Getting Exec Ready: The Four Pillars Every Future Executive Must Strengthen

When we ask CEOs what keeps them awake at night, succession is always in the top five. Not because they do not have talented senior managers, but because too many potential successors reach the brink of executive level without being properly prepared for it.

The challenge is that if you want a strong, confident, aligned Executive Team in 12 to 18 months, you need to start developing your Execs of tomorrow today.

Here are the four pillars that you must focus on to get your leaders Exec Ready, along with a straightforward way to start strengthening each one.

1. The Leadership Transition

Moving from senior manager to executive leader is the hardest step in many people's careers. It requires a mindset shift from being a functional expert to being an enterprise leader.

One tip: Ask your future executives to write a one-page description of the value they will bring to the organisation at the executive level. Not their function. Not their KPIs. Their value as an enterprise leader. This activity can highlight gaps in thinking and accelerate the shift.

2. Gravitas, Credibility, Confidence and Presence

Effective Executives influence decisions across multiple stakeholder groups, shape others' thinking and remain composed under pressure. Presence isn't just about personality. It is about consistency.

One tip: Challenge leaders to capture their key messages in 3 bullet points before any high-stakes meeting. Many leaders find brevity a challenge under pressure, and this simple habit increases confidence and builds gravitas quickly.

3. Strategy and Performance

I've written at length before about the lack of solid strategic capability in many organisations. The key shift at the Executive level is that the individual isn't there to deliver performance; they are accountable for shaping a robust strategy that enables it.

That requires strategic competence, and the ability to challenge existing thinking in a practical, commercial and credible way.

One tip: Ask leaders to answer three strategic questions regularly:

What is your definition of strategy?

What is the key strategic objective that you are accountable for (and ensure their answer is a SMART objective, not a vision)?

On a scale of 1 - 6, to what degree does our culture support the delivery of the strategy?

These questions build strategic muscle quicker than any strategy textbook.

4. Executive Mindset

The mindset that gets someone to senior management is not the mindset that carries them into the executive tier.

Future executives need to focus on longer time horizons, be relentlessly solutions focused, make good decisions with limited or conflicting data, and be able to stay calm in a crisis. Critically, they need to be able to handle the pressure that accountability at an Executive level brings.

They need to think beyond 'work-life balance' and build a structure that prevents burnout, protects their relationships and sustains high performance. All while meeting the expectations of the board, non-Execs, or shareholders.

One tip: While 'wheels of life' can be a little cliché for some people, they provide an excellent picture of areas to pay attention to when moving into an Executive role.

If you have a community of talented senior leaders who could be your future Executives, why not immerse them in the most engaging leadership development they will ever experience (according to our clients)?

I would be delighted to create a tailored development programme for your leaders, based on the four pillars above, and help you save a fortune on external recruitment along the way. For an initial conversation, email me at richard@twentyoneladership.com or call me at +447932725113.