Why Every CEO Should Be a Corporate Diplomat

I always find it fascinating to explore what keeps top managers of the corporate world awake at night. Their answers shed light on which topics will be the main pillars of corporate strategies. The results of Global CEO Survey by PwC tell us an interesting story. CEOs are mostly concerned with topics that normally corporate diplomats deal with. Known for their commercial acumen, hitherto CEOs have not been interested in non-commercial matters. But now they seem to be realizing that issues such as politics, society and environment are equally important for their business prospects.

My favorite part of the report is the following:

How concerned are you, if at all, about each of these potential economic, policy, social, environmental and business threats to your organisation’s growth prospects? (showing only ‘extremely concerned’)

Now, let’s have a look at the results:

What draws our attention is obviously the fact that over-regulation has been the top concern for CEOs for two consecutive years. It makes sense because governments across the globe take more assertive role in regulating the markets and market actors, especially in technology and sustainability fields. CEOs are concerned that regulations would have a significant impact on their business, and rightfully so. Policy uncertainty was the second main concern last year, but it has been replaced by trade conflicts, not a surprising change given the ongoing trade talks between the US and China. Cyber threats keep their place in the top five, while uncertain economic growth made the greatest leap forward. Most of other answers are also closely related to corporate diplomacy: environment, tax, geopolitical uncertainty, protectionism and populism.

In brief, CEOs will be more involved in corporate diplomacy topics to keep their seats at the top. It definitely requires a different set of skills. It will be interesting to watch how they make that shift.

The report was published in January and involves 1,581 CEOs in 81 territories.