With tough times ahead for businesses, c-suite leaders are increasingly being required to demonstrate the ‘Three Cs’; crisis management, creativity and communication. That’s according to a report from specialist recruitment firm, Robert Half.

According to the firm’s Boardroom Navigator 2023, 38% of Private Equity firms are looking for communication skills in the leaders of their portfolio businesses. A further 30% want c-suite professionals who demonstrate the ‘ability to rebel’ and be creative, while 64% of PEs are looking to make changes to their c-suite and bring in leadership with crisis management experience and skills.

As Philip Hendrickx, Managing Director at Robert Half Executive Search, highlighted, emerging crises are driving changes in leadership requirements, and this latest insight suggests leaders need to be prepared to adjust:

“We’re witnessing a new era of leadership, driven by economic, environmental, geopolitical and technical challenges that are really putting the c-suite to the test. As profound change ripples through the commercial world, what happens next will define executive leadership for decades to come.

“In this climate, what Private Equity firms need in their portfolio businesses is changing. Those leaders who can demonstrate the ‘Three C’s’ of management will be in significantly high demand. While elements such as communication and the ability to manage a crisis may already be engrained in many leaders, the ability to be a rebel and be creative is much more difficult to both develop and demonstrate. Those that do, though, will be the ones that will navigate businesses through the uncertainty that still lies ahead.”