CEO confidence in the C-suite is one of the clearest indicators of whether strategy will translate into results. Our latest Leadership Confidence Index (LCI) shows that CEO confidence in the C-suite continues to decline, though the underlying reasons aren’t as straightforward as one might think.
Now in its fifth year, the LCI tracks how confident CEOs are in their C-suite across four key dimensions: future readiness, core capability, strategic acumen, purpose and values. The data consistently shows that CEO confidence in their C-suite is closely linked to organizational performance. Understanding where confidence is strengthening, and where it’s eroding, offers a clear lens into the health of the leadership team and the organization’s capacity to deliver sustained growth.
Figure 1. CEO confidence in the C-suite team impacts organizational performance
Source: H1 & H2 2025 Global Leadership Monitor, n = 732 global CEOs
As business complexity increases, leaders’ preparedness falls. To adapt, organizations must evolve leadership approaches for the future.
The Global Leadership Monitor is a global survey of boards, CEOs, CxOs, and next-generation leaders that tracks key threats to organizational health and leadership preparedness to face them.
Understanding & Unlocking Senior Executive Potential
The Leadership Confidence Index tracks how confident CEOs, C-suite leaders, next-generation leaders (those one or two levels below C-suite), and board directors are in their organization’s leadership across four dimensions: core executive capabilities, strategic acumen, purpose and values, and future readiness.
The C-suite team refers to all leaders at the C-level or in the C-suite of the organization, not including the CEO. This includes the CFO, COO, CHRO, and any other C-level positions. The leadership confidence index offers a structured view of where leadership is strong, where it is under pressure, and how perceptions are shifting over time.
In this report, data on CEO confidence in their C-suite team combines responses from 14 items to capture the view of CEOs’ confidence in their C-suite team on a 100-pt scale, with four sub-scores corresponding to the four dimensions.
Core capability: Does the C-suite team have the right capabilities to lead the organization successfully, work together effectively as a team, and role model the right culture and behaviors?
Strategic acumen: Does the C-suite team demonstrate a strong understanding of competitive industry dynamics, have access to the right information to make well-informed decisions, receive solid advice from the board, have a successful strategy for C-level succession, and respond decisively to emerging crises*?
Purpose and values: Does the C-suite team embrace opportunities of ESG (environmental, social, governance) inclusion and culture?
Future readiness: Does the C-suite team effectively embrace digital transformation, adapt to changing working expectations*, reskill the workforce for the future*, and embrace change?
*New attributes included starting from H2 2024 survey
CEOs were also categorized into low, medium, and high confidence groups based on their overall scores. Those who rated their C-suite at 50 or below were classified as low confidence. CEOs who rated their C-suite between 50 and 75 were classified as medium confidence, while those who assigned a score of 75 or higher were classified as high confidence.
The Leadership Confidence Index is derived from RRA’s Global Leadership Monitor, which is an online survey of executives and non-executives that gathers the perspective of leaders on the impact of external trends on organizational health and their leadership implications. Captured since 2021, the Leadership Confidence Index reflects nearly five years of data across several waves, providing a longitudinal view of how leadership capability is perceived as organizational and market conditions evolve.
Most recently, Russell Reynolds Associates surveyed its global network of executives using an online/mobile survey from September 2 to October 3, 2025. Data from previous Global Leadership Monitor surveys were deployed in February/March 2021, March 2022, October 2022, March 2023, September 2023, March 2024, September 2024, and March 2025.
Ela Buczynska, Beth Hawley, Gabrielle Lieberman, and Joy Tan of RRA’s Center for Leadership Insight conducted the research and authored this report.
Learn more about the authors and The Center for Leadership Insight
The authors wish to thank the 2,500 leaders from RRA’s global network who completed the 2025 Global Leadership Monitor. Their responses to the survey have contributed greatly to our understanding of leadership in 2025 and beyond.
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