CEOs under pressure: how urgency changes the role of business leaders

However, there is another form of pressure emerging strongly within top management: 57 per cent of European CEOs, in fact, expect changes in their leadership team in the next six months, demonstrating a growing instability even at the highest levels of the organisation. More than one in four CEOs specifically identify the Chief Financial Officer as the main threat to security in their role, followed by the Chief Operating Officer. A figure that reflects a new dynamic, namely the greater proximity of certain key figures to the board for overseeing performance drivers, a proximity that makes these same figures potential credible alternatives to corporate leadership. The CEO thus finds himself at the centre of an increasingly demanding network of relationships, in which support and pressure tend to overlap: the study effectively describes this condition by defining the organisation's leader as an 'emotional shock absorber', i.e. a person called upon to act as a point of absorption of the tensions fuelled by the divergences between shareholders, management and workforce.

One of the most relevant elements emerging from the BCG analysis is also the misalignment between perceived and actual risks. Indeed, the CEOs' attention is focused on immediate performance - with growth targets and cost management remaining the main sources of stress, at 73.8 and 64 out of 100 respectively - but this focus, although a reflection of natural priorities, fuels the danger of leaving other equally critical structural factors in the background. The case of activist investors is emblematic in this respect. Although they are among the lowest ranked concerns, their action is associated with a 24% increase in the probability of CEO turnover. The relative underestimation of this phenomenon suggests that many leaders tend to view it as an eventual risk, rather than a structural variable to be managed proactively, including by building a shareholder base consistent with long-term strategy.

A second element of reflection concerns human resources. Despite the growing debate on engagement and retention, less than 40 per cent of European CEOs consider employee dissatisfaction a priority, despite the fact that a 10 per cent reduction in net growth in the workforce certifiably increases the CEO's exit risk by 12 per cent.

Artificial intelligence, finally, also fits into this picture of misalignment. Despite being central to business strategies and under the direct responsibility of 75% of CEOs, this technology ranks only ninth among sources of stress. Eighty-four per cent of leaders, in particular, say they are more 'energised' than under pressure with respect to AI, highlighting an approach that is still opportunity-oriented. In large companies, however, the pressure to generate value in the short term is growing: more than 40 per cent of CEOs report a high level of urgency in demonstrating concrete returns from investments in algorithm-based solutions, opening up the risk that this issue could quickly shift from the strategic to the executive dimension, further increasing the pressure. The recurring pattern, in short, is that the focus and concentration on the immediate leaves out of focus those factors that determine the sustainability of leadership in the medium to long term.

Alongside operational and relational dynamics, the study finally highlights a question of the sustainability of the CEO role over time. The average level of emotional exhaustion is high (it stands at 58.6 out of 10) and grows as the difficulty of recovering after periods of intense pressure increases: that is, there is a direct correlation between the intensity of stress and the time needed to re-establish balanced conditions. Loneliness, in this respect, is a recurring trait of the top position, which by its very nature reduces the space for real confrontation and the possibility of openly sharing doubts and uncertainties. The CEO thus becomes the point of convergence of all expectations, with limited margins for external validation and a tendency to accentuate isolation and self-censorship.

In this sense, the issue of legacy also takes on more complex contours. While 72% of CEOs say they are confident about the long-term impact of their choices, there remains a significant proportion (around 30%) who express uncertainty. Indeed, the increasing polarisation of social and organisational contexts makes it more difficult to define what constitutes a 'positive legacy' and building a lasting impact can no longer be limited to financial results or extraordinary transactions, but requires the ability to strengthen skills, engagement and operating models within the organisation. Ultimately, the challenge for CEOs outlined in BCG's report is not only to manage operational pressure, but to prevent it from redefining the perimeter of the role. When performance management absorbs the CEO's entire agenda, the risk is that the distinctive function of being a leader, which remains that of guiding the business over time, is lost. The ability to realign short and long term therefore becomes not only a matter of managerial effectiveness, but a direct and necessary lever of stability and competitiveness.