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(upbeat music) Recently I asked a successful CEO

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about the outlook for the next six months,

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and I got a very honest answer.

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Their response was,

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"I'm not quite sure given the big forces at play."

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In fact, I've never heard so many executives

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voice uncertainty when they talk about their agenda.

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The old playbooks are no longer sufficient

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given the volatility, and leaders are asking themselves,

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"What's different?"

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(inspirational music)

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One executive told us, "We want to use this opportunity

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to leapfrog and create a new benchmark in our sector."

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According to our research, 75% of companies

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want to use this opportunity of uncertainty

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to create growth opportunities.

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Yet when we look at the historical data,

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only 14% of companies manage to create both top-line growth

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and margin growth in a downturn.

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It's a real CEO dilemma, and it's down to

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the resilience muscle in the organization.

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The very best leaders, they manage the short-term risk.

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They optimize their cost and cash positions

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to generate investment headroom, and at the same time

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they courageously go after top-line growth opportunities

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and there's no trade off between the two.

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Technology, including AI and data, is an important lens

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to apply and it's much more than an enabler.

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We need new leadership skills and we need

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more diverse teams.

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My advice to leaders: bring strategic clarity

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to the entire organization, increased clock speed

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in decision making, and finally, make sure you have

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execution capacity in your organization.

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This is a massive change journey.