“Boards are demanding much more than simply financial expertise and the ability to execute strategy. A finance leader can have strong technical expertise and still struggle to get a board and executive team behind a difficult investment decision.
“The same applies to a transformation leader who understands the systems being introduced but cannot get people to change how they work. That is why South African boards are increasingly looking to examine how candidates lead and influence others.”
Heidrick & Struggles’ 2026 Skills Index, based on proprietary client data collected between mid-2025 and mid-2026, highlights the specialist skills most in demand and those experiencing the fastest growth. The findings draw on requests received by the firm’s global On-Demand Talent team for interim leaders and specialist expertise.
However, while the Skills Index offers South African companies useful insight into international skills trends, Watt argues that technical capabilities are only part of what makes a strong C-suite leader. Equally important are how leaders make decisions, take responsibility, provide direction, and bring people with them.
To help organisations assess those qualities, Watt draws on CODE, a leadership framework originally developed by Adam Pacifico, a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles in London, and further expanded through their collaboration. CODE - cut, own, direct, and energise - pushes leaders to cut through noise and simplify complexity, define the playing field and visibly own their decisions, give people clear direction with courage, and energise them by leading like a human.
Watt and Pacifico recently tested CODE with a client’s top 20 leaders in Mauritius. Watt’s view is that its four elements help organisations examine how executives turn the specialist expertise highlighted in the Skills Index into organisational performance:
1. Cut the noise and simplify the system
CODE asks leaders to decide what to stop, simplify, or sequence. Demand for project management and programme management office (PMO) expertise from the Skills Index specifically reflects the need to coordinate complex initiatives.
Process optimisation and transformation skills can further improve workflows, while database architecture and data management require executive judgement on investment value, data governance, and the risks of AI adoption. Executive assessment should also examine whether candidates can identify initiatives that no longer justify their cost.
2. Own and define the playing field and live it
CODE’s ‘own’ principle requires executives to stand behind these choices. They need to explain what the business is trying to achieve, acknowledge the sacrifices involved, and take responsibility when plans fall short. Their decisions need to reflect the organisation’s purpose and values, including when ethical consistency carries a commercial cost or requires challenging a high performer’s conduct.
Clients seeking growth strategy expertise need leaders who can identify new markets and plan how to win business there. Portfolio strategy skills help leaders decide which parts of a business deserve further investment. Watt links brand strategy and digital marketing expertise to executive decisions about how the business competes for customers, where it invests in growth, and whether marketing spending supports its wider commercial priorities.
3. Direct and provide clarity and courage in the chaos
A board considering an expansion, for instance, needs reliable accounts, realistic forecasts, and a clear picture of the cash available. Clients’ demand for financial controls, accounting, and audit expertise, as well as financial planning, analysis, and modelling (FP&A) skills, and treasury management reflects these needs. Advanced analytics capabilities help executives use data to anticipate risks and assess results. Healthcare clients, in particular, also seek clinical operations expertise to oversee trials and bring treatments to market safely.
‘Direct’ addresses how leaders act on this information. Executives need the judgement and courage to make decisions before every uncertainty is resolved. They also need to explain their reasoning clearly and align the board, executive team, and other stakeholders on the direction and risks involved.
4. Energise the system; lead like a human
Clients need organisational design and workforce planning to put the right people and skills behind their business plans. Post-merger integration requires executives to combine teams and systems after an acquisition while keeping the business running.
CODE’s ‘energise’ principle focuses on the people expected to make these changes work. Leaders need to earn employees’ trust, build an inclusive culture, and support their development. Executive teams also need to work together and prepare future leaders to take over. For Watt, these human capabilities merit far greater weight in South African boards’ executive recruitment, assessment, development, and succession planning.
He believes CODE should shape how South African companies prepare people for executive responsibility. “Boards can use CODE to test what a promising candidate has already proved and expose the areas where confidence is still based on assumption. Those findings should translate into specific development goals and give the board something concrete to test before deciding that person is ready.”