.

This awareness is also reflected in the skills gaps leaders identify within their teams. Each of the top five (see table) can be linked to the organisation’s ability to meet a fast-changing business environment.

Rank	Skill gaps
1	Digital and emerging technology knowledge
2	Innovation and creative problem-solving
3	Strategic thinking and decision-making abilities
4	Adaptability and change management skills
5	Emotional intelligence and relationship building

We also found grounds for cautious optimism in leaders’ reports of executive churn in their organisations. This year, 19% of leaders said they’d seen at least half of their leadership team depart in the preceding 12 months—a significant proportion, but a marked decline on the record-high 43% who said the same in 2025. But on the other hand, almost two-fifths of leaders report feeling burnt out, and 73% said they need leadership support that keeps pace with today’s pressures.

From Reaction to Strategic Leadership

The internal and external pressures facing leaders continue to build. At the same time, we are beginning to see some changes in leadership departures. This year, 19% of leaders said they had seen at least half of their leadership team depart in the preceding 12 months—still a significant proportion, but a marked decline from the record-high 43% in 2025.

With greater awareness of the emerging leadership challenges and reduction in leadership turnover, organisations have a (likely brief) window to address the issues around strategic and decision-making flexibility. And the leaders know it. 73% said they need leadership support that keeps pace with today’s pressures.

In practice, this means:

• Strengthening decision-making clarity

Ensuring strategic priorities are explicit, aligned, and consistently understood across the leadership team to enable faster, more confident choices.

• Embedding mentoring-led support to strengthen leadership judgement

Connecting leaders with experienced executives who provide relevant perspective over time—helping them interpret complexity, pressure-test thinking, and build confidence in navigating sustained uncertainty.

• Activating a network of trusted advisers to accelerate decision-making

Drawing on independent, high-calibre expertise in critical moments to challenge assumptions, reduce blind spots, and enable faster, higher-quality decisions.

Leaders are already adept at reacting to disruption—the varied shocks of recent years have made sure of that. Organisations that want to gain a real leadership advantage must go beyond reactivity, by giving their leadership teams the tools, frameworks, and support they need to keep making confident strategic decisions even as the context shifts around them.

Leadership advantage in the coming years will belong to the organisations where disruption no longer feels disruptive, but part of the rhythm of leadership that their leaders navigate with confidence. It will come from asking leaders to hold uncertainty and decisions without full clarity. And from building the systems around them that enable sound judgement under pressure rather than leaving leaders to carry it alone.