CEO as the transformation leader

Illustration: TBS

Most business leaders understand that organisations need to keep up with the rapid changes in the business world. In the 26th Annual Global CEO Survey 2023, conducted by PwC, 50% of the CEOs in Bangladesh believe that their companies would not be economically viable in a decade if they continued on their current path. 

It is obvious that these CEOs will be paying more attention to maintaining the relevance of their business operations in the long term by undertaking various transformation initiatives.

However, they also face pressure to perform in the short term despite several macroeconomic impediments that force them to attend to the immediate issues in their business. While these issues will continue to demand the CEO's attention, they must also stay focused on their strategy for the long term and set aside time to think about and act on them.

Today's dynamic business environment requires CEOs to lead from the front as their organisations embark on their transformative journeys. The CEOs must play the role of a transformation leader when their organisation is going through an important transformation and lead the employees as well as the stakeholders through the process.

Several factors define a CEO as a successful transformation leader. The first one is their ability to understand how the CEO's organisation is going to create value in the changing business environment. Global megatrends such as climate change and technological advancements have brought about new challenges and opportunities. The CEO's ability to understand the challenges and opportunities will eventually help them develop the roadmap for their transformation programme.

A CEO must address the challenges and prepare the organisation to undertake ambitious goals that go beyond the realm of present practices and metrics. They must focus on the major problems the world currently faces, which the organisation is best suited to solve, and utilise its resources to develop these solutions.

For example, some of the largest pharmaceutical and life sciences companies in the world have set ambitious goals of developing COVID-19 vaccines faster than usual. Their efforts in collaboration with research centres and various manufacturing units resulted in the availability of the vaccines within a few months, which could otherwise have taken years to develop.

The job of a CEO does not end with setting goals. Each goal must be directly linked to the intended outcomes as outlined in the business strategy. Goals which are specific, measurable, and achievable within a set duration are effective for demonstrating results and communicating the business's achievements to stakeholders. 

As transformation leaders, CEOs must create the structures and systems which enable organisations to deliver these outcomes. In many cases, CEOs may need to plan pilot programmes to test the feasibility of achieving such outcomes before deciding to fully implement a transformation programme.

Any transformation journey requires changes within the organisational structure. Due to increasing automation and the adoption of artificial intelligence, the role of an employee is going to be radically different from what it currently is. Therefore, the CEO must foster an environment where people are encouraged to acquire new skills and foster a culture of upskilling.

However, the CEO should be mindful of the fact that asking people to step out of their comfort zone frequently increases the risk of burnout and demotivation. There should be adequate measures to create an environment of psychological safety for people so that they get the encouragement to experiment with new ideas and innovate for better outcomes.

The complex, intertwined problems and opportunities in today's world necessitate businesses to transform themselves continuously to remain relevant, and a CEO should act as the transformation leader of their organisation to be able to fulfil the stakeholders' expectations and shape the future of their business.

Arijit Chakraborti is a partner with PwC. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.