Leadership Strategies for the C-Suite

Engineer, entrepreneur or evangelist–how do technology leaders categorise themselves In today’s fast-paced technological environment?

The importance of effective leadership is more prominent. Technology leaders, for example, are responsible for not only managing and implementing complex systems and processes, but also for ensuring that they align with the overall goals and vision of the company. But all leaders must stay up-to-date with the latest trends and innovations in their field while also navigating wider business challenges of cybersecurity, ESG and data privacy, to name three. 

Technology leaders must tread carefully with what that strategy does for the business and its broader impact on employees, customers, shareholders and wider society. There are a number of ways in which technology can support your corporate strategy, a fact that executive technology leaders are acutely aware of. Adopting different leadership strategies that integrate technology with broader corporate goals is paramount–technology and marketing executives understand that in order to meet the demands of today’s rapidly changing business environment, they need to change their leadership strategies to become more adaptable.

For The Studio at Abbey Road Studios in May, we are introducing our very first In the Hot Seat discussions, where top technology leaders and executives will debate on topics such as ‘Navigating the Journey to NED’. Take a look at our summary of some of the previous roundtable discussions on leadership strategies and what to expect on The Hot Seat discussion titled: ‘Engineer, Entrepreneur or Evangelist: What Technology Leader Are You?’.

Purpose-driven leadership

We’ll start off with one of the most prominent modes of leadership in the industry today: purpose–driven leadership.In the Studio roundtable debate titled “Purpose-Driven Leadership in Technology”, CDIO at London Business School Danny Attias stated that purpose is about the impact a business has on society and the leader’s role in addressing this impact. 

Different companies and organisations have different purposes – whether it’s making the world a cleaner place or making IT better for society. In an ideal scenario, companies can use their purpose and turn that into profit, utilising the phrase “people, planet, profit”. In the same roundtable debate, IP Dividual’s CTO, Fergus Boyd, said: “It’s always original entrepreneurs who produce things at low cost in a secure way to sell them at decent prices.”

One aspect that technology leaders seem to forget is that it boils down to the business and social perspective, according to Infrastructure South Africa’s CTIO, Abdul Baba. It’s up to technology leaders to figure out the very thing that delivers value while fulfilling their organisation’s purpose. This could potentially involve embedding purpose into an organisation’s leadership program in order to secure future leaders with a purpose-driven agenda. 

Sustainable leadership strategies

Sustainability is a conversation everyone has had or will eventually have in this era of climate action and transformation. In the roundtable debate “Sustainable Leadership for 2023”, CDO & Group SVP of Volvo Financial Services, Adrian Samareanu, argued that starting this culture of sustainability requires getting the basics right and assessing the maturity of the organisation – in other words “a sustainable business purpose starts with a great vision”.

When it comes to sustainable leadership, Freddie Quek argued that everyone in the leadership function, and the team as a whole, has a role to play. Instead of relying solely on the technology department to enact sustainability principles, his advice to leaders was to start taking those first steps and become part of the solution. This could involve asking staff to explore ESG aspects inside and outside of work such as planting trees or monitoring their energy usage.

Companies have come to terms with their responsibility to stakeholders, teams and the planet when making the decision to take on sustainable leadership strategies. Another way in which this can be achieved is through a thorough transformation or company climate action plan. This involves taking an inventory of an organisation’s existing emissions, reduction goals and targets, and prioritised reduction actions. C-suite technology leaders are indeed taking the steps to reduce their carbon footprint and place an increased emphasis on renewable energy and operational carbon neutrality goals. 

Cybersecurity leadership strategies

Delving deeper into the plethora of leadership strategies the C-suite has to offer, technology leaders and cybersecurity professionals use strategies to tackle security threats and issues across the organisation. 

Being aware of your organisation’s vulnerabilities and cyber attacks is a quality that should apply to all executive leaders within the organisation–not just the CISO. With cybercrime costs expected to climb by 15 percent in the next year, the challenges in an organisation’s cybersecurity framework become more prevalent. 

Focusing on the responsibilities of the technology and security leaders within the C-suite, they and their teams are required to adopt a more proactive stance when it comes to scanning for threat agents. One way in which this responsibility can be effectively divided is by learning from each other–technical leaders and team members alike. As a result of this collaboration, technical or business decisions cannot be made without bringing security into the equation. In a surprising turn of events, the pandemic brought security to the C-suite environment and made everyone responsible. 

While this increased awareness of cybersecurity is seen as a benefit for business processes, there is room for argument when it comes to the security implications this could also bring. With most of the business processes becoming either hybrid or remote, leadership strategies need to be as seamless as possible in order to effectively oversee both on-premise and off premise operations.

Fresh approaches to leadership

Any C-suite executive will agree that leadership is a constantly evolving field–with new strategies and approaches emerging all the time. It's important for leaders to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in order to be effective in their roles. One way to do this is by exploring fresh approaches to leadership. By embracing new perspectives and techniques, leaders can better connect with their teams and drive positive change within their organisations. Whether it's adopting a purpose-driven leadership style or using your position to increase cybersecurity awareness, there are many ways for leaders to discover new strategies. 

Attending The Studio could be the perfect opportunity for technology leaders to stay ahead of the curve, explore fresh approaches to leadership and engage in live debates on trending topics–so be sure not to miss out.

Find out more at The Studio at Abbey Road Studios.