A new study by IBM features one-on-one interviews with 1,500 corporate and public sector leaders in 60 countries and 33 industries. Asked what they think the top business strategy will be for the next five years, 88% believe that getting closer to the customer is most important, 81% said people skills, and 76% listed insight and intelligence. (“The Most Important Leadership Quality for CEOs? Creativity,” Austin Carr, FastCompany, May 18, 2010)

The CEOs identified the most important leadership qualities over the next five years as creativity (60%), integrity (52%), and global thinking (35%). American CEOs ranked integrity higher than CEOs in other parts of the world by 65% compared to 29-48%. Nearly double the number of CEOs in China listed global thinking as a top leadership quality compared to European and North American CEOs.

Here at Baldrige.com we have talked quite a bit about the need to get closer to your customers and approaches for doing so. In “Stakeholder Mapping” we looked at a new approach to identifying stakeholders and their requirements and organizing the information for planning and action. In “Be Careful How You Measure Customer Satisfaction,” we exposed some of the weaknesses of traditional measures and offered new alternatives. In “Walk in Your Customer’s Body Armor” we focused on how USAA excels at understanding and meetings its customers’ requirements. And in “9 Ways to Get Closer to Customers,” we listed nine proven approaches for listening to the Voice of the Customer.

People skills can be taught through leadership development programs, which is another area of focus in the Baldrige Criteria. Insight into how your organizations works and what needs to be improved can be gained by conducting Baldrige assessments.

When it comes to intelligence, you’re on your own.

To get a copy of the 2010 IBM CEO Study, watch video discussions of the study’s finding, or participate in a global dialogue, check out the IBM 2010 CEO Study Webcast here.

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