Whole-brain leadership prepares C-suites for the digital challenges ahead, ensuring seamless growth and high-value problem solving capabilities.

1. Striking balance
with whole-brain
leadership

2. Pressures are converging
on the C-suite
Disruptors through the eyes of the C-suite
increasing in impact and intensity…
Say disruptive impact
of new market entrants
has increased
72%
Say disruptive impact of
new technologies has
increased
85%
Say disruptive impact
of constantly shifting
customer demands
has increased
74%
Say investors are
among their most
disruptive stakeholders
62%
Say employees are
among their most
disruptive stakeholders
49%
…and creating a
combinatorial effect.
Today’s operating environment is
more complex…I think there is a
compounding effect of market
conditions, political stress, and regulatory
intervention that takes
the complexity to a considerably higher
level than we operated in
let’s say 10 or 20 years ago.”
— Board Member, Banking / UK

3. Adding pressure: a supergroup
of employees and customers
We
“I value what
benefits society.”
Empowered
“I can challenge companies.”
Not Empowered
“I can’t challenge companies.”
Me
“I value what
benefits me.”
Agitators Pathfinders
Disenfranchised
Indifferent
Employees: 31%
Customers: 31%
Employees: 18%
Customers: 21%
Employees: 15%
Customers: 19%
Employees: 35%
Customers: 30%

4. A super group with super powers
Their composition defies
conventional wisdom
A group you cannot
afford to ignore
…as employees more likely
to be on the fast track to
leadership and possess
critical skills
>2x
…as consumers more likely
to be in the top 10% of
household incomes
84%
Have clear and
different expectations
of leadership
…of employees more likely to
place a particular emphasis on
working for companies who
have a clear purpose they can
relate to
57%
…of consumers more likely to
place a particular emphasis on
buying from companies who
contribute to society
67%
Not gender specific
48% 52%
<40 >40
Both customer &
employee
49% 51%
Customer Employee
Male
48%
Female
52%
Not gender specific
<40
48%
>40
52%
Not generation specific
Customer
49%
Employee
51%
Both customer & employee

5. …And they have clear expectations of the C-suite
Pathfinder view of skill
importance for C-suite
As employees, Pathfinders
indicate that whole-brain skills
and behaviors are important
for C-suite leaders to have.

6. The C-suite recognizes the winds of change
C-suite / Germany
In a linear world CEOs could project
their experience into the future.
Today, experience does not have
that same value because the world
is developing exponentially.
C-suite / Spain
It is a difficult but necessary
combination. We have to stop and
think about who our end users
are…and what their needs are.
Before, people had less data and
less power. People now have a
superpower to change things.
C-suite / The United States
There needs to be a level of
transparency and openness in how
you run your business today. Ten
years ago, you would have kept the
way that you work and make
decisions to yourself, but now you
need to be more open.

7. And there are no surprises
about their own orientation
of the C-suite have
formal training in
left-directed degrees
89%
57%
10%
8%
6%
6%
13%
Business, Finance, Economics
Science
Technology
Engineering
IT (Information Technology)
Other (left-directed) degree

8. Manage the risk by closing the gap:
the great divide
Pathfinder
C-suite
View of key skills required:

9. The C-suite’s self-described gaps
clearly define the starting point
…and compounds the impact of a growing left-brain weakness:
Understanding of new technology & having the right tech skills
to advise teams
Intuition
Empathy & Self
awareness
Vigilance to
the external
environment
The top 3 weakest skills
of the C-suite say
a right brain skill is
their weakest
65%

10. It’s worth the effort: there is evidence
of a bottom line impact
…and they report stronger
average growth & profitability
Use a whole-brain approach
today…
8% average 3-yr
Revenue growth
+22%
average 3-yr
Profit (EBITDA) growth
+34% 82%
Intend to use a whole-brain
approach in the next 3 years

11. A clear path forward:
seizing the opportunity
1 Diversify the
C-suite’s strengths.
2 Redefine leadership
to gain relevancy.
3 Drive change deep and wide
to realize the enterprise potential
of whole brain.

12. re-skilling
C-suite members
55%
1. Diversify the
C-suite’s strengths
bringing in new
talent from outside
46%
9 in 10
of C-suite executives are already
addressing current skills gaps

13. 2. Redefine leadership to gain
relevancy and currency
5x
more likely to take action in
numbers against their employer
61%
have already taken disruptive
action, voicing their disappointment
as a customer
High Risk
2x
more likely to be completely
motivated to give their best for
their employer
2x
more likely as a customer to choose
a more expensive brand because
they prefer what it stands for
High Reward

14. 3. The enterprise potential of whole brain:
greater than right + left
Applying new, richer
depths of the left…
• Data science
• Analytics
• Visualization
• Machine learning
• AI
with more tangible
applications of the
right…
• Creative thinking
• Experimentation
• Innovation
• Empathy
• Intuition
…to solve the highest value problems with data-led and human
centric design approaches

15. Learn more
Striking balance with
whole-brain leadership
New Rules of Engagement for the C-suite
Read the report
www.accenture.com/strategy
@AccentureStrat
linkedin.com/company/accenture-strategy

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