Senior executives are feeling more positive about the job market compared to recent years, according to BlueSteps 2018 Executive Career Outlook.  Based on the survey of 834 senior-level management, director-level, and C-suite professionals, executives are more optimistic about the state of the global executive job market compared to previous years.

Fifty-four percent of executives responded they are more optimistic about this year than 2017’s job market. The high levels of optimism indicate, after years of global economic and political uncertainty, executives are now more encouraged by improved economic conditions and a robust business climate.

Not only are global executives more optimistic about the job market, but they are also hopeful about the number of executive positions that will be available worldwide in 2018. Over eighty-five percent believe that the volume of senior-level executive roles will increase or at least stay the same compared to last year.

What key attributes do executives require to be an effective leader in 2018?

Executives believe in order to be an effective leader, they need to be: strategic thinkers, inspiring, emotionally intelligent, and adaptable. The most commonly named attribute was strategic thinking with almost seventy percent of respondents choosing it as a critical leadership trait.

Andy Raymond, Redline Executive Director discusses further: “It is evident that strong leadership skills and being comfortable in an ever-changing business environment are key to succeeding as a leader in business today. With how transformative today’s business climate is, executives believe it is important to have a vision of where the organisation needs to be and the technological understanding to take it there,” says Andy.

Key qualities to help global executives be successful:

• Vision
• Technological mindset
• Emotional intelligence
• Strong network
• Adaptability

“Strategic thinking is an integral part of any leadership role”, says Andy. “The ability to see beyond the short-term goals and expectations to the long-term vision is what sets leaders apart from managers. Finding the balance between tactics and strategy is a key skill for leaders. A leader’s ability to inspire and engage is crucial. It is sometimes said that the sign of a great leader is not the number of followers they have but the number of leaders they have created.

To perform their best in today’s turbulent atmosphere, leaders must possess this highly unusual set traits that often-run counter to natural human behaviour. These attributes are catalysts for the mastery displayed by the world’s best CEOs and MDs — and, together, they add up to a new definition of leadership:

1. Realistic optimism: Leaders with this trait possess confidence without self-delusion or irrationality. They pursue audacious goals, which others would typically view as impossible pipedreams, while at the same time remaining aware of the magnitude of the challenges confronting them and the difficulties that lie ahead.
2. Subservience to purpose: Leaders with this ability see their professional goal as so profound in importance that their lives become measured in value by how much they contribute to furthering that goal. What is more, they must be pursuing a professional goal in order to feel a purpose for living. In essence, that goal is their master and their reason for being. They do not ruminate about their purpose, because their mind finds satisfaction in its occupation with their goal. Their level of dedication to their work is a direct result of the extraordinary, remarkable importance they place on their goal.
3. Finding order in chaos: Leaders with this trait find taking on multidimensional problems invigorating, and their ability to bring clarity to quandaries that baffle others makes their contributions invaluable.

Leaders who embody realistic optimism, subservience to purpose, and the ability to find order in chaos can use these catalysts to craft contexts in which they and others can realise potential. We are all born with an innate urge for triumph but are not born aware of this need or how to meet it. It is up to a leader to create a work environment in which every employee can experience the deep satisfaction of triumphing in pursuit of a worthy goal.

The most critical responsibility leaders have is to help their people flip the switch of engagement toward realising their potential as human beings. When leaders create a context for people to realise their potential, they create a virtuous cycle that elicits people’s best selves — the selves that induce the gratification we all feel when we overcome significant challenges and realise our potential.

This is how a leader creates an organisation that harnesses the utmost effort and resiliency from all employees. In today’s business environment of ever-escalating competition, such an organisation is the only kind that is built to survive.”

For more information on Executive assignments, click here. Redline Executive offer an extensive portfolio of executive search services and provide thorough insight and support to your strategic recruitment planning. To have a confidential discussion, please call Andy Raymond, Director on +44 (0)1582 450054 or email ARaymond@RedlineExecutive.com