Every year, the business media revisits the question of what makes an ideal leader for current conditions. Many of the answers remain unchanged. The ability to foster trust, for example, has and will remain a crucial attribute, regardless of changes in the external environment.
Nevertheless, amid lightspeed digital disruption and almost daily geopolitical upheaval, three new skills have become paramount.
This requires leaders to refine their ability to think “outside in” and nurture a curiosity about the world beyond their organizations.
In the current climate, executives require a keen understanding of how geopolitical events could affect demand for their organizations’ products or services and the functioning of overall operations. In some countries, an escalation of conflict can cause an immediate hike in energy prices, rendering industrial activity unprofitable. An unexpected change in immigration policy can stymie recruitment of skilled workers. And currency fluctuations can dent demand from overseas clients.
This requires leaders to refine their ability to think “outside in” and nurture a curiosity about the world beyond their organizations. This used to involve product innovation, looking at ways of working in other industries, and injections of inspiration from startups. Today, their vision must incorporate broader macroeconomic and geopolitical developments.
Happily for today’s executives, the proliferation of news sources means staying on top of current affairs and accessing expert perspectives at any time has never been easier. But this endless stream of information can become overwhelming. The key to staying afloat is to anticipate the likely impact of a geopolitical event on the organization and prepare mitigatory actions. It’s just as important, therefore, to find moments of silence amid the noise in which to reflect on how to respond.
To prevent, or at least mitigate, the impact of such industry-shattering shocks, executives must gain greater influence on policymakers.
Government intervention in the form of new regulation, sanctions, or tariffs is now a regular hazard for businesses.
In 2025, for example, US President Donald Trump’s warning to pharmaceutical companies to cut prices for the US market or face tariffs, left many drugmakers scrambling for a solution. Since then, 16 pharmaceutical multinationals have agreed to cut the prices of some of their US products, in line with those in other developed countries.
Similarly, the easing of US fuel-efficiency standards has redirected leading Asian electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers from the US to Europe, accelerating what might otherwise have been only a slow erosion of competitiveness.
To prevent, or at least mitigate, the impact of such industry-shattering shocks, executives must gain greater influence on policymakers. Practically speaking, this means more regular engagement with government affairs teams and setting a clear strategic direction for them to follow. Leaders should also form coalitions with businesses in the same sector, combining commercial heft to lobby government agencies more effectively.
Today’s executives are under pressure to manage daily operations, keep up with current affairs, master the use and enterprise-wide implementation of advanced technologies, understand how policy may shift, and sustain morale.
To remain effective, leaders must know how to protect themselves from these stressors. They must learn to recognize triggers and warning signs and to address issues before they escalate. As in so many areas of modern life, technology can be an ally as well as an enemy in this respect. For example, some leaders have found that wearables such as smart watches can flag problems such as poor sleep levels.
Executives must also be firm about drawing personal boundaries in terms of how they work, including when the wider business has access to them. While this may appear selfish, it is both a necessary act of self-preservation and a way of protecting valuable human resources. It is also an important example for the rest of the workforce.
As custodians of leadership capability, CHROs play a central role in reinforcing this attribute across the organization.
Many of the leadership skills that are key to executive performance in 2026 rest on a single underlying quality: curiosity. Curiosity drives the commitment to keep up with geopolitical events, to engage meaningfully with government affairs teams, and to develop the self-awareness required to manage stress and wellbeing. As custodians of leadership capability, CHROs play a central role in reinforcing this attribute across the organization.
HR leaders, then, must actively encourage curiosity through reward and recognition, while ensuring executives have access to the resources they need to explore, test, and question assumptions in support of a genuine learning mindset.
But CHROs can only sustain these capabilities if they have the freedom to challenge leaders constructively. That, in turn, depends on an environment of psychological safety within the executive team and on leaders’ willingness to act on the feedback they receive.
While geopolitical awareness, broader influence, and personal resilience are increasingly important leadership qualities, no executive can lead effectively without fostering a combination of curiosity, openness to feedback, and a commitment to learning. Together, these qualities form the foundation of an empathetic leadership that can adapt to the shifting conditions of the current business environment.
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