Own the Future: 50 Ways to Win from The Boston Consulting Group

Chapter 45

Leading Transformation

Andrew Dyer, Grant Freeland, Steve Gunby, and Cynthia Blendu

In this chapter we break from the format of the rest of the book and hand the microphone to nine CEOs who have successfully driven and sustained fundamental change in their organizations.¹ They run organizations headquartered in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia in fields ranging from manufacturing and finance to the Internet, consumer, retail, and nonprofit sectors.

Most CEOs, especially new ones, must fundamentally transform their enterprise at some time during their tenure. Boards are increasingly appointing CEOs with that explicit charter, and almost all CEOs recognize the need to take even successful enterprises to new levels of performance.

The CEOs we spoke with have relied on many of the same leadership tools. In fact, the similarities across their approaches far outweigh the differences. In particular, almost all the leaders discussed the three core elements of transformation: winning in the medium term, funding the journey, and building the right team, organization, and culture.

Winning in the Medium Term

The ultimate goal of any organizational transformation should be to create a vibrant and exciting future—and greater value. Transformations therefore generally require a fundamental rethinking of the organization and strategy, as well as a shift in direction. They cannot ...