Leadership teams are struggling to cope with the pace of change

Executive teams are failing to keep pace with the demands of a world defined by constant disruption, according to a new report. The study, from  consultancy Waldencroft, claims that most senior teams remain fragmented and reactive, with only a small proportion taking a strategic, enterprise-wide view. The report, The Executive Readiness Gap, draws on insights from 20 in-depth interviews and 40 surveys with Chief People Officers across a range of complex and international organisations. It suggests that disruption has become a permanent fixture in the business environment, but many leadership teams continue to treat it as episodic—responding only when necessary before trying to return to a previous norm.

According to the research, only 44 percent of leaders believe their executive team is equipped to manage ongoing disruption. Half are focused solely on their individual functional responsibilities, and just 10 percent take a broader, organisation-wide perspective.

Jacqueline Conway, Waldencroft’s founder and lead author of the report, said that many executive teams “wear the label of a team, but under pressure, don’t behave like one”. She argues that while leaders are often capable as individuals, their effectiveness as a collective is undermined by legacy behaviours, unspoken tensions, and a lack of psychological safety—particularly around the CEO. The result, she claims, is a tendency toward consensus, even when dissent might be more productive.

The findings also highlight the challenges faced by Chief People Officers, many of whom are expected to act as coaches and stewards of leadership culture during periods of transformation. While 67 percent of organisations plan to develop their executive teams this year, few have confidence in traditional leadership programmes, which are often criticised for being too generic, inflexible, and disconnected from the complex realities of modern business.

Conway said that current approaches to leadership development are “overly linear” and fail to create space for ambiguity, scenario planning, or collaborative thinking. “Executive teams need the capacity to think together—to orient, adapt and realign in real time,” she said.

The report calls for a shift in how executive leadership is developed, with a greater focus on enterprise-level thinking, deeper collaboration, and the ability to operate in environments of sustained uncertainty.