The CEO Struggle - Part 2: The Quest For Resilience
Every year, the media pounces upon a new cluster of high profile CEO exits. 2025 was no exception. It saw the resignations of X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, and the oustings of Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen and Kohl's CEO Ashley Buchanen.
Resilience has never mattered more for the CEO. Some characteristics remain fundamental, says Fredy Hausammann, Managing Partner of Amrop in Switzerland. Communication skills. Strategic ability. And cognitive and creative intelligence, "are amongst the most validated success factors.” Meanwhile, the need for other qualities is evolving. Naohiro “Nakki” Furuta is the Managing Partner of Amrop Jomon in Japan. He places less value today on overt charisma and power. “The current CEO needs more moderation, objectivity, ability to stay calm.”
The mountain top is bleak and exposed. How can it be made more habitable and fulfilling? A room from which CEOs can even occasionally enjoy the view?
In Part 1, senior Amrop partners examined the growing challenges of the CEO role. This is an unforgiving world: multiple external forces are bearing down on the top leader. But just as important are internal forces: the high achiever’s own drive to perform faultlessly, continuously, and at all costs. To maintain a bright façade at the very moments when it is vital to seek help.
The Quest For Resilience
The role of CEO is now almost impossibly demanding. Long hours, continuous stress, ambiguity and risk in a turbulent environment. Responsibility for company performance, culture, employee wellbeing, shareholder and stakeholder demands. Under the spotlight 24/7. The health of top executives is at stake. It affects organizations, the economy, society and even the planet.
What makes a resilient CEO?
From EQ to EI
“CEOs should have empathy and people skills,” says Fredy Hausammann. “Some don’t.” But, could empathic leaders risk stress and burnout? Fortunately, the dilemma can be resolved. Emotional intelligence holds the key. EI concerns our ability to perceive, integrate, understand and manage emotions.1 It has 4 components: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.2 It enhances resilience.3 Empathy, one facet, strengthens our social relationships and our propensity to cope with distress. In turn, the altruism, humor, relaxation and optimism of highly resilient people enhance a positive mindset.4 Resilient leaders deal with strong feelings constructively, without self-destructive behavior, according to an addiction specialist.5
Sandy McKenzie, a Managing Partner of Amrop in the UK, says that EI is the biggest attribute he seeks in a CEO, as it is “strongly linked to resilience and effective leadership.” Can we elevate our EI? Yes, according to writers at Harvard.6,7 The starting point is self-awareness.
“I'm an introvert and I become quite reserved and uncommunicative under pressure. I need to create space to think, to recharge my social batteries.” For Sandy McKenzie, when a CEO, as in this example, can recognize their triggers and flawed assumptions in order better manage their responses and adapt their innate preferences accordingly. It helps if the CEO communicates this personal framework with the C-suite and Chair.
Staying silent can break down relationships and performance. “The problem arises when people lack the EI to recognize their development areas - anyone who says that they don't have any is lying, says Sandy McKenzie. “I definitely see CEOs who don't do a lot of work on themselves”. And the question they almost always stumble on is, what feedback have you had about your own development? ‘Well, none. I do a good job. I get the results.’” Research has found that even though most people think they are self-aware, only 10%-15% really are.8
Seeking feedback and falling forward
Feedback may confront a struggling leader with further unwelcome news. It’s tempting to passively monitor any input that comes along, or react with self-defense or denial. And, as a Harvard blog puts it: “the more power someone obtains, the more likely they are to be overconfident about how well they know themselves. After all, those at the top of the chain have fewer people giving them feedback.”9
Emilie Boullet Lacoste is a Partner with Amrop NESS in France: “The risk of being a hero is not looking at oneself, and not being helped, because heroes don’t need help.” Yet feedback is a vital part of self-awareness, self-knowledge and self-development. External (relevant) feedback is one source. But CEOs must also coolly examine themselves. Nakki Furuta recommends ‘self-observation’. “See yourself as a third person. I'm a media interviewer, I'm my subordinates, I'm a shareholder. How would I view myself as a CEO?”
It’s said that we learn more from our failures than from our successes. But how many CEOs own up? “Most are very genuine,” says Roland Theuws, a Partner with Amrop in the Netherlands. “The majority would admit to failure.” He nonetheless concedes that around a third of candidates do have trouble owning up to a flop.
Humble agility
In our last article we argued for the democratic/participative leadership style, versus charismatic autocracy at all costs and at all times. The trend has intensified, says Nakki Furuta. “Before 2010, CEOs divorced themselves from their convictions to reach the goal. Today, there’s more moderation, objectives over persona. You need to be more neutral, humble, and objective.”
Urgency, crisis or a downright hostile environment may require a more directive approach, however. “I like the phrase, all styles get results,” says Sandy McKenzie. Roland Theuws adds: “Sometimes you need to push back, so you need a little more ‘red’ in your character.”
For Nakki Furuta, leadership agility has never been more important. Rather than rigidly sticking to one approach (and expecting others to conform), a CEO should flex a portfolio of leadership styles to different groups. “The ‘identity’ you use depends on whether you’re talking with shareholders, board members, or your team.” But flexibility requires a well-anchored personality. “A philosophy of the self.” Amrop Brazil's Joseph Teperman cites Ayn Rand: “To say I love you, one must first know how to say the ‘I’”.
A protective purpose
But, who am ‘I’? What is my place in the world? An individual purpose is integral to resilience; it helps the CEO to set boundaries: what to accept, reject, or postpone in a whirlwind of opinions and often-contradictory demands: from the board, shareholders and family owners, private equity partners, employees, suppliers and customers. From activist stakeholders to hungry reporters.
Purpose: 'I know my why' provides gravitas and confidence. A ‘true north’ guides the embattled CEO through ambiguity, moral and strategic tensions. Between socio-environmental imperatives and profit, for example. Or between delivering in the short-term and ensuring the organization is future-fit.
Today’s CEOs are ‘always on’. But audiences are cynical. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer10 presents worrying statistics: 68% of people – an all-time high - think business leaders knowingly emit falsehoods or gross exaggerations. 72% of employees say they trust their own CEO and 64% trust CEOs in general – even if they don’t have any grievances. So, a significant minority are mistrustful. Purposeful leadership enables the CEO to consistently and credibly embody an organization’s purpose.
Hiring for resilience
A professional gardener will check and prepare the terrain to ensure a new tree is compatible with its ecosystem. The same goes for a CEO hire. “Set the conditions,” insists Sandy McKenzie. “What’s the culture of your organization? The expectations?” These need to be clear from the outset. “Otherwise you are creating an environment where that person is likely to burn out.”
But organizations and boards are often uninterested in groundwork. “Unless there are obvious dysfunctionalities, or the hiring organization actually wants us to have a look, you can’t challenge them,” observes Fredy Hausammann. “The task is clearly to find the CEO.” Talking to teams and flagging problems may be a natural part of the process. “But that is a side effect, and they may not even buy into that, or give it enough attention.” Many hiring organizations not only sidestep the question of their new CEO’s ecosystem, they have a biased view of it. “60-70% of the success of a project is understanding your client, because the clients don’t know themselves that well,” says Joseph Teperman. “When they describe themselves, it's a mix of wishful thinking with reality.”
The uncomfortable truth
Challenging boards is even more difficult, says Nakki Furuta. “60 or 70 year-old former CEOs of excellent companies don’t want to be told, you are wrong.” This presents boards and nominating committees with a three-horned problem. It may create the perfect storm for a CEO struggle, before he or she even joins. First: a biased, overconfident or incomplete picture of their own ecosystem. Second, lacking an objective assessment to restore the balance and fill gaps. Third, ceding to the pressure to fix a succession problem fast, and fear of ‘analysis paralysis’.
Square pegs and round holes
Sandy McKenzie also emphasizes evaluating the top team. “Yet clients don't see the value, or they've experienced it done wrongly, or don't want to be assessed themselves. They almost don't want to know.” A failed hire costs time and money, destabilizes the organization and its reputation. “I have been known to say, there’s no problem getting 3 candidates to the table. The search will have a 50% success rate – maybe 75% if you assess that individual to understand them.”
He compares this to slotting a piece into a 5,000 word puzzle. “If you’re recruiting the CEO of an aerospace company, and one candidate is CEO of its key competitor, you assume they'll run this business equally well. And I always say, no. Not only are the culture and the business different, so is the psychological blueprint of your group executive team. Your success will depend on how that team functions and operates. Not on you as an individual.”
A further preparatory hygiene is an objective board evaluation blending data, discernment, and analytical rigor. A 2024 PwC/Conference Board review11 revealed that only 35% of C-suite executives of large companies in the US rate their boards’ overall effectiveness as excellent or good. Amrop’s process enables a board to identify skills and experience gaps, align with corporate strategy, and develop criteria for key hires. Rather than asking non-executives to mark their own homework, data is collected from board members and executive management alike, involving other stakeholders if necessary. Methods include one-on-one interviews, shadowing, and the BET survey, covering 14 key performance areas in 4 domains.
Checking the ‘why’
“Purpose is fundamental to this equation,” says Sandy McKenzie. “CEOs need to think very carefully about the environment that they're walking into. If you’re going into private equity and you’re all about something other than the money, then your purpose is out of sync with the shareholder and business.” If purpose is the overarching reason for a CEO’s being, motivation is the psychological drive towards action. “Most CEOs are very ambitious,” agrees Fredy Hausammann. “Their motivational drivers need to be looked at carefully. Are they really willing and able to work for the greater good of the company, its people and clients?” Not all executives know what their purpose is: whilst purpose is key to resilience, the opposite may not be true, says Sandy McKenzie. “Many confident, resilient and optimistic individuals won’t have deeply thought about it.”
Stress-testing and deep diving
Assessing the C-suite and board are two aspects of preparing a sustainable CEO hire. What about the candidate? “There is a high awareness of CEO capital, and the importance of the nomination,” says Fredy Hausammann. Given the stakes, the assessment of a CEO’s resilience requires a range of instruments, tests and investigations. Again, these blend data and discernment.
The limits of the CV
A CV is indicative rather than conclusive. An executive (increasingly aided by bland, normative algorithms) will likely omit precious information. Amrop Global Board Member Oana Ciornei: “Value isn’t created by the leaders with the most polished resumés, but by those who lived through black swan moments, crisis, systemic shocks.” [ii] These are the building blocks of resilience and agility. A sharp-eyed research team or a well-networked headhunter must read between the neat lines.
Psychometric testing
The quest for the resilient, emotionally intelligent and mentally robust CEO requires a deep cognitive and behavioral examination. One tool, the psychometric assessment, is neither exhaustive nor predictive. But it is extensive. Instruments include the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI), SHL and PAPI (Personality and Preference Inventory). “A CEO appointment should be complemented by a full-day psychological assessment,” insists Fredy Hausammann.
Can psychometric testing determine a CEO’s resilience? “One of Hogan’s main benefits is the dark side of behavior,” says Sandy McKenzie. What will this person look like under pressure? What blind spots appear?” He adds: “Pressure is a critical factor.”
But psychometric tests are still only part of the orchestra needed to express the full ‘music’ of a human being. Emilie Boullet Lacoste. “Hogan is a good tool. It gives us tendencies, avenues.” Nor can a psychometric test reliably foresee a burnout, says Roland Theuws. “It's not a science, it's not quantifiable, more the sixth sense of a headhunter.”
Interviewing, the ultimate stress test
This is where the in-depth interview comes in. An expert consultant blends System 1 thinking (fast, automatic and intuitive) and System 2 (slow, deliberate and analytical). The dialogue reveals a candidate’s true aptitude and emotional intelligence. Conducted face-to-face, it also transmits a sensory impression of a candidate’s all-important physical health.
Just as a CV can gloss over difficult moments, senior interviewees may throw up smokescreens. After all, leaders are primed to perform and manage impressions. As seen, many have difficulty discussing their weaknesses or failures, especially if they’re caught up in the vicious cycle seen in our last article.
Nakki Furuta estimates that at least 60% of CEOs are incapable of self-observation. “One factor for the 40% who can, is their experience of overcoming failure. The rest don’t admit to it.” Roland Theuws always asks candidates to give an example of something going wrong. He likes a tactic of Eelco van Eijck, Managing Partner of Amrop in the Netherlands, who asks: “If you could buy a strength or a capability, which would it be? The candidate then has to admit what they lack. Some get nervous, start looking at the ceiling.” Candidates may offer platitudes or disguise a strength as a weakness: ‘patience’, or ‘slowing down’.
But the misinterpretation can run both ways. It is vital not to mistake a resilient executive’s coolness, courage and focus under pressure as psychopathic traits. This is why the 360 degree evaluation is so vital. “The CEO has to exemplify wellbeing, that’s the zeitgeist,” says Joseph Teperman.
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The CEO Struggle - Part 2: The Quest For Resilience
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1 Schneider R.T., Lyons J.B., Khazon S.,, (2013). Emotional intelligence and resilience. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 55, Issue 8, Pages 909-914.
2 Danielgolemanemotionalintelligence.com (DGEIC). The 12 competencies of EI include emotional self-awareness and self-control, adaptability, a positive outlook, teamwork, and empathy.
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4 Rao GP, Koneru A, Nebhineni N, Mishra KK. Developing resilience and harnessing emotional intelligence. Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2024 Jan;66(Suppl 2):S255-S261. doi: 10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_601_23. Epub 2024 Jan 24. PMID: 38445274; PMCID: PMC10911335.
5 Washton, A.M., (August 17, 2023). Drinking in the C-suite. How top-level executive positions can facilitate or hide major addiction. Psychology Today.
6 Eurich, T., (2018). What Self-Awareness Really Is (and How to Cultivate It). Harvard Business Review, January 4, 2018.
7 Harvard DCE Professional & Executive Development Blog (2019, updated 2025). How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence.
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10 The Edelman Trust Institute (2025), The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer: 33,000 respondents in 28 countries. Moreover, 7 out of 10 people think CEOs are justified in addressing a societal issue if they could make a major impact on the challenge or improve business performance, their business contributed to the problem, or it harms customers, employees or communities.
11 Ruedy, E. & E. Schweitzer, (2010), In the Moment, the Effect of Mindfulness on Ethical Decision-Making,” Working paper #2010-07-02, Risk Management and Decision Process Center, The Wharton School, University of Pennysylvania