CEOs are a special breed, and the chief executives who took the metaphorical corner office during the tumult of the pandemic are an even more curious subspecies. They stepped into the role during the most serious global health crisis in a century, and an unprecedented business environment.
In a recent story, senior writer Phil Wahba and I examine the pandemic class of CEOs—those who assumed the role during calendar year 2020—to look at how successful they were, and their unique leadership qualities. We found that the returns of companies with those CEOs still in place have been slightly higher over the past four years than the S&P 500.
The extreme circumstances and pressures of the pandemic also helped to forge a model of leadership that remains relevant today. We identify five traits of pandemic CEOs that repeatedly surfaced in our discussions with chief executives, leadership advisors, and academics. For example, they can focus on day-to-day business puzzles and long-term strategy goals with equal dexterity, they collaborate with their C-suite, and they defer to the wisdom of their employees.
You can read the rest of our takeaways here. |
