Korn/Ferry 'Confidence in Leadership Index' Reveals Cautious Optimism Heading Into New Year
By Kornferry International, PRNEWednesday, December 16, 2009
LOS ANGELES, December 17 - The Korn/Ferry Institute's Q4 "Confidence in Leadership Index" shows
rising confidence in corporate leadership globally, an encouraging sign
heading into 2010. Several major drivers of confidence reached their 2009
peak in an economy showing signs of recovery.
The Confidence in Leadership Index asks global executives critical
questions that produce metrics for: 1) credibility of leadership, 2) trust of
leadership, 3) leadership characteristics ("factors") and 4) direction of
leadership. The survey was fielded by Braun Research, Inc. between November
19-27, 2009.
Highlights of the survey include:
Credibility of Leadership: 71; +2 points
- Leadership credibility increased across all levels of leadership
- Increased in Asia Pacific, Central/South America and Europe;
North America declined
Trust of Leadership: 72; No Change
- North America remains most trusting with an index score of 80
- Europe remains most skeptical with an index score of 63
- Central/South America climbed 6 points to 75
Most Important Leadership Factors: 1) Strategic Skills and 2) Operating
Skills
- Personal and interpersonal skills carry more weight in North America
and Europe
- Courage and Managing Financial Performance received slightly more
emphasis in Central/South America
Direction of Leadership: 22.6; + 3.5 points
- North America is least optimistic (-4.2), though improved after a low
in August (-9.9)
- Central/South America most optimistic (+48.5)
"The Q4 Confidence in Leadership Index reflects cautious optimism
inspired by a steadying labor market and improving economic picture
globally," said Ana Dutra, CEO of Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent
Consulting. "It's especially encouraging to see confidence in CEOs and
corporate boards has made positive strides in consecutive quarters, because
strong leadership at the top of the house influences the entire
organization."
For complete survey results and a webcast of the report highlights,
please visit www.kornferryinstitute.com.
Credibility of Leadership:
Index scores edged up by two points for "credibility of leadership,"
reaching a high of 71 on a 100-point scale. Executives felt that both their
direct reports' and their company's board of directors showed the strongest
improvement, each rising by three points, to index scores of 72 and 70
respectively. CEOs showed a one-point improvement to 70, continuing an upward
trend that has resulted in a three-point improvement since the survey was
first conducted in May 2009. Executives remain the most bullish about their
own leadership ability, with an overall index score of 75 points.
Category Q3 Index Q4 Index Change
-------- -------- -------- ------
Own Leadership Ability 74 75 +1
---------------------- --- --- ---
Direct Reports' Leadership Ability 69 72 +3
---------------------------------- --- --- ---
Boss's Leadership Ability 66 69 +3
------------------------- --- --- ---
Company Management's Leadership
Ability 68 69 +1
------------------------------- --- --- ---
CEO's Leadership Ability 69 70 +1
------------------------ --- --- ---
Board of Director's Leadership
Ability 67 70 +3
------------------------------ --- --- ---
Credibility of Leadership Index 69 71 +2
------------------------------- --- --- ---
Three of four regions showed improved credibility of leadership scores
over Q3. Asia Pacific, Central/South America and Europe all gained ground on
North America, which continues to have the highest overall index score of 75
despite remaining flat quarter over quarter.
Region Q3 Index Q4 Index Change
------ -------- -------- ------
North America 75 75 0
------------- --- --- ---
Asia Pacific 71 74 +3
------------ --- --- ---
Central/South America 67 72 +5
--------------------- --- --- ---
Europe 63 65 +2
------ --- --- ---
Global Credibility of Leadership
Index 69 71 +2
-------------------------------- --- --- ---
Trust in Leadership:
The survey also asked executives about trust in leadership - a corollary
of confidence. The overall index score remained unchanged from Q3, holding
steady at 72 points. Of the trust factors measured in the survey, one
relative weakness is leaders' willingness to admit mistakes and accept
responsibility, which scored 68 on the index or four points below the mean.
Trust Factors Q3 Index Q4 Index Change
------------- -------- -------- ------
Our business consistently adheres to
the highest standards of business
conduct 73 74 +1
------------------------------------ --- --- ---
The company operates with the highest
set of ethical standards 74 73 -1
------------------------------------- --- --- ---
All employees understand and follow
our code of conduct 71 73 +2
----------------------------------- --- --- ---
Our leaders are models of ethical
business conduct 72 71 -1
--------------------------------- --- --- ---
Leaders are quick to admit mistakes
and accept responsibility 68 68 0
----------------------------------- --- --- ---
Trust in Leadership Index Score
(Global) 72 72 0
------------------------------- --- --- ---
Regionally, North American executives felt their leaders were much more
trustworthy than the rest of the world, scoring 80 on the index, eight points
above the global mean but down two points from the Q3 study. Central/South
America gained six points on the Trust scale to rise above the global mean
with a score of 75. Europe remains more skeptical of its leadership,
declining two points to a score of 63, nine points below the global mean.
Region Q3 Index Q4 Index Change
------ -------- -------- ------
North America 82 80 -2
------------- --- --- ---
Central/South America 69 75 +6
--------------------- --- --- ---
Asia Pacific 72 73 +1
------------ --- --- ---
Europe 65 63 -2
------ --- --- ---
Leadership Factors:
In an exercise designed to rank the most important characteristics of
leadership, executives allocated 100 total points across seven categories,
resulting in the following ranked list of leadership factors.
Leadership Factors Q3 Index Q4 Index Change
------------------ -------- -------- ------
Strategic Skill 19 19 0
--------------- --- --- ---
Operating Skill 16 16 0
--------------- --- --- ---
Personal and Interpersonal Skills 14 15 +1
--------------------------------- --- --- ---
Courage 13 13 0
------- --- --- ---
Energy and Drive 14 13 -1
---------------- --- --- ---
Managing Financial Performance 12 12 0
------------------------------ --- --- ---
Organizational Positioning Skills 12 11 -1
--------------------------------- --- --- ---
*Results may not equal 100 due to rounding
Geographic variations point to different management styles globally. In
North America, "Strategic Skills" and "Personal and Interpersonal Skills"
each ranked higher than the global mean, while "Operating Skill" ranked two
points lower. In Central/South America, "Strategic Skills" ranked two points
below the global average, while "Managing Financial Performance" ranked three
points above. In Asia Pacific, "Personal and Interpersonal Skills" ranked two
points below the global mean.
Central/
Global North South Asia
Leadership Factor Mean America America Pacific Europe
----------------- ------ ------- -------- ------- ------
Strategic Skills 19 21 17 19 19
---------------- --- --- --- --- ---
Operating Skills 16 14 14 17 17
---------------- --- --- --- --- ---
Personal and
Interpersonal Skills 15 16 14 13 15
--------------------- --- --- --- --- ---
Courage 13 12 15 14 13
------- --- --- --- --- ---
Energy and Drive 13 13 13 12 14
---------------- --- --- --- --- ---
Managing Financial
Performance 12 12 15 12 12
------------------ --- --- --- --- ---
Organizational
Positioning Skills 11 11 12 12 11
------------------- --- --- --- --- ---
*Results may not equal 100 due to rounding
Direction of Leadership:
Finally, respondents were asked if leadership was headed in "the right
direction" or "going the wrong way." The resulting global ranking showed an
encouraging response of +22.6 on a scale that ranged from -100 to +100. The
index score was up 3.5 points over Q3 results.
North America remains the only region with an overall negative response,
though the average score improved from a -9.9 in Q3 to -4.2 in November, an
improvement of 5.7 points. Central/South American respondents remain most
favorable about the direction of leadership responding with a +48.5 score, up
0.9 points from Q3. Asia Pacific followed in second with a +37.4 score, down
0.9 points from last quarter. Asia Pacific was the only region to report
slightly lower favorability in the direction of leadership. European
respondents average +21.5, showing the largest quarter-over-quarter gain of
6.3 points.
Region Q3 Index Q4 Index Change
------ -------- -------- ------
Central/South America 47.6 48.5 +0.9
--------------------- ---- ---- ----
Asia Pacific 38.3 37.4 -0.9
------------ ---- ---- ----
Europe 15.2 21.5 +6.3
------ ---- ---- ----
North America -9.9 -4.2 +5.7
------------- ---- ---- ----
Global 19.1 22.6 +3.5
------ ---- ---- ----
About the Confidence in Leadership Index:
The Confidence in Leadership Index is conducted quarterly via an online
survey completed by 500 adults employed in management-level or higher
positions. The survey was conducted in the following countries:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- India
- Italy
- Japan
- Russia
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- United States
The margin of error within each wave is +/- 4.4%. Braun Research was
commissioned to facilitate the study and analyze results.
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 (NYSE: KFY), with a presence throughout the
Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is a premier
global provider of talent management solutions celebrating 40 years in
business. Based in Los Angeles, the firm delivers an array of solutions that
help clients to attract, develop, retain and sustain their talent. Visit
www.kornferry.com for more information on the Korn/Ferry International family
of companies, and www.kornferryinstitute.com for thought leadership,
intellectual property and research.
Dan Gugler of Korn/Ferry International, +1-310-226-2645, dan.gugler at kornferry.com; or Kevin Oates, +1-310-584-8331, (cell), +1-310-869-7519, kevin.oates at ketchum.com, for Korn/Ferry International
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