Leadership
The End of Contingency Planning
Instead of building contingency plans for contingency plans, boards can handle uncertainty by embracing enterprise resilience.
October 23, 2025
Enterprise Resilience for Boards
It’s become a new drill for boards: Consumer sentiment swinging fast, political landscapes even faster, and operations morphing at the same pace. If there’s anything such a flurry calls for, it’s a contingency plan.
Only now, experts say, planning for one change after another has become too exhausting—not to mention ineffective. Instead, contingencies need their own contingency plan. “People are tired of being told they have to keep bouncing back,” says Jane Edison Stevenson, global vice chair of Korn Ferry’s Board and CEO Services practice. “To create resilience, you’ve got to let leaders put some gas back in the tank.”
If you take a step back from the constant “what if” scenarios that are draining leaders, some organizations are actually thriving right now. Those firms have figured out how to turn all this uncertainty into competitive advantage through enterprise resilience. “It’s on the agenda in every board room, at every meeting for firms that are doing well,” says Dominic Schofield, chair of Korn Ferry’s Board and CEO Services practice in the UK. Instead of just trying to survive the chaos, they're using it as fuel. Here are the strategies they’re using to do it.
Stop Planning for Every Disaster
Yes, you read that right. Companies succeeding right now aren't the ones with binders full of "what if" scenarios. They're the ones with flexible systems and frameworks, talent pipelines diverse enough to produce leaders for any scenario, and decision-making processes that can pivot quickly without losing their strategic direction. They’re operating less like emergency preparedness teams by building adaptability into their core business operations. “In an organization with enterprise resilience, instead of asking what will we do, boards are asking how we can win,” Schofield says.
View Political and Cultural Shifts as Opportunities—Not Threats
When regulations change or consumer behavior shifts, resilient organizations don't just brace for impact—they look for an opening. While everyone else is playing defense, they're spotting opportunities their more reactive competitors completely miss. For example, consider a semiconductor company that focuses on making their chips more accessible by partnering with cloud providers. By doing so, they make themselves a practical alternative for companies that can’t afford the premium chip maker’s price.
Choose and Develop Leaders Based on Optionality
The leaders and directors who are succeeding in this environment aren't just great at executing strategy. They're able to lead through multiple pivots while keeping the organization's culture and stakeholder confidence intact. The key to finding that leader is to prepare and ready multiple types of leaders—not just one—who can slot in, according to what’s needed. “You may need a leader right now who can carry 400 pounds,” says Tierney Remick, co-leader of Korn Ferry’s Board and CEO Services practice. “But in a few months or a year you may need one who sprints. You need to have all your options in the talent pool.”
For more on enterprise leadership, visit Korn Ferry’s board and CEO insights hub.
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