Leadership
5 CEO Skills That Power Smart Factory Transformation
Discover the five CEO skills manufacturing leaders need to guide plant-level digital transformation and drive real results on the shop floor.
October 30, 2025
The CEO Skills Smart Factories Need to Succeed
“A strong CEO champions technological advancement and acts as the catalyst for sustained progress,” says Korn Ferry’s Jane Edison Stevenson. “They’re often the deciding factor in whether a company can adapt to change and thrive.”
This isn’t just a perspective. It’s a pattern validated by Korn Ferry research. CEOs who demonstrate critical skills such as strategic thinking, network building, communication, courage, and resilience lead companies that achieve 5.5% greater annual revenue growth over four years compared to those who lack those skills. These same skills are essential to leading successful digital transformation, where the challenge is less about tech, and more about people.
As factories invest in the industrial internet of things (IIoT), automation, and predictive analytics, the biggest challenge isn’t always the tech itself. It’s helping people adapt to it.
When workers don’t understand the change or feel left behind, transformation stalls. CEOs and plant leaders who bring clarity, build trust, and support their teams through change are the ones that make real progress using technology.
CEO Skill #1: Strategic Thinking for Smart Factories
Smart factories demand smart foresight.
To be effective digital transformation leaders in manufacturing, CEOs must balance long-term planning with day-to-day performance. Whether it’s evaluating robotics, approving predictive maintenance pilots, or integrating IIoT platforms, industrial strategic thinking is the difference between scattershot experimentation and scalable progress.
Try This:
- Link every capital expenditure to a strategic business case.
- Treat pilot projects as structured learning tools.
- Monitor both digital KPIs and production metrics. Don't trade one for the other.
CEO Skill #2: Network Building Inside and Outside the Plant
Digital transformation in manufacturing can’t happen in a vacuum or in a silo.
CEOs must connect across the organization and beyond to lead plant-level digital transformation. That means breaking down barriers between IT, ops, HR, and finance, while also building smart partnerships with tech vendors, academic labs, and innovation networks.
Try This:
- Build cross-functional steering teams for digital initiatives.
- Prioritize vendor collaboration based on shared outcomes.
- Join peer forums and co-innovation platforms to stay ahead.
CEO Skill #3: Communication That Drives Shop-Floor Buy-In
All factories run on trust—even smart factories.
Our survey data reveals that for 47% of employees, communication is the largest factor that impacts their trust in their employer.
CEO communication must be clear, consistent, and grounded in what matters most to frontline industrial workers. If people don’t understand what’s changing on the factory floor or why it matters, they’ll resist, even if the tech is sound.
Try this:
- Use clear, visual explanations, especially during shift meetings.
- Translate digital transformation goals into daily realities for operators.
- Listen actively, especially when feedback from employees is difficult to hear.
3 Ways to Communicate Change on the Factory Floor
1. Start with “What’s in it for me?”
Clear relevance builds early trust. Before diving into technical details, connect change to real benefits such as safer work, easier tasks, or better tools.
2. Use the rhythm of the workday
Use shift huddles, site visits, and team meetings as natural moments to share updates. Communication sticks when it fits the flow of the floor.
3. Show, don’t just tell
Pair messages with visuals like dashboards, prototypes, demonstrations, or mock-ups. Create a shared understanding of what’s coming and what it will look like in practice.
CEO Skill #4: Courage to Lead Without Guarantees
Transformation requires stepping into the unknown on purpose.
Whether it’s shutting down an outdated production line or retraining a workforce for automation, CEO skills for smart factories include the courage to make bold decisions with imperfect information. Playing it safe can mean falling behind competitors who are already embracing digital change.
Try This:
- Retire systems and processes that can’t support smart factory goals.
- Take calculated risks, but make sure your people understand the “why.”
- Reinforce accountability and support through change, not after it.
Courage in Practice:
Some manufacturing leaders have temporarily slowed legacy production lines to run small-scale robotics pilots. In many cases, they’ve retrained staff to manage digital systems—resulting in faster downtime recovery, improved output, and greater job stability through reskilling.
CEO Skill #5: Resilience in the Face of Real-Time Challenges
Factories face pressure daily, like equipment failures and supply chain bottlenecks.
To withstand these challenges and lead their people through difficulties, CEOs need to be resilient, because their response shapes how their teams respond. When a leader stays grounded and focused during a crisis, they build a culture that recovers faster and grows stronger with each challenge.
Try This:
- Normalize learning from failure without blame.
- Develop rapid response plans for digital system issues.
- Highlight recovery stories that show strength, not just struggle.
Resilience isn’t about bouncing back. It’s about moving forward.
A CEO’s Checklist for Plant-Level Transformation
Strong leadership actively structures transformation from the factory floor to the boardroom.
To apply the five CEO skills throughout the transformation process, use this checklist to self-assess, embed, and grow.
Self-Assess:
- Which skills are natural for you?
- Where do you hesitate?
- Where do your teams need more support?
Embed Into Transformation Milestones:
- Strategic Thinking: Set digital investment criteria
- Networking: Form and lead cross-functional teams
- Communication: Develop frontline change messaging
- Courage: Take calculated risks and greenlight high-potential pilot projects
- Resilience: Host learning reviews after project hiccups
Develop Over Time:
- Work with a coach or advisor who understands the manufacturing landscape.
- Engage in simulation exercises that test crisis response.
Build peer relationships across the industry.
Lead with Clarity and Impact
Digital transformation in manufacturing requires more than machines. It takes skilled leaders to build smart, sustainable, human-centered factories.
CEOs have to guide with strategic focus, build relationships on trust, communicate clearly, make bold decisions, and model steady resilience in the face of challenges.
Because they’re not just adapting the line to technology changes. They’re guiding their organizations toward long-term value and competitive edge.
Is your leadership team prepared to lead plant-level digital transformation with clarity and impact? Reach out to our industrial manufacturing experts for help with developing the CEO skills that matter for manufacturers.
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