The ideal CEO for a megatrend world: want to benefit from these six megatrends and not get steam rolled by them? Then boards need to look for this set of characteristics in their ceo candidates.

• Author: Becker, Irv

In business, as in life, change is constant and unavoidable. That is why the top question a board needs to ask when embarking on a search for a new CEO is not what kind of leader our organization needs today, but rather what kind of leader will our organization need in the future. Put another way, boards should start a CEO search by asking themselves, "What is our strategy and vision? Where is our organization going--and what sort of leader do we need to guide us toward that destination?"

Of course, the answers to those questions will be unique for each business, but it can be helpful for boards to consider some of the major social, cultural and technological trends that will affect all of us over the next 15 years. Leadership 2030, a book by Hay Group consultants Georg Vielmetter and Yvonne Sell that was published this past February, synthesizes years of proprietary research to identify six megatrends that will test the leadership skills of CEOs and their management teams in the coming decades. These megatrends are:

1. Globalization 2.0: As Asian economies continue their rapid expansion, a burgeoning Eastern middle class will rearrange traditional trade patterns. CEOs will need to figure out how their companies can serve the preferences and win the loyalty of these new consumers whose tastes likely will differ from their Western counterparts.

2. Environmental Crisis: Climate change and the depletion of essential natural resources such as water, oil and rare earth minerals will turn sustainability from a CSR goal into a business-critical necessity. CEOs will encounter demands from consumers, politicians and their own employees to weave sustainable practices and principles throughout their organization.

3. Individualism and Value Pluralism: Work-life balance, corporate culture and autonomy may matter more than salaries for employees of the Millennial generation. To appeal to Millennials and other workers, CEOs will need to lead the transition to flatter and more flexible organizational hierarchies while still finding ways to maintain the company's focus on key strategic goals.

4. Digitization: Ubiquitous Internet connectivity, the proliferation of digital devices, and the rise of social networks will continue to erase boundaries between work and personal lives. Future CEOs will have the challenge of strengthening loyalty and maintaining cohesiveness in an organization built around diverse, distributed, and loose-knit teams.

5. Demographic Change...