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Forbes
04-08-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How CEOs Can Reduce Their Vulnerability And Improve Safety
What are the three things most likely to boost a company's revenue? Forbes Research found that while it may have something to do with its industry, size and track record, there's much more to consider. The annual CxO Growth Survey revealed three common leadership strategies among businesses that achieved revenue growth of at least 10% in the last fiscal year, representing about 24% of the more than 1,000 global executives polled as part of the survey. The first strategy is working toward a happier, healthier workforce. This is achieved through programs designed to prevent burnout—about half of CHROs in high-growth companies are working to tackle this issue—by improving the employee experience, investing in employee mental health and well-being, and constantly upskilling the existing workforce. High-growth C-suite leaders are also likely to be accelerating AI adoption, with 57% of CIOs at these companies working to deploy AI and machine learning platforms across the enterprise. They're also investing more in AI this year. Finally, they're also investing in sustainability and environmental and social governance programs. More than a third of high-growth CEOs view sustainability and ESG as business opportunities—tallying about 9% more than their lower-growth counterparts. And 37% are planning to strengthen their sustainability efforts over the next two years. Almost two in five CFOs from high-growth companies are planning more funding toward ESG in the next year as a growth measure. In short, the executives who are doing the best are investing in their company's future through prioritizing employees, using technology to become more efficient and effective, and challenging themselves to make an impact on the world. Overall, the survey showed that nine in 10 executives are confident about their growth in the next three years, agreeing that their company should be in a much stronger position—though many executives said that issues including tariffs, inflation and the general economic uncertainty put that future in question. However, the three strategies identified in the research can be done to some extent regardless of the economic situation—and companies may be more likely to assure their future success if they start there. In today's world, executives can be targeted through information easily found online, which has led to tragic outcomes. Human risk management company Nisos released a report that shows just how exposed many executives are: 98% have property linked to their names, while about a fifth revealed sensitive information on social media. I talked to Nisos CEO Ryan LaSalle about what details executives have exposed and how they can protect themselves. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter. Until next time. ECONOMIC INDICATORSDespite widespread uncertainty and falling levels of confidence from both consumers and executives, the stock market had continued to climb. Last week, however, news hit that was jarring enough to pull optimistic investors down. On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing that the job market has been slowing down for months. Unemployment was up to 4.2%, with just 73,000 nonfarm jobs added in the month. But it wasn't just July with weak employment numbers. Job growth in May and June was revised downward—from a projected 144,000 jobs to an actual 19,000, and from a projected 147,000 in June to an actual 14,000. President Donald Trump's reaction to the report? He fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. McEntarfer had been appointed by former President Joe Biden, but she had a long career in the executive branch under various administrations. She had previously worked at the Census Bureau's Center for Economic Studies, the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy and the White House Council of Economic Advisers, according to the AP. She was confirmed with a bipartisan 86-8 Senate vote in January 2024, and was widely recommended by economists and people from various government departments. To explain his action, Trump said in a Truth Social post, 'In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,' and vowed to replace McEntarfer with someone 'much more competent and qualified.' But firing the statistician for delivering numbers not to the president's liking—no matter how truthful and accurate they may be—is a move that may do more harm than good. Businesses and investors depend on government data about jobs, inflation and the economy. If the jobs of the professionals who put the numbers together rely on how well Trump likes them, it undermines the accuracy of any report. But data outside of the government also points to an incredibly slow job market. A new report from career services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that July's job losses—an estimated 62,000 positions cut among government and private employers—puts the number of lost jobs so far in 2025 over the total number of jobs lost in all of 2024. The leading sector for job cuts this year is the government, which has slashed 292.294 positions so far. Before Friday's release of the new employment data, the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee voted on Wednesday to keep interest rates steady. Trump has been using a variety of avenues to pressure Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to bring them down—including insults on social media and in press conferences and attempts at public humiliation—but the board did not budge. However, two of the 11 governors who voted on Wednesday were against the consensus decision, calling for a quarter-point rate cut. Powell said Wednesday that the U.S. economy is in a 'solid position,' citing stronger-than-expected GDP growth of 3% in the second quarter. TARIFFS Shipping containers stacked at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, doubled down on tariffs last week, initially saying that he would keep the start date for most of them firm on August 1, but then backtracked on Friday, resetting the deadline for this Thursday. However, his order resetting the date (again) included tariff rates for 67 countries, the EU and Taiwan. These rates range from 10% to 41%, and those not included in the executive order will face 10% tariffs. On Friday, as investors realized the White House TACO buffet may be coming to an end, and as they saw the weak job numbers and the firing of Erika McEntarfer, there was a huge sell-off. Many recent market gains were erased. The Nasdaq composite dropped 2.2%, the S&P 500 fell 1.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 1.5%. Markets are rebounding a bit so far on Monday. In addition to the tariff deals—and not-quite-good-deals—from last week, the president signed an executive order ending the 'de minimis' trade exemption from tariffs. This loophole, which Chinese companies including Temu and Shein had exploited, allowed companies to skip tariffs when shipping goods valued under $800 directly to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol estimated 4 million packages valued at the de minimis limit are processed in the U.S. every day, accounting for 92% of all cargo arriving in the country. The exemption allows Chinese companies to sell extremely cheap goods to Americans. According to the executive order, the loophole is closing on August 29. FROM THE HEADLINES Tesla CEO Elon Musk. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images The world's richest man is getting richer. Tesla approved a stock award worth $29 billion to founder and CEO Elon Musk, according to an SEC filing on Monday. The company's special board committee said on X—the social network Musk owns—that the stock award was a 'good faith' payment. A longer-term CEO compensation strategy, the post said, will come up for a shareholder vote at the Nov. 6 annual meeting. 'We are confident that this award will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla and focus his unmatched leadership abilities on further creating shareholder value for Tesla shareholders and attracting and retaining talent at Tesla,' the X post states. A similar pay package for Musk, worth $56 billion, had been struck down by the Delaware Chancery Court last year. The ruling said the package was unfair to investors. Musk appealed, and the case is currently pending. Following news of the deal, Tesla's stock initially spiked about 2.7%, but has since slowed—though the automaker's stock is still up more than 0.5% today. TOMORROW'S TRENDS How Executives Can Reduce Their Vulnerability Nisos CEO Ryan LaSalle. Nisos, Getty Many business executives have likely felt potential dangers to their security growing over recent years, but last year's murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as he walked to the company's investor day in New York City, and last week's fatal shooting in a Park Avenue office tower crystallized just how serious potential threats are. Human risk management company Nisos took a close look at where executives are exposed and released an eye-opening report : 100% have had personal email addresses and telephone numbers exposed via data breaches. About 92% have exterior images of their personal property publicly available. And close to a third have someone in their family publicly sharing geolocation information. I spoke with Nisos CEO Ryan LaSalle about these threats and how to mitigate them. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity. What are some of today's bigger risks and problems you see with executives' privacy protection? LaSalle: There are two different lines of thinking. One is: What are you or your family putting out there that gives people a sense of how to figure out where you're going to be at any given time? We call it pattern of life. Information that's geotagged, like your exercise routes. Or when people are posting geotag pictures to social media about where they are, or even saying, 'We're checking into this vacation resort right now.' It's often not the executive who's doing that. It is people around them, and anybody who's observing them would be able to piece together. Generally being aware of location-sensitive data that helps people understand the patterns and the places where you exist. The second is the way some of these folks engage the market and understand and listen to what's going back. Increasingly, whether it's brand and reputation, or whether it's thinking about active threats to people, there is a heightened awareness about listening—and there's still less understanding about what they can do about it. One is all about vulnerability and one is about trying to figure out what actions to take. Those both create risks for people who are not quite sure what to do. The recent past has seen devastating attacks on high-ranking business executives and politicians. Are businesses and executives doing the right things for protection? We've seen a lot of pictures being taken off websites, as well as a big bump in private security use. Different companies are going to have different responses. I couldn't possibly question the risk calculus that they were going through at that moment in time, where they were seeing a real nexus of threats. [After the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson], you saw 'Most Wanted' posters on the streets in New York with [healthcare] executives' pictures on them. There was a level of threat that was different than what generally happens every single day, and it was very targeted. Best practice, when you're not in the middle of that and you're trying to make sure that you're more prepared, would be about baseline level privacy controls. We say this with politicians, too. Politicians are supposed to be representatives of the community they live in, and suddenly they're feeling they need to recede and take their addresses down. That creates a real tension for how it should feel. But for us, when we look at it, how it should feel and how they should protect themselves are a little out of whack right now. They need to probably index more protection. I do think that generally taking a picture off a website or taking information off of your website when you're easy to find other places is not an effective strategy. The people who want to do harm, we will go pull all the different data that they can find anywhere to pull it down. You need to be more continuous and comprehensive in trying to reduce that footprint. You want to make it harder to find these people, where they're going to be, and when they're going to be there. If you look at protective details, especially in travel and event security, there's been a heightened awareness around those. That's probably the right thing today, especially with the advent of social media. Every executive wants to be not only a good steward for their company, but they want to be a personality. They want to be the face of their company and they want to be talking to potential customers or just anybody else. How do you walk the line between wanting to be out there in front and represent[ing] your company, but yet not be putting yourself at risk? Most executives today are not digitally native, where they can live out loud online and know how to handle the complexities that come back at them. I think you need to pair people who really do know how to deescalate when things get sideways. Not control the message, because those executives are usually the best authentic communicators, but control the blow back in circumstances around those things. When we look at our report, the executives themselves had very little personal exposure through their accounts. They were pretty much on message on business. But the connectedness between their business persona and their personal life and families created a different level of vulnerability. Just because you're the face of the business and you're being authentic in the way you're interacting, it doesn't mean you're not exposed. You can have that partnership, but you also need to make sure your family's on board with how to behave and connect themselves and share information appropriately. I think that's the missing piece in a lot of the strategies. What advice would you give to an executive that is starting to look at security and wants to make sure they're not exposing themselves to unnecessary risk? Realizing that if they haven't yet put their toe in the water, they can do a lot to prepare themselves better when they start. The first is looking across those data aggregators, breach data sets and things like that to figure out where you are already exposed, and how do you get control over that, because it will limit how people find you and where they show up. People show up at your door. That's not where you want them to show up. When you want to engage them digitally, you want to engage with them digitally. And when you want to shake hands with people at an event, then you want to be able to shake hands with people at an event. And you don't want those worlds to encroach on each other. Your digital hygiene—and I don't just mean in terms of data, I mean your accounts, your passwords, your multifactor authentication, your password managers—making sure you're not having a lot of reuse and exposing yourself. People will go after you digitally if there's something interesting that you have for them. Again, training those around you that to get to you, they'll go through them, and to get to them, they'll go through you. You'll see all the things that are trying to get to your teams because you are more active and more visible. They have more to work with to turn around and target your company and your teams. COMINGS + GOINGS Consumer goods powerhouse Procter & Gamble announced that Shailesh Jejurikar will become president and chief executive officer, effective January 1. Jejurikar joined the firm in 1989 and is currently chief operating officer, and he will succeed Jon Moeller, who is set to become executive chairman. announced that will become president and chief executive officer, effective January 1. Jejurikar joined the firm in 1989 and is currently chief operating officer, and he will succeed Jon Moeller, who is set to become executive chairman. Apparel company Gap Inc. appointed Maggie Gauger as global brand president and chief executive officer of Athleta, effective August 1. Gauger most recently served as head of North America women's business at Nike, and she succeeds Chris Blakeslee. appointed as global brand president and chief executive officer of Athleta, effective August 1. Gauger most recently served as head of North America women's business at Nike, and she succeeds Chris Blakeslee. Food and beverage company Welch's selected Cees Talma as its next chief executive officer, effective July 29. Talma previously worked as CEO of Nature's Way, and he succeeds Trevor Bynum. Send us C-suite transition news at forbescsuite@ STRATEGIES + ADVICE Parents often find themselves raising their voices at their children because they've done something wrong. But when those parents are also executives, yelling at others—in person, in public appearances or on social media—shows deep leadership problems. Here are some ways you can switch your strategy, from behaving in a parent-to-child dynamic to an adult-to-adult situation. GE's corporate breakup has served as a master class in how to restructure a large company into smaller, targeted—and successful independent entities. However, some CEOs are wedded to the idea that, when it comes to a company, bigger is better. Here's how to break through that belief and unlock value by addressing unnecessary complexity in your organization. QUIZ Employees from a division of which company began striking Sunday, a week after rejecting a contract proposal? A. Boeing B. Amazon C. UPS D. United Airlines See if you got the answer right here.
Forbes
22-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
3 Strategies High-Growth Companies Have In Common
What sets rapidly expanding companies apart from the rest? The Forbes Research 2025 CxO Growth Survey reveals that C-suite executives of high-growth organizations — businesses that boosted revenue by at least 10% in the last fiscal year — share several strategic similarities distinguishing them from their slower-growth peers. Employee well-being is high on the corporate agenda at rapidly growing companies. The survey polled more than 1,000 global executives, about one in four (24%) of whom fall into this high-growth cohort. The results show that these successful leaders are more likely to be focusing on three priorities: workforce wellbeing, AI adoption and environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. Compared to leaders at lower-growth companies, or those with less than 10% annual revenue gain in the last fiscal year, here's what high-growth executives are doing differently: 1) Promoting A Happier, Healthier Workforce High-growth CxOs are emphasizing workplace wellness and ensuring talent is skilled for the future by: 2) Accelerating AI Deployment High-growth C-suite leaders appear to be more aggressively adopting AI across their organizations with moves like: 3) Advancing ESG And Sustainability Initiatives Leaders of high-growth firms seem to view sustainability spending and ESG as part of a broader revenue strategy with:
Forbes
20-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
New Forbes Survey Reveals C-Suite's Vision For Tech-Powered Growth In 2025
By Romy Oltuski Their optimistic projections, along with the short-term challenges that could derail that trajectory, are captured in our fifth annual CxO Growth Survey, which reflects the viewpoints of 1,000 global executives representing companies with at least $1 billion in revenue. This story, published in March 2025, marks our first release of its findings. Read on for an inside look at CxOs' investment strategies, their collaboration dynamics and the challenges they face in the race toward technological excellence. Executive leaders now view technology as the primary enabler of business growth, citing accelerating digital transformation as their top strategic priority, up from the number-three spot just last year. Chief financial officers are backing this shift, with tech set to receive the biggest jump in capital spending. Trailing technology in second and third place on the CxO agenda are: In contrast, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives—last year's top concerns—have slipped to seventh and eighth place for this year. 'This reflects increased pressure to balance long-term commitments with short-term profitability in this period of uncertainty,' says Ross Gagnon, executive director of research at Forbes. While this survey was conducted prior to Donald Trump's presidency, the findings also align with U.S. companies' growing retreat from corporate social responsibility. Dozens have walked back DEI commitments amid political and regulatory change, while others have cooled on climate pledges, delaying key decarbonization deadlines. However, executives' longer-term goals tell a different story. When asked how their priorities will evolve over the next two years, CxOs put DEI back on their top-three list. They also consider investing in the circular economy—a system that minimizes waste by extending the lifespan of materials through reuse and resource efficiency—as essential to their company's long-term growth. While these focus areas may be taking a temporary backseat, executives affirm their continued importance in shaping future strategy. *Indicates the percentage of respondents who gave this answer According to surveytakers, that's the most hotly debated question in the C-suite. Artificial intelligence and cybersecurity solutions top the list of tech investments, with 93% of organizations increasing spending in these areas over the next two years. And expect bold moves, not modest hikes: More than half plan to up their AI and cybersecurity budgets by more than 16%. This strategy reflects the ongoing race between innovation and protection, as cybersecurity solutions strive to combat the rise of AI-driven threats while also harnessing AI's capabilities for defense. 'We're living in a very interesting space where we're building tech to protect against tech, and the speed is just accelerating,' Allegra Driscoll, chief technology officer of payments solution provider Bread Financial, said at the Forbes CIO Summit in November. Fifty-five percent of survey participants struggle to handle the blitz of cyber threats and attacks they say has escalated over the past year. Stirred to action, 83% have implemented zero-trust security models, and 88% have continuous security improvement programs in place that include regular assessments, vulnerability remediation and ongoing employee training. RELATED: Do You Think Like A CEO? Take Our Quiz To Find Out Ripple Bhular, executive vice president and head of U.S. Capital Markets and Diversified at IT services company Kyndryl, sees these actions as not just a defense posture but also a growth strategy. 'Organizations need to start seeing cybersecurity as a competitive differentiator for them,' she said, speaking on the same CIO Summit panel. 'If a consumer is impacted or has an inclination that a certain business is not protecting their data, they're gonna take their business elsewhere.' Our survey portrays an increasingly unified and collaborative C-suite. Chief information officers (82%) and chief marketing officers (78%), for example, increasingly see themselves as bridge-builders within their organizations, reaching across departments to advocate for organization-wide innovation. This type of multidisciplinary approach facilitates CxOs' intertwined priorities: CEOs aren't just endorsing this cross-functional approach; they're modeling it. Eighty-eight percent are prioritizing stronger engagement with their leadership teams and say encouraging greater collaboration among their direct reports is one of their top strategic goals. Tech executives, meanwhile, topped the list of C-suite leaders CxOs want to collaborate with more in the future—highlighting their conviction that tech-driven growth is the key to advancing their functions and the organization as a whole. Forbes Research takes the pulse of the most important topics in business through original surveys, analysis and storytelling. Explore our findings, and learn more about partnering with Forbes Research.
