A study by global outplacement and career management firm DBM found that in 85 percent of cases, corporations look within their own ranks to find replacements for CEOs.
But how do you know if top performers have what it takes to do this job.
DBM identified l0 key competencies to help human resource professionals and senior executives make this decision.
The following competencies can be scored on 10 point scale, where l is poor and 10 is exceptional.
Competency:
1. Flexibility – Adapts to dynamic environments, with ease and speed.
2. Low risk aversion – Manages steps into the unknown and takes steps to outpace the competition.
3. Business acumen – Knowledge-able in current and future trends, practices and policies affecting the industry and business.
4. Visionary – Leads on the vision of the future, not the reality of today. Can sift through vast amounts of information and solicit opportunities and possibilities and communicate effectively to others.
5. Embraces ambiguity and uncertainty – Can cope with and embrace change and use it to advantage. Ability to act without having the total picture.
6. Strategic agility – Can see ahead clearly and anticipate future consequences and trends accurately.
7. Customer focus – Can walk in the shoes of customers and speak the same language.
8. Communicator – Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down and sideways, inside and outside the organisation. Ability to influence, persuade, motivate and build constructive relationships with others.
9. Motivator – Charismatic and persuasive.
10. Continuous learner – Analyses both successes and failures and learns from experience.
Beyond survival
Management Commercial
July 21, 2026
After a punishing economic cycle Kiwi businesses are emerging into something of a stabilisation period. Cautiously optimistic, past the worst, but with operating costs still biting and reinvestment held back. Why the next six months will define the recovery, and what business owners need to be doing in that period.
