Transcription
[music] Leadership has rarely been harder. We have two gigantic trends sweeping [music] through the landscape. Artificial intelligence and the complete tearing up of the traditional trading relationships. The volatile business climate is causing many chief executives to head [music] for the exit and others are finding ways to stay at the top.
I'm Isabelle Barrett. I lead the FT's working in brand [music] speaking, presenting and writing about management, leadership and workplaces. In this series, [music] I'll explore some of the most pressing issues around the future of work [music] and talk to senior leaders about how they are making work better.
>> It's just a desire [music] to kind of do more faster >> for everyone.
The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, training ground for all British Army officers and site of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Leadership Retreat. It's the ultimate form of leadership when you're having to lead your men and women into battle and into harm's way. So the lessons that you learn in the army from leadership are effectively the utmost that you can learn, which really translate into any form of business.
The role of CEO is high pressure and high risk. Leaders have to manage multiple crises from geopolitical conflicts to tech disruption and fragile supply chains. One of the main benefits of doing things like this is they're so busy running their business on a day-to-day basis, actually to be able to have that time out to stop and to come away and to really think about themselves and themselves as leaders. I think it's vitally important for leaders to upskill themselves. You never stop learning. If you think you've got to that nana, then you really need to take a step back and ask yourself.
The Goldman Sachs program provides support and education to founders of small businesses across the UK. I met with its head, Charlotte Keenan. What do you think of the challenges that founders and CEOs of scaling up companies most face? You know, what do you see in this cohort?
So, I think what we see in particular, um, a lot of them are tired. They're at the top. They're alone. And so where we help them is we give them the chance to have that peer-to-peer support. >> So really the single most important thing that might help keep a leader at the top is this strong network. I think network is absolutely invaluable. But I would also say, you know, being focused on and for that individual understanding how they can thrive as a leader, right? Understanding their own coping techniques, understanding how they can bring their best selves as a leader to their business.
>> Is it too simplistic to ask you if there are common traits you see in successful small business leaders?
>> Yeah, I think it is. [laughter] Um, I think there are a multitude of different styles of leadership. So I think successful leadership is about understanding how you lead and understanding with your team around you how you can best deploy that. So it's self-awareness at the core of it. I would agree with that.
Shareholders and boards are becoming increasingly impatient for results, and CEOs are being scrutinized, often resulting in calls for underperformers to go. In 2024, a record number of outgoing leaders stepped down within 3 years of taking up the post. When I think of the really long-serving CEOs, the ones who are seen not just as sort of hanging on, but who are really still leading effectively into their second decade, they tend to be people who really, really know their industry. They are not people who are jumping from industry to industry. They actually understand the business they're in. I think they also have a kind of confidence where they are willing to not be in charge of absolutely everything all the time, but also know when they need to step in and when they can step out. I think the other thing about it is they tend not to be screamers. You know, people who are angry and get stressed out and express it that way. A, it's tiring for them, but B, it's very tiring for everyone around them, and the organization gets tired of the CEO whether the CEO is tired or not.
CEOs are paid millions to lead their organizations through this uncertainty, which makes them highly visible figureheads, but also targets. The pressure to match the perks with similarly stellar performance has caused many CEOs to leave prematurely.
I [music] went to visit leadership consultants Russell Reynolds, which tracks global CEO turnover rates, to meet with their own CEO, Constantine Alexandrakis. What do you think are the qualities that can keep a leader at the top for longer?
>> You know, agility and the ability to adapt to wildly changing circumstances is one of the most important qualities at this time. Also, we're seeing a transition continuing from the leader who is the head of what the organization is trying to achieve versus one who can galvanize a team, build a transformational team that is guiding the firm as a group rather than as an individual at the top of that.
>> And why would anyone want to be a CEO apart from the pay?
>> It is the most amazing job in the world. Isabelle, just imagine being in a role where you have to bring together people, all different kinds of people, and inspire them.
>> But I suppose what I'm saying is that there are a lot more people who don't want to go into management or leadership. You know, we're seeing these surveys saying that more people want to be a team member, not a manager, even though that will help them move up the ladder. What can we do to encourage more people into leadership?
Sometimes organizations aren't as good as they could be at cultivating the skills of those leaders. But the reality is that leadership is not easy. I always heard this term that being a CEO is a lonely job. And I always thought of it as a bit of a cliché until I got into this role and realized it actually is true. As the environment becomes more complex, there's more pressure that falls onto that CEO and creates even more silos and isolation for him or her.
>> A good CEO ought to have doubts about what they're doing because this is a hard time and the decisions are not easy to make. And so finding some way to express those doubts and work them through is really important because I think someone who's not having any doubts in an environment this complicated is probably actually not a good leader. So I think the important thing is for them to have someone to talk to where it won't come back to the rest of the company.
Stress and burnout rates among leaders are thought to be increasing. A recent survey by consultancy DDI found that 71% of leaders reported a significant increase in their stress levels since starting their current role, and 40% of those have considered quitting their role. As a result, many senior leaders are thinking carefully about how their mental and physical health affects their professional success, and that has given rise to some high-end, very discreet retreats.
I went to Mistras in Greece to visit the Euphoria Retreat, a place where leaders go to reset. What happens when the stressed leaders arrive in this beautiful place?
[music] The first two or three days, they are more a little bit stressed. Yes. So they have the, you know, the personality, the CEO personality. But as the time goes on, we know we say, "Okay, that's the Euphoria effect." Third day on, they start smiling. They have a glow in their face.
>> Euphoria's founder and CEO is Marina Efraimoglou, a former president and CEO of Tethys Investment Bank.
>> So you were a CEO in financial services. How did that kind of leadership lead you to this kind of leadership?
>> It was a success story of the '90s, and actually in 2000, I was named Business Person of the Year, the only woman CEO of a publicly listed bank. But it was a totally different environment, and in the beginning, what was creation and what was creativity became something that I started being estranged from. And this is the first time that I encountered what we now call burnout. I felt like a huge distance between who I was and who I was becoming with what I was doing. So at that time, I really made decisions that this is not the place that I wanted to be anymore.
>> So the leaders who come here, how is their burnout showing itself, and what's the philosophy you have at Euphoria to help them?
>> The role of a CEO is very much outward-looking. It's very much communicating. It's very much talking. And you need to go in because you need to take the time to be with yourself, to be sometimes silent near nature, to reflect on your journey. And because the daily life of a CEO is quite intense, it's very difficult to do it when you're at home.
How important is finding time to take care of the body as a leader? I mean, do you think most leaders are aware of that now? Because the old vision of a CEO would be sort of heavy drinking, smoking, perhaps, you know, masking. And now there's lots of people who optimize everything. Do you think we've gone too far the other way?
>> It's much better going that way or the other way. [laughter]
>> But the physical aspect is very, very important. The bodies are really in the here and the now. And if the bodies cannot support our mind and our processes, there is a discrepancy. There's a lack, and our bodies will show up.
So, I've interviewed lots of CEOs for this series, and there's a question that I keep thinking, which is, why would anyone want to be a CEO? I mean, obviously the money, but you've been a CEO in two very different arenas.
>> I think that is a really good question. [laughter] I mean, you have to ask yourself why you want to be a CEO. There is, as you said, the money, the power, and the fame and everything. Long term, it has to be a meaning. How do you see your contribution? How do you see your company's contribution to the world? So if you think about these things, and if you have a vision of what your company will offer and how you will shape your company, and for a long-lasting CEO, you have to be ready to step down.
>> So don't hook your identity.
>> Exactly. Exactly. You said it correctly. I mean, it is important, many times our job and our roles is our identity, but is our identity something bigger than that?
In recent years, we've seen a few current and former CEOs speak out about the mental toll of leadership. But in the main, these problems are kept private. There's a whole industry of specialist coaches, therapists, and increasingly AI-powered coach bots who work with leaders and give them a confidential outlet.
I tried out Veance's virtual workplace coach, Nardia, at the FT offices. So, what are we going to get Nardia to help us with?
>> So, today we are going to see a role play of how Nardia helps you prepare for a difficult conversation that you have with a colleague. And one of the things to keep in mind here is that Nardia thrives on context. Um, so the more that you share, the better she'll be able to actually help you. Um, and the way this works is pure audio conversation. Um, you can of course type. What most of our users do at all levels is speak to Nardia and hear her responses.
>> All right, Nardia. The problem I've got is I'm going to have to have a really difficult conversation with Claire, who's my number two in the business. I've only been CEO for a short time. Claire didn't get the job. She's resentful. I'm having a really difficult time engaging her with my strategy, and she's in charge of rollout among the workforce, but she's not really implementing it.
>> So, we go into this role play, and you'll see Nardia enter the conversation as Claire, based on the context you've shared.
>> So, what is it you wanted to talk about? I'm guessing this is about the new strategy since I haven't been looped into much lately.
>> Claire, I'm sorry you feel that way. I thought we'd thoroughly briefed on the strategy, but how can I help you understand it more?
>> As Claire, honestly, it's not that I don't understand it. I just don't agree with how you're going about things. You made your decisions, and now you want me to just fall in line after everything I've put into this place. It feels like my voice doesn't matter anymore.
>> Oh man, I don't know how to respond. That is hard. Can Nardia give me a nudge?
>> If you look at these suggestions that come up here, you'll notice that Nardia is already beginning to give you a bit of guidance as to how you might calibrate your approach. This gives you a sense of what to prepare for when you actually go and have the conversation. What we're aiming to do is use this coach to help you be more confident and capable in making sure that actually happens. Well, what you could also do is close this role play and get a recap of how you actually performed.
>> Oh my word.
>> So, it will now show you something like, here's the summary. Here's the breakdown. How did this actually go?
>> Are you going to tell me I'm not ready to be a CEO yet?
As well as aiding CEOs, AI-powered virtual coaches like Nardia have the potential to help staff at all levels, which in turn will take some management pressure off the leaders at the top. I met with Veance's founder and CEO, Parker Mitchell. What was the thinking behind Nardia?
When we saw the advances that were being made in large language models, we realized there was an opportunity here to create this idea of personalization at scale. An individual AI coach that knows you, just focused on you, how to help make you better, but then how to understand your job and how to help you do your job a little bit better.
>> I think coaches, the whole coaching industry is quite worried about AI coaching coming in. What would you say to the worried coaches?
I think if you're an experienced coach, there's a magic to human relationship and human connection that, at least for the moment, in the foreseeable future, AI is not going to replicate. And we sometimes distinguish between what we call capital C coaching and lowercase c coaching. And so, if you're a human coach, you're mostly doing capital C coaching. You're asking a few questions, you're unblocking big things that might be holding your client back. Lowercase c coaching, which is what Nardia is doing, is helping you day-to-day in the flow of your work. Managers are busy. They don't want 25 questions. They sometimes want a tip. So, I think they're quite complementary. I think AI coaching is going to be transformative because of the scale, and I think human coaches are still going to have a role for that capital C coaching and particular moments that a human might need them for.
>> Does Nardia solve your problems for you?
I turn to her three times a day. Like, she's got this buildup of memory. Like, I don't know what I would do if I went to another company and I didn't have Nardia. Like, [laughter] literally they want.
>> I think there will be a lot of temptation to find ways to have AI make you more efficient. And, you know, there are few people as overburdened and hit by as much information as CEOs. I also think there's a real risk that if you put the AI agent between yourself and the actual work, that something gets lost. And the whole point of a CEO is to see around corners and spot things that are not predictable. The best CEOs are the ones who connect a lot of unexpected dots.
In a changing world, leaders still need to pace themselves for the long term, building support networks, both human and perhaps AI-powered, and focusing on purpose. If we lose sight of why we are doing our jobs, and that includes CEOs, then we become disconnected and disaffected. And while it is certainly lonely and stressful at the top, there's still a lot of upside to running your own show.