In the high-stakes world of boardrooms, where decisions can make or break billion-dollar enterprises, the effectiveness of a board often hinges on one pivotal role: the Chair. From Fortune 10 giants to pre-IPO upstarts, a Chair’s ability to lead isn’t just about sitting at the head of the table, it’s about orchestrating the talent around it.

The best Chairs harness the unique skills of each board member, fostering a dynamic mix of decision-making and debate that leads to the best possible outcomes. While some individuals are naturally gifted in leading leaders, the most impactful board Chairs often develop their approach through relentless dedication, agility, accessibility, courage, humility, and integrity.

What Makes a Chair Exceptional?

Insights gathered from The Russell S. Reynolds Jr. Chair of the Year Award process reveal the traits that board members admire most in their Chairs:

1. A Trusted Partner and Coach
   Exceptional Chairs work closely with the CEO and the board, actively participating in strategic planning and monitoring business execution. They don’t just observe; they engage, offering guidance that aligns strategies with the company’s goals.
2. Focusing Time on Tough Strategic Issues
   Great Chairs steer the board’s attention toward complex challenges and risks, prioritizing the tough conversations that drive long-term value. Their leadership shines brightest when navigating uncertainty and inspiring excellence.
3. Master Communicator and Facilitator
   The ability to foster open dialogue and build consensus is key. Top Chairs don’t just facilitate meetings—they cultivate an environment where diverse viewpoints are encouraged, and every director feels heard. This leads to productive discussions and well-informed decisions.
4. Crisis Leadership
   Their strategic acumen, deep understanding of the business, and focus on shareholder value are crucial to guiding the company through turbulence. They remain a steady hand, ensuring that the board stays focused on what matters most.
5. Cultivating Trust and Embracing Diverse Perspectives
   The most revered Chairs create a culture of trust and inclusivity, where diverse opinions aren’t just welcomed—they’re expected. This culture allows the board to explore all angles, pushing past surface-level discussions to uncover the most innovative solutions.
6. Strategic Engagement and Providing an ‘Outside View’
   Great boards are deeply involved in strategy, often acting as a sounding board for management. They challenge the status quo, bringing an external perspective that sharpens strategic thinking. This proactive involvement ensures that the company’s direction benefits from a broader, more diverse set of insights.
7. Big-Picture Mindset and Objectivity
   Effective Chairs are forward-thinking, balancing short-term wins with long-term vision. They steer the board toward critical strategic issues and emerging risks, ensuring that decisions are grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the company’s future.

Over the past few decades, we have seen the best boards have a “leader among leaders” as their Chair as well as stable of other capable and respected Directors who have the universal support to assume the Chair position if the time comes.  In the end, the secret ingredient to Chair effectiveness isn’t just about who they are; it’s about how they lead, inspire, and elevate those around them. We are here to help boards make sure they get it right.

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Brett Stephens is the CEO of RSR Partners and helps lead the firm’s Board & CEO Services. 

RSR Partners is a boutique professional services firm headquartered in Greenwich, CT, that specializes in helping Boards and CEOs with their most critical recruiting, selection, and succession needs. The firm was founded in 1993 by industry icon and Chairman Emeritus, Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. Over the past 30 years, the firm has conducted thousands of projects for Boards and CEOs at public, private equity owned, and family-owned businesses across a range of industries including asset management, consumer markets and enterprises, financial services, healthcare, industrial, marketing and digital, and technology. To learn more about RSR Partners, click here.

In 2022, RSR Partners established the Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. Chair of the Year Award, which annually recognizes a Chair of a public company’s Board of Directors who successfully led the board through significant business or governance challenges. The award celebrates the legacy of one of the search industry’s greatest leaders and icons, Russ Reynolds, who has spent more than 50 years advising boards and CEOs on leadership.

As mutual fund governance continues to evolve, selecting the right trustees is more important than ever. With over two decades of experience collaborating with well-regarded fund boards, we have identified some trends to consider when choosing your next trustee.

• Financial, Risk, and Regulatory Oversight – Trustees face increased regulatory demands for transparency and accountability. They must be aware of new compliance standards and proactively address risks related to issues such as liquidity and derivatives exposures. Qualified financial experts remain in high demand to bolster fund boards’ knowledge and understanding of complex financial statements and reporting requirements, as well as provide leadership potential for audit committees.

• Demand for Specialized Expertise – Today’s trustees require skills beyond traditional oversight. Investment products on fund platforms continue to grow in variety and complexity. To respond, boards need to add the right mix of trustees who bring functional expertise to the discussion in the boardroom. Areas of specialized skills and talents may include investments (both traditional and alternative); operational oversight; and knowledge of products and distribution platforms. These industry experts also help boards envision and prepare for “what’s coming around the corner.”

• Technological Knowledge – The use of technology is growing in all aspects of the fund industry—such as in the areas of investment process, financial and/or operational audits, and customer interface applications. Trustees must understand how technology is being utilized and assess its effectiveness. Oversight of service providers is also critical to consider any possible risks to delivery of services (such as a cyber-attack or leak of sensitive personal data). Boards have recruited technology expertise to keep up with these trends. 

• Fiduciary Responsibility and Accountability – Shareholders are now more engaged and vocal about their preferences and expectations. For mutual fund boards, trustees must understand the mindset of and role as a fiduciary advocating on behalf of those shareholders. This includes the responsibility to ensure clarity and transparency regarding fund strategies and performance. 

Trustee Search Tips

Recruiting mutual fund trustees has become highly competitive and great talent moves quickly! Based upon the most successful processes and outcomes we have witnessed, here are some recommendations for your next search:

• Start Yesterday – Effective boards recruit before an upcoming retirement. By developing a candidate pipeline well in advance of departures, boards are better able to manage transitions, provide useful overlap of trustees, and ensure effective on-boarding activities.

• Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail – Aim to recruit trustees with leadership potential. Avoiding succession planning may lead to future issues in board leadership.

• Add What You Need; Not What You Lost – With retirements, focus on current board needs and goals while recruiting new trustees. Open seats afford boards the chance to enhance skills and refresh in a non-disruptive fashion. Take advantage of that opportunity.

• Conflict Free – As always, and as soon as possible, it is critical to carefully select and ensure that potential trustees are truly independent and free from any conflict of interest.

• Diversity Matters: Prioritize Talent Over Title – Successful boards have a true mix of talents and abilities. They benefit greatly from the recruitment of a broad array of C-suite and senior leadership professionals with a variety of functional backgrounds and skills. Boards continue to work to capture diversity of thought and experiences to achieve a goal of building a more inclusive and representative culture.

The right trustees can future proof a board and strengthen its foundation. We are here to help you navigate these trends and recruit trustees who will add lasting value.

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Brett Stephens is the CEO of RSR Partners and helps lead the firm’s Board & CEO Services. Maryann Bovich is Co-Head of the firm’s Asset Management practice and Head of the Mutual Fund Trustee practice. 

RSR Partners is a boutique professional services firm headquartered in Greenwich, CT, that specializes in helping Boards and CEOs with their most critical recruiting, selection, and succession needs. The firm was founded in 1993 by industry icon Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. In 2017, the firm expanded its capabilities in Asset Management through the addition of Higdon Partners. Over the past 30 years, the firm has conducted thousands of projects for Boards and CEOs at public, private equity owned, and family-owned businesses across a range of industries including asset management, consumer markets and enterprises, financial services, healthcare, industrial, marketing and digital, and technology. To learn more about RSR Partners, click here.

In recent years, the C-Suite landscape has experienced significant shifts, driven by macro trends, market dynamics, and technological advancements. As organizations navigate the post-COVID recovery phase, executives are reevaluating their strategies and priorities. In this article, we’ll explore key trends in marketing and digital leadership within the C-Suite.

1. Survival Mode

During the pandemic, organizations focused on survival. The primary concern was employee safety and maintaining business continuity. Executive searches slowed down, with a notable emphasis on CFO roles. Financial stability became paramount, and CFOs played a critical role in steering companies through uncertainty.

2. Stabilization and Profitability

As the market stabilized and supply chains realigned, companies regained profitability. However, this phase was just a stepping stone. Organizations needed to transition from survival mode to growth mode. As companies move to the next stage of growth, It is critical to have the right talent and leadership in place.  

3. The Role of Marketing

Digital marketing, once put on hold, is now back in the spotlight. Organizations recognize the need to leverage data, technology, and consumer insights to drive growth. Marketing leaders are at the forefront especially during this age of generative AI, pulling together data-driven strategies and customer-centric approaches.

4. The Multi-Disciplinary Marketing Executive

Today’s CMOs must wear multiple hats. They combine full-funnel marketing expertise with performance marketing skills. Additionally, they are commercially oriented, focusing on the consumer experience and the brand of the organization and its products and services. Agility, innovation, and data literacy are essential traits.

5. Owning the P&L

Perhaps the most significant shift is the expectation for marketing leaders to own a profit and loss (P&L) statement. This change aligns marketing with overall business operations, elevating the CMO’s role within the C-Suite.

Conclusion

In the ever-evolving C-Suite landscape, marketing and digital trends play a pivotal role. As organizations seek growth, they rely on agile, consumer-centric executives who understand both data and business operations.

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Kimberly Melcer is Head of the Marketing practice at RSR Partners. She specializes in recruiting across all C-Suite level positions in the AdTech, MarTech, Digital, and Marketing industries at start-ups, privately held, and public organizations.

RSR Partners is a boutique professional services firm that specializes in helping Boards and CEOs with their most critical recruiting, selection, and succession needs. The firm was founded in 1993 by industry icon Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. The firm has conducted thousands of projects for Boards and CEOs across a range of functions and industries.

The RSR Partners Marketing team operates at the convergence of marketing, data, and technology. We understand the talent landscape and how to recruit top talent in this competitive market, and we successfully placed executives who exemplify the type of leader and culture carrier who can drive technological and digital transformation and growth.

Dear Clients and Friends,

2023 was a dynamic and transformative year across the corporate landscape, and so far, we expect this trend to continue in 2024. Leadership in the boardroom and C-Suite has never been more indispensable. From our beginnings as a boutique board advisory firm, to our evolution into a “boardroom-centric” search firm, we are incredibly proud to work with so many companies that believe that great leadership is a competitive advantage, and with candidates who have a genuine and positive impact on the world around them.

One of the ways we celebrate great leadership is with the Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. Chair of the Year Award. The Chair of the Year Award was established in 2023 to celebrate the legacy of Russ Reynolds, an icon of the executive search and board recruiting industry. The award recognizes a Chair who successfully led a Board of Directors through significant business or governance challenges. As featured in Fortune magazine, the inaugural award was presented to Sarah Nash, Chair of Bath & Body Works, at our annual Directors Dinner in New York in October. We were delighted to recognize Sarah’s extraordinary leadership and character. We hope that many of you will nominate a Chair for the award this year and join us at our Directors Dinner in October.

Our Board practice continues to anchor the firm’s activities and provide enhanced insights and connectivity to assist our executive searches across our core practice areas (Asset Management, Consumer, and Industrial Technology). Our collaborative approach – a hallmark of our firm – helped bring to light some of the trends we expect to be explored by boards and C-Suite leadership teams in 2024:

• Alignment of culture, a learning mindset, and diversity of opinions are now more important than ever on boards and C-Suite teams. The world has changed and what worked in the past will not work in the future. It is therefore critical to perform a robust and comprehensive competencies gap analysis at the board level and across key functional leaders. Does the board and the company foster an environment of intellectual curiosity, and an open and constructive dialogue without limiting different viewpoints or alienating members? Having the right culture is the foundational element for high performance.
• Risk governance requires board and executive leaders to focus not only on current and urgent risks, but to also more carefully consider low probability or unknown risks that may have enormous impact on the business. There have been many “black swan” events emerging, and as a result, creative scenario planning is required. Our recent thought piece, The Chief Supply Chain Officer Imperative: Anticipate and Plan for Disruption, discusses the need to develop operational resilience. It also might be worth establishing a committee or an advisory committee to focus on geopolitical risks.
• Don’t be left behind on AI. The NACD recently reported on the acceleration of science, technology, and/or innovation committees formed at the board level, noting that 67 Fortune 500 companies now have one or more of these committees. Does your board and leadership team have the skillset to understand generative AI, emerging/disruptive technologies, and cyber risk? Or do you need to recruit the right talent to help meet these challenges?
• The Universal Proxy Card will now be used in proxy contests to target the performance of individual directors. Activism is also expected to increase in 2024. It is important to establish action plans and accountability. Evaluations can help boards plan for succession and recruit to fill gaps in skills and experience.
• A new risk has emerged – 74% of executives surveyed by Mercer (Global Talent Trends report) stated that the majority of their workforce cannot adapt to the new world of work. People are key to competitive advantage and value creation – it is critical to know in what environments employees are productive and feel appreciated. Human capital management can play a critical role at an organization, especially in light of the new SEC disclosure rules coming in 2024.
• Lastly, board and leadership burnout is real. Time demands and pressure on directors and corporate leaders have increased substantially. Our recent thought piece, The Divergent Voice: A CEO Formula for the Current Fog of Business, discusses the complexities of being a business leader in today’s environment.

We look forward to continuing to assist our clients with their most important, complex, and sensitive leadership and governance concerns in 2024. We believe that RSR Partners is uniquely situated in the industry to provide unparalleled access and insight into top-performing business leaders. In addition to our board recruiting capabilities, we offer our clients a broad set of other Board and CEO services. Should you have any important board or C-Suite leadership needs in the coming year, we would be delighted to share our capabilities and expertise to help you. More importantly, we look forward to our continued friendship with you all. 

With gratitude,

Barrett J. Stephens
Chief Executive Officer
Email | LinkedIn | Bio

When Russ Reynolds founded our firm back in 1994, he knew that “bigger isn’t always better.” And so, he purposely created a boutique firm with a truly collaborative and client first culture, and with a goal of providing our clients with “high touch” service and unbiased advice. We started out in the boardroom, focusing our efforts on recruiting directors. As would later be the case with all of our practices, senior members of our board practice would lead and execute every engagement and handle all candidate interface, assessments, references, and client interaction. Russ anticipated that staying small would prove to have a big and lasting positive impact on our clients and help preserve our client service culture as the firm evolved. He was right. For the past 30 years and still today, we have consistently achieved, and often exceeded, our clients’ recruiting objectives, and have successfully maintained long-lasting and meaningful relationships with them. While we have expanded our offerings to include executive search and a variety of advisory services, board recruiting continues to be at the core of what we do.

The demand for outstanding director talent is as high as ever. This is especially the case when considering corporate boards’ ongoing efforts to maintain the right mix of skills and experience and the right balance of gender and ethnic diversity in their ranks in order to enable them to stay ahead of an everchanging world in which their respective companies compete. Often, boards encounter supply and demand imbalances for certain types of candidates they seek. That’s why it is very important that the board recruiting firm can guarantee access to any and all relevant candidates without any exceptions. That is a promise that we have continued to keep with our clients since our firm’s founding. Given our firm’s size and structure, we purposely conduct a limited and distinct number of search assignments at any given time, and our engagement review and acceptance process ensures that at RSR Partners, there is no competition for candidates amongst our clients.

Our extensive candidate sourcing network continues to expand and advance. We utilize our own database, social networking tools, and other internet-based candidate search technologies (e.g., LinkedIn, BoardEx, etc.) that have leveled the playing field between boutiques and large firms when it comes to candidate identification. All partners from all practices are engaged as well for candidate ideas. As such, we have the ability to identify most any candidate who aligns well with a given profile.

The benefits associated with partnering with us to achieve our clients’ most important recruiting objectives are no better reflected than in the continued success we have had in achieving our clients’ diversity objectives. Since 2021, 86% of our board placements were either gender and/or ethnically diverse (it’s important to point out that diversity was one of a number of criteria each of these placements met).

As a small and agile team, we are also known for our thorough and rapid kick-starts to board recruiting assignments. We have always strived to complete our board searches within four to five months. There have been times when searches have taken longer than anticipated, but we have always completed our assignments and have amassed a 100% placed candidate “stick rate” along the way.

If I had to point to one step in the board search process that we have learned goes a long way toward ensuring a successful outcome, it would be to put a great deal of thought and effort at the beginning of the process into creating the candidate profile. This candidate profile development process should be a collaborative undertaking between the board and their search firm, and it can be completed in a short period of time. It starts with reviewing the director skills and experience matrix in the proxy and interviewing each member of the client’s Board, their Chairman, CEO and, depending on the nature of the search, certain members of the executive leadership team. Interviews focus on what skills and experience are needed in the next director and why, as well as the characteristics that make for a great cultural and chemistry fit on the board. Then, we undertake a comparison of what criteria the board currently possesses and identify gaps, which in turn, helps to refine the candidate profile. It is important to note that the matrix in proxies does not always provide an accurate picture of the degree to which skills and experience reside on the board (i.e., checking the box versus specifying the strength of a particular skill or experience each director indicates they possess using a 1,2 or 3 rating.) The interview process is therefore helpful on several fronts – it provides a deeper understanding of skills and experience that all the directors contribute, determines what the board is looking for in its next director, and creates alignment amongst the board members around the candidate profile.

Before finalizing the candidate profile, we typically review five to ten candidate ideas with our client to get their feedback and confirm we are in agreement. Sometimes adjustments are made after the client has the opportunity to see how the profile on paper materializes in viable candidates. The goal being to create a profile that is both on target and realistic. So, when clients commit to undertaking our candidate profile development process, it almost always leads to a more successful outcome.

As the leader of RSR’s Board Practice for almost two decades, I am proud of our track record in assisting a wide variety of clients – from start-ups and private companies to Fortune 50 corporations – in achieving their board recruiting objectives. We look forward to continuing to partner with existing and new clients and staying true to the principles that Russ established in the early days of our firm:

• Maintain a truly collaborative and client-first culture
• Expect senior members of the practice to lead and execute every assignment
• Engage in selected assignments to ensure that clients will not experience any competition for candidates
• Spend the time to confirm that candidates are a strong cultural fit; their skills and experience truly align with a well-developed candidate profile and company strategy; satisfy our client’s diversity objectives; and in the long run, prove to be respected and value-added directors.

We continue to be a small firm with big results.

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Carter Burgess is head of the firm’s Board Recruiting practice and a senior member of the Board & CEO Services team. As practice leader, he focuses on director searches, the build-out of entire boards, comprehensive board composition analyses, multi-year succession planning strategies, and board performance assessments for companies in a broad array of industries.

RSR Partners is a boutique professional services firm headquartered in Greenwich, CT, that specializes in helping Boards and CEOs with their most critical recruiting, selection, and succession needs. The firm was founded in 1994 by industry icon Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. The firm has conducted thousands of projects for Boards and CEOs at public, private equity-backed, and family-owned businesses across a range of industries including asset management, consumer goods and services, industrial, technology, and healthcare.

Grateful. Thankful. Optimistic.

Given the turmoil in the world around us, we can’t help but be more reflective and thankful at this time of year. We are grateful for family and the relationships in our lives. We are thankful for our wonderful clients and those candidates with whom we have partnered. We are optimistic about the new year ahead of us.

As another successful year in search concludes and we look back on 2023, we are sharing below some observations made during the course of our work. We always welcome a conversation with you whether it’s a quick hello or to discuss any specific needs of your organization. Our team looks forward to staying in touch in 2024!

ENDOWMENTS, FOUNDATIONS, AND OCIOs

• Changing of the Guard – After three decades recruiting within the E&F community, it’s hard not to get the sense that the pioneers of the E&F approach are stepping back, and the voice of a next and very capable generation is being heard.
• OCIO Search – The OCIO market has become highly competitive and the ascent of the OCIO search firm as a critical gatekeeper in the space should not be ignored.
• New Territory – Indexing and passive beta are entering the lexicon and finding a home on the mainstream range as credible vehicles for investment.
• Generalist Model – Many clients are adopting generalist models for varied reasons, including better aligning the team with market opportunities – and also with GPs who more and more are blurring lines between traditional asset classes.

FAMILY OFFICES

• Dynamic Market – There has been robust activity with new offices spawning daily and established offices upgrading talent continually.
• Sophisticated Investment Platforms –There is an increasing focus on buying private operating businesses, thus making family offices the biggest competitors to middle market buyout firms.
• CPAs – The demand for top quality financial talent is increasing but CPAs are in short supply.
• Cohesion – A top of mind discussion in many offices is cohesion – how do you keep family generations together and focused on common goals?

MUTUAL FUND BOARDS

• Targeted Expertise – Given the variety and complexity of investment products on fund platforms, boards have a continual need for qualified financial experts and trustees with broad investment experience.
• Strategic thinkers – With the industry undergoing consolidation and experiencing increased regulation, fund boards are looking for strategic thinkers and proven investment leaders to help boards envision and prepare for “what’s coming around the corner.”
• Diversity –Boards continue to work to achieve a goal of building a more inclusive culture and encouraging diversity of background, experience, and thought in the boardroom.
• On-boarding – Mandatory retirements continue to create a dynamic recruiting environment. As boards think strategically about seamless transitions, trustees are being recruited earlier and are provided broader educational programs and formal orientations to assist with on-boarding.

OPERATIONS

• Upgrades – Clients continue to invest heavily in upgrading operational functions to better integrate workflow with the investment process – leadership roles as well as portfolio analytics, risk, and operational due diligence capabilities.
• Forward Thinking – Senior operations roles require a strategic mindset and a comprehensive understanding of investment strategy to better support investment decision making.
• Range – COOs today must be able to deal with a greater range of business, regulatory, and cyber/technology related issues.

INVESTMENT/WEALTH MANAGEMENT

• Client Portfolio Managers – Firms are investing in talent with a blend of client DNA and demonstrated investment acumen for an integrated sales/client service role, as well as proxy for the CIO and investment teams.
• Bench strength – Our clients continue to experience tremendous demand for bench strength, perhaps a lingering effect of the great resignation.
• Analytics & Digital Technology – Distribution and marketing functions are transforming through enhanced use of data analytics and technology, now seen as critical components to a successful sales and client service effort to grow and maintain assets.

REPRESENTATIVE SEARCH WORK

Annual Award Named After Russell S. Reynolds, Jr.

Greenwich, CT, June 8, 2023 – RSR Partners, a leading board and executive search firm, announced today that it has established the Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. Chair of the Year Award. The award will annually recognize the Chair of a public company’s Board of Directors that has successfully led the board through significant business or governance challenges. The award celebrates the legacy of Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. (“Russ”), who has spent more than 50 years advising boards and CEOs on leadership and governance.

“I am honored that this award will become an annual way of recognizing exceptional board leadership,” said Russ. “The real trick in selecting great board leaders is not only focusing on their experience and specific skill sets, but on whether they have the foresight, curiosity, character, and courage to lead.”

The winner of the award will be chosen by an independent committee comprised of renowned experts in the areas of strategy, finance, strategic communications, shareholder activism defense, investment management, human capital consulting, and corporate governance. The committee includes:

• Mikaela Boyd, Americas Strategy Practice Head of Bain & Company
• Nik Deogun, CEO of the Americas of Brunswick Group
• Ed Kangas, Former Global Chairman and CEO of Deloitte
• Kim Lew, President and CEO of Columbia Investment Management
• Christie Smith, Talent & Organization/Human Potential Global Lead of Accenture
• Brett Stephens, CEO of RSR Partners

“Russ has observed how highly effective boards and CEOs operate during their most seminal moments,” stated Brett Stephens, Chief Executive Officer of RSR Partners. “There is no better way to honor Russ’ innate talent for identifying and evaluating leaders than with an award in his name that recognizes the incredible impact a Chair can have on an organization’s leadership and long-term success.”

Public company directors will be invited to submit their recommendations beginning June 8^th. Any Chair of a board of directors at a U.S. public company with revenue or market cap greater than $1 billion may be nominated. The award winner will have successfully led the board and executive team through a significant business or corporate governance challenge. The inaugural winner will be announced in October at RSR Partners’ Annual Directors Dinner in New York City. Information about the award can be found at: www.chairoftheyearaward.com.

About Russell S. Reynolds, Jr.

Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. (“Russ”) is an American business executive, author, and founder of two of the search industry’s most prominent firms. Considered one of the pioneers of today’s executive search and board recruiting profession, Russ has counseled the boards and CEOs of many of the world’s leading companies over the past 50 years. In 1969, he founded Russell Reynolds Associates, which soon became one of the world’s leading international executive recruiting firms. Russ sold his interest in the firm in 1993. In 1994, Russ founded the Directorship Group (later named RSR Partners) where he served as Founder and Chairman until 2022.

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Contacts
Lindsay Griesmeyer
+1 (203) 618-7076
media@rsrpartners.com   

Over the past few years, digital transformation has dramatically impacted the business landscape. This evolution is only intensifying in terms of need and speed – especially as we enter the age of AI. As organizations and leadership teams pivot to learn and adapt, the difference between success and failure may be determined by whether organizations are market leaders or market followers. It’s therefore critical to be ready for how digital transformation may impact your business, and even more crucial to be sure your team can embrace and leverage digitalization when the opportunities arise.

How can organizations and leaders determine that their teams are ready?

Human capital is critical. First, the right leadership team should be in place to gain the trust and buy in of the employees, stakeholders, and customers. Next, consider whether you have the right talent and resources to implement the transformation. Finally, consider the need to create and sustain the “new” culture through scaling the business.

1) Is your leadership team ready?

In speaking with organizations about their leadership needs, we often hear that they need to hire an executive to strategize and execute a digital transformation. Since digital transformation often requires coordination across functions, it can be a challenge for a new executive to gain the buy-in necessary to achieve their goals.

Additionally, what problems are you trying to solve? In today’s customer-centric environment, it is critical to listen to the needs of your customer. Be sure you can explain the transformation and why it benefits the customer, and how it will enhance the customer experience and brand loyalty.

2) Does your organization have the talent and the resources?

When answering this question, it is critical to consider two factors – financial capital and human capital. With financial capital, it’s vital to fully assess the current state of the business, devise a plan including a timeline, budget, and resources. Is this achievable? What needs to change or shift?

It may also be a good time to assess the talent that will be on the front lines of the transformation and whether they are open and excited about being a change agent. Do they have the skills required to understand whatever is required of your digital transformation- whether it’s an appreciation of data analytics, cloud computing, SaaS platforms, AI, software development, and cyber security skills.

3) Can your culture sustain the digital transformation?

There must be an environment of trust and transparency built into the culture as well a more agile and innovation mindset and if not, the digital transformation will not be sustainable. If this is an issue you face, identify what resources you need to help shift the culture and get buy-in both internally and externally.

Additionally, consider if your organization has the resources to scale and grow. Digital transformation will bring efficiencies, speed to market, cost savings, and growth. The key is to plan for the growth and appropriately resource for the growth both from a financial and human capital perspective.

Too often an organization is led through the transformation and the infrastructure of the organization cannot handle the change and rapid growth. The organization ultimately decides to go back to their legacy business model. Unfortunately, this is not fair to the executives, the employees, and certainly does not reflect well for the organization in the marketplace and with their customers.

As these digital times continue to evolve, your organization should, too.

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Kimberly Melcer leads the firm’s Marketing practice. She specializes in identifying leaders with digital transformation capabilities across the C-Suite, and especially within the marketing function. She works with start-ups, privately held, and public organizations. She has extensive experience within the AdTech, MarTech, and broader consumer and marketing services industries.

RSR Partners is a boutique professional services firm headquartered in Greenwich, CT, that specializes in helping Boards and CEOs with their most critical recruiting, selection, and succession needs. The firm was founded in 1994 by industry icon, Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. The firm has conducted thousands of projects for Boards and CEOs at public, private equity backed, and family-owned businesses across a range of industries including asset management, consumer goods and services, industrial, technology, and healthcare. To learn more about RSR Partners, click here.