Organizations have long valued leaders who could draw on their experience to solve familiar problems. Increasingly, they need leaders who can make sense of problems no one has faced before. 57% of CEOs and CxOs believe their executive team has the capabilities needed to successfully lead their organization in 2025—down from 80% in 2021 - Source: RRA (2025) Global Leadership Monitor
For decades, experience was one of the clearest indicators of executive readiness. Organizations took confidence from leaders who had navigated similar situations, held comparable roles, and accumulated deep functional knowledge. These indicators served organizations well because they provided tangible, observable evidence. They could be measured, and importantly defended, because many of the challenges leaders were likely to face resembled those they had encountered before. But that assumption no longer holds true.