National CEO Survey: Top Executives Face the Tough Economy with a Shift in Leadership Approach

(SHERMAN OAKS, Calif., July 1, 2008) — Given the volatile economy of late, a fresh trend in CEO behavior has emerged, which is shedding light on a new kind of leadership. According to the 2008 Management Action Programs Inc. (MAP) Quarterly CEO Survey conducted by Vantage Research (http://www.vantage-research.com), many CEOs are refraining from making bold, sudden business moves right now. Instead, they’re opting to shift the management gears into a “hunkering down and building up the business” position. With this change in drive and direction, CEOs are fine-tuning internal operations by bolstering the quality of company culture, internal communications and customer service. These very important, yet perhaps less obvious changes are meant to help companies stay on track while the economy hovers in uncertainty.

Currently, 73 percent of the surveyed CEOs say the economy won’t improve for at least 12 months. What’s more, MAP’s study indicates that in coming to grips with the long-term realities of the slowdown, these CEOs have completed most major business moves, such as cost-containment and workforce reduction. Now, these leaders are more involved with reassuring and supporting employees by frequent, mostly face-to-face updates about company financials, results and strategies.

Lee Froschheiser, President/CEO of MAP, a veteran business-consulting firm that has accelerated sustained growth for over 13,000 companies and 160,000 executives since 1960, says the MAP survey results highlight the major significance of strengthening business fundamentals and, especially, communication. Bottom line, clear communication is the most important key to a business leader’s success, he says.

“This means that to properly manage and grow a business through tough times, you must be an effective, compelling communicator,” Froschheiser says. “Great CEOs are doing this by implementing regular meetings, adopting a transparent leadership style, and creating a very candid workplace culture. They’re also boosting company-client communications with better customer-service. These changes produce an open environment, which is the necessary breeding ground for establishing successful strategies and achieving a company’s goals.”

In addition, the survey uncovered other newsworthy topics, including:

• A drop in sales. Half of CEOs say customers have reduced purchases, trimming them on average by 10 to 30 percent.
  
  
• Face-to-face meetings work best. Most CEOs prefer to communicate this way at least once a month. One quarter of them are meeting more often with employees than one year ago.
  
  
• Managing internal change is crucial. It’s now one of the top-five challenges CEOs confront regularly, in addition to revenue growth, cost-containment, competitive pressures and hiring talented employees.