The Confidence Crisis in the C-Suite

Behind the scenes, we’re seeing leadership teams hesitate — not because they don’t care, but because they’re overwhelmed. Paralysis is replacing momentum. Strategy decks are polished, but conviction is missing.

In our work, we’ve seen transformation return when leaders reconnect with purpose, clarity, and pace. It’s not about taking reckless risks — it’s about moving decisively with a clear rationale.

• BP (UK) faced mounting investor pressure and underperformance after wavering between green energy transformation and traditional fossil fuels. The lack of clear direction — trying to do both without conviction — has damaged trust with shareholders and stakeholders alike.
• Royal Mail (UK) has experienced years of industrial action, delayed modernisation, and unclear strategic leadership—despite booming e-commerce logistics elsewhere. While rivals invested in tech and customer experience, Royal Mail struggled with internal resistance and executive turnover, leaving it lagging behind.
• Zalando (EU), once a digital retail darling, has recently suffered declining market confidence due to strategic indecision around marketplace vs. private label models, and unclear international growth strategy.

• Rolls-Royce (UK) surprised markets in early 2024 with a bold transformation plan under CEO Tufan Erginbilgic, including aggressive restructuring and a focus on performance culture. The share price surged as a result.
• Woolworths Group (Australia) moved swiftly to divest its struggling hardware business and reinvest in Metro small formats and digital innovation — clarity of direction that paid off in both growth and customer sentiment. BUT Woolworths is also a great example of how tables can turn, while Metro and digital investments did pay off in earlier years, Woolworths is now facing strategic blowback including, public & shareholder criticism over missteps in senior leadership decisions, reputational damage from how it handled the sale of its stake in Endeavour Group and ongoing questions around strategic clarity and direction, particularly in navigating its portfolio beyond core retail.

So what? If this continues, industries that rely on long-term planning (like infrastructure, healthcare, and aged care) will fall behind. Innovation will become more reactive than proactive, and companies will be forced to respond to disruption rather than lead it. Confidence, not capital, could become the rarest commodity.

Gura POV:  Clarity and purpose, not certainty, fuel bold decisions.

Sources: Financial Times, BBC News, The Guardian, Reuters, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, AFR.