Corporate Leadership Moves in the Right Direction, Sets All-Time High in Q1 2011 Korn/Ferry Confidence in Leadership Index
LOS ANGELES, June 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
The Korn/Ferry Institute's Confidence in Leadership Index reveals significant momentum in the direction of corporate leadership globally in Q1 2011, reaching an all-time high since the survey was first conducted in 2009. Led by a large gain in Europe, executives in all but one region responded that corporate leadership was not only headed in the right direction, but trending more favorably now than any time since the survey's inception.
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The Korn/Ferry Institute Confidence in Leadership Index, now in its third year, measures four key factors of leadership:
- Credibility of Leadership
- Trust in Leadership
- Direction of Leadership
- Characteristics of Leadership
The data was collected by Korn/Ferry during Q1 2011 via an online survey of more than 500 global executives.
The relationship between leadership confidence and economic measures continues to hold in North America. North American exchanges ticked upward in the quarter and North America gained ground in all Index measures.
Europe and Central/South American results were not as correlated with economic data. Europe's Confidence Index results were mixed, however Direction of Leadership shot upwards, following improvement in most European markets. Central and South American markets were down a small percentage, though Direction of Leadership continued to climb and lead the global study.
Results from Asia Pacific were much more volatile than financial markets. The study was conducted prior to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, but re-fielded following the March 11 disaster to determine its impact on confidence in leadership. The comparative data revealed virtually no change in pre- and post-disaster attitudes. The Asia results reported in this study show all-time lows in Credibility, Trust, and Direction of leadership though regional financial markets were either flat or up slightly.
"We continue to track confidence in leadership against economic factors, but this wave of data suggests other environmental influences may override the impact of economic data," said Ana Dutra, CEO, Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting. "The results from Asia Pacific clearly warrant further study. With many different types of economies, the most important question is how and why factors such as financial, geo-political, and ethical volatility are destabilizing confidence in corporate leadership with varying intensity in different parts of the world."
Confidence in Leadership Major Findings
- Globally, Credibility of Leadership declined one point, tallying 75 on
a 100-point scale.
- Credibility of Leadership data from Asia Pacific shows declining
sentiment towards leadership at all levels. Overall Credibility of
Leadership sunk from 76 in 2010, to 71 in Q1 2011. All major
categories follow a similar trend in Asia Pacific. For example,
credibility of CEOs fell from 77 to 72 and credibility of Boards of
Directors fell from 73 to 66.
- Central/South America also showed weakness in Credibility of
Leadership, declining in categories such as CEO Leadership and
Company Management Leadership by five points each.
- North America gained ground in most categories; notably CEO
Leadership climbed three points to 77.
- Credibility of Leadership fell by one point overall in Europe; the
largest mover in the study was a three-point dip in CEO credibility.
- Trust in Leadership fell a point from 78 to 77 on the 100-point scale
globally.
- Asia Pacific's Trust in Leadership score fell five points to an
all-time low of 74.
- Europe's Trust score similarly fell four points to an all-time low of
70.
- Central/South America also lost four points, falling from 83 to 79.
- North America countered the trend, increasing by two points from 79
to 81.
- Direction of Leadership gained momentum in the first quarter of 2011
after relatively little movement from 2009 to 2010, gaining seven
points from +20 to +27 on a scale ranging from -100 (getting worse) to
+100 (getting better).
- North America, traditionally the least optimistic about direction of
leadership, tallied a nine-point gain from +9 to +18, though it still
trails all over geographies.
- Europe shot up a surprising 13 points from 2010 from +16 to +29.
- Central/South America, historically the most positive about
direction of leadership, remained the most optimistic and gained even
more ground moving from +50 to +57.
- Only Asia Pacific slipped in the Direction of Leadership category,
falling from +34 in 2010 to +24 in Q1 2011, a 10-point decline.
- The ranking of Leadership Characteristics remained unchanged
year over year
- Strategic Skill still ranks atop a list of seven critical
competencies.
- Personal and Interpersonal Skill continue to gain ground, increasing
by one point annually to solidify the number two position in the
rankings.
Snapshot of Confidence in Leadership Survey Results
Credibility of Leadership Scores:
- Overall credibility of leadership globally is down one point from 2010.
Category Q1 2011 2010 Change
Own Leadership Ability 87 88 -1
Direct Reports' Leadership
Ability 74 75 -1
Boss' Leadership Ability 71 73 -2
Company Management's
Leadership Ability 71 73 -2
CEO's Leadership Ability 76 76 0
------------------------ --- --- ---
Board of Director's Leadership
Ability 71 71 0
------------------------------ --- --- ---
Global Average for Credibility
of Leadership 75 76 -1
------------------------------ --- --- ---
Region Q1 2011 2010 Change
North America 76 77 +1
Asia Pacific 76 71 -5
Central/South America 80 77 -3
--------------------- --- --- ---
Europe 73 72 -1
------ --- --- ---
Trust in Leadership Scores:
- Trust in Leadership fell two points to 78 on the index, with every
single category losing ground. Only North America saw improvement
in the Trust in Leadership score, increasing by two points.
Category Q1 2011 2010 Change
Our business consistently
adheres to the highest
standards of business conduct 82 81 -1
The company operates with the
highest set of ethical
standards 82 81 -1
All employees understand and
follow our code of conduct 79 78 -1
Our leaders are models of
ethical business conduct 80 78 -2
------------------------- --- --- ---
Leaders are quick to admit
mistakes and accept
responsibility 69 67 -2
-------------------------- --- --- ---
Category Q1 2011 2010 Change
-------- ------- ---- ------
North America 81 79 +2
Asia Pacific 74 79 -5
Central/South America 79 83 -4
Europe 70 74 -4
------ --- --- ---
Global Average for Trust in
Leadership 78 80 -2
--------------------------- --- --- ---
Direction of Leadership Scores:
- The direction of leadership - measured on a -100 (getting worse) to
+100 (getting better) scale - gained seven points (from 20 to 27), an
all-time high. Only Asia Pacific lost ground in the Direction of
Leadership score, dropping 10 points from 34 to 24.
Region Q1 2011 2010 Change
North America 18 9 +9
Asia Pacific 24 34 -10
Central/South America 57 50 +7
--------------------- --- --- ---
Europe 29 16 +13
------ --- --- ---
Global Average for Direction of
Leadership 27 20 +7
------------------------------- --- --- ---
Characteristics of Leadership Scores:
- Strategic skills are the most important leadership factor according
to global executives, followed by Personal and Interpersonal Skills.
The seven factors in the ranking are based on Korn/Ferry's proprietary
leadership assessment tools.
- Following are the most significant leadership factors ranked by
global executives by allocating 100 points across all factors:
Global Skill Global Europe North Central/ Asia
Rank Index Index America South Pacific
Score Score America
1 Strategic Skills 18 19 18 18 17
2 Personal and
Interpersonal
Skills 17 17 17 18 15
3 Energy and Drive 14 14 13 14 15
4 Managing
Financial
Performance 14 14 14 15 15
5 Courage 13 12 13 12 13
6 Operating Skills 13 13 14 12 14
--- ---------------- --- --- --- --- ---
7 Organizational
Positioning
Skills 12 12 12 12 11
--- --------------- --- --- --- --- ---
The margin of error within each wave is +/- 4.4%. For complete survey results, please visit http://www.kornferryinstitute.com.
About The Korn/Ferry Institute
The Korn/Ferry Institute was founded to serve as a premier global voice on a range of talent management and leadership issues. The Institute commissions, originates and publishes groundbreaking research utilizing Korn/Ferry's unparalleled expertise in executive recruitment and talent development combined with its preeminent behavioral research library. The Institute is dedicated to improving the state of global human capital for businesses of all sizes around the world.
About Korn/Ferry International
Korn/Ferry International, with a presence throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is a premier global provider of talent management solutions. Based in Los Angeles, the firm delivers an array of solutions that help clients to attract, deploy, develop and reward their talent. Visit http://www.kornferry.com for more information on the Korn/Ferry International family of companies, and http://www.kornferryinstitute.com for thought leadership, intellectual property and research.
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