How the C-suite Can Absorb Relentless Change

According to Padilla’s third annual C-suite Perspectives study, the C-suite is getting restless. Despite the widely acknowledged uncertainty and turbulence of our present era, C-level executives are ready to “get on with it” and move ahead with long-term strategic initiatives. They’re tired of managing in the moment. They’re tired of admiring the problem.  

To understand the depth of this fatigue, it’s worth looking back at what the C-suite has had to contend with in recent years. Since 2020, there have been seismic changes such as a global pandemic, racial and social unrest, geopolitical uncertainty, environmental disasters, cyberattacks, tariff issues, supply chain shocks, AI advancements and an understandably exhausted human workforce. In response, CEO turnover hit record levels last year, and as Eleanor Hawkins reported recently in Axios, the same level of change is taking place with Chief Communications Officers (CCOs), with about half of new CCOs seeing an expansion of the role. Given the range of issues confronting leaders today, it’s easy to understand why the C-suite is leaving, and Padilla’s study confirmed the trend with roughly 1 out of 5 leaders stepping back earlier than in the past (a 7-point YOY increase).  

Corporate boards are also now engulfed by these waves of change, prompting The Wall Street Journal to publish its first-ever list of the 250 Top Board Directors. As Alan Murray points out in What Makes a Great Board Director?, it used to be that corporate board seats offered lavish pay with light schedules. However, over the past five years, corporate boards have been slammed with tough and complex issues. As Murray says, “…the corporate crisis has become commonplace. And when the crisis hits, it’s the board that bears responsibility.”  

When you look at it all together, it’s enough to make anyone pause and wonder: how much change can an organization possibly absorb? How is it possible for any corporation, CEO, CCO or corporate board to withstand these pounding waves of change?

It connects back to the C-suite’s desire to “get on with it.” Corporations that can focus on long-term objectives and formulate a strategic approach to change management and change communications will be better positioned to absorb unrelenting change and drive future growth.