February 21, 2025
The new CEO playbook: 5 imperatives for high-performing CPG leaders
Consumer product CEOs are pulled in a lot of different directions. They need to drive product innovation and sales and earnings growth, while navigating shifting consumer demand, supply chain disruptions, price increases, fierce competition from challenger brands and rapid technology advancement — think AI.
Leading in this environment calls for a new playbook and an expanding set of leadership skills.
To learn more, we spoke with several top consumer product company CEOs globally about how they are tackling these challenges and what it means to be a high-performing CEO today.
Drive results using agile, empowered leadership
Agile leadership is essential in times of uncertainty and volatility. Effective leaders build trust and foster an adaptive culture, empowering teams to act boldly, work interdependently and collaborate closely to respond to setbacks and changing conditions.
“If one looks at the big CPG companies, we’ve all been set in our ways,” Mondelēz Chairman and CEO Van de Put said. “Accept that’s not going to be the case anymore and you need to constantly, with your people, adapt and change the way you do things. You need a CEO that embraces that.”
Recognize your limitations
Most CEOs recognize that they can’t do everything themselves, but it takes humility to recognize one’s limitations. CEOs who cultivate a diverse ecosystem of internal talent and external resources can better anticipate and respond to emerging developments.
So what is the CEO’s unique role? Carlsberg CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said CEOs “lead firmly by providing direction and purpose, but stepping back from execution to focus on building great, diverse teams that will set their own direction.” The result? An inclusive environment where creativity thrives and decision-making is accelerated.
Embrace technology as a growth enabler
Generative AI and advanced data-gathering tools are disrupting the business landscape, especially for CPG companies. As companies lean into technology as a business enabler, leaders need to clearly communicate its value and its place in the business strategy and the implications for ethics, workforce management and competition.
At the same time, CEOs must consider the appropriate pace and scope of change. As Colgate-Palmolive CEO Noel Wallace said, “Any CEO can fall into a terrible trap of trying to do everything. If you don’t make choices, you won’t get the focus. You want to show the organization that you’re willing to make tough choices in order to move forward.”
Communicate with empathy
CEOs who are unable to effectively engage the organization, win over hearts and minds, and instill confidence risk losing followership and stakeholder support. Effective CEOs motivate across settings — in small or large groups, virtually or in person, scripted or unscripted.
CEOs must inspire their organizations, said Haleon CEO Brian McNamara: “Authenticity is more critical than ever, especially with younger generations. Plain speaking. Telling people how it is.”
Cultivating leaders of the future today
Consumer products companies must compete against technology companies, fast-growing startups and their traditional rivals for top talent. To win the war for leadership talent, companies must have a compelling employee value proposition and a commitment to leadership development. CEO Poul Weihrauch believes the sector has an inherent advantage when it comes to attracting talent: “The beauty is that the products we sell are so easy to understand,” he said. “We are in a very good spot to attract people into the company and our job is to develop and retain them as leaders for the future.”
To learn more about our consumer product CEO research, view the full article: Driving Performance in CPG: A New Playbook for CEOs.