A survey of executives from 13 nations found that those working in the developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are the most positive about the direction of corporate leadership, according to research from an international executive search organisation.

The Korn/Ferry Institute’s Confidence in Leadership Index shows that support for chief executives worldwide has inched up over the past year, and that optimism about the direction of leadership is again on the rise. However, those executives in the US and the UK remain the least optimistic.

The research focuses on the opinions of global executives about the leadership within their organisations. Of six ’layers’ of corporate leadership (from self-assessed rankings of one’s own leadership ability to credibility of the C-suite and board of directors), only CEOs showed quarter-over-quarter improvement. The mean score for CEOs has gained four points, from 67 in Q2 2009, to 71 in Q1 2010.

“Increased confidence at the CEO level is a powerful indicator of business recovery,” said Ana Dutra, CEO, Korn/Ferry leadership and talent consulting. “Leaders at the top of the house set the tone for their organisations, and steadily increasing support indicates that CEOs’ actions are instilling confidence in their employees, peers and directors.”

Leaders at the top of the house set the tone for their organisations, and steadily increasing support indicates that CEOs’ actions are instilling confidence in their employees, peers and directors.

In addition, data shows wide differences in how executives around the globe feel about the direction of corporate leadership. On a scale from -100 (getting worse) to +100 (getting better), BRIC executives expressed the strongest view that their corporate leadership is improving, posting marks of 53, 52, 44 and 36 respectively against a global mean of 22. The mean scores of Canada, the US and the UK were slightly negative: -1, -4 and -5 respectively, representing the bottom three positions.

Other significant findings from the full-year analysis include:

• India’s executives rank the credibility of its CEOs (81) and the credibility of corporate leadership in general (78) highest among 13 countries in the global sample. The global mean for CEO credibility was 69 and for corporate leadership in general it was 70.
• Executives in Canada (83), Australia (81) and the US (78) are the most trusting of their corporate leaders to adhere to ethical business practices. Japan (59) and Italy (57) fell well below the global average of 70.
• The ability to deal with business strategy was the factor the surveyed executives found most important.
• Significant findings from Q1 2010 include:
• North American executives continue to rank that region’s overall corporate leadership highest for credibility, with a score of 75 on a 100-point scale. Europeans’ ranking of their leadership declined by two points, back to its Q1 2009 low of 63. The global average is 70.
• Every category in the Leadership Trust Index slipped in Q1 2010 and the overall Leadership Trust Index declined by three points to 69.
• The optimism gap narrowed. North America jumped 10.2 points last quarter on a scale from -100 to +100, but remained the least optimistic region. Central/South America dropped 5.6 points but remained the most optimistic region.

The korn/ferry institute Confidence in Leadership Index asks executives in 13 countries questions that produce metrics for: 1) credibility of leadership; 2) trust of leadership; 3) leadership characteristics (’factors’); and 4) direction of leadership. The study has been fielded quarterly since Q2 2009. The Q1 survey was fielded by Braun Research 19-26 February, 2010

Key indicators
Direction of leadership
Year-long data reveals that BRIC nations are the most optimistic about the direction of their corporate leadership, as rated on a -100 (getting worse) to +100 (getting better) scale. The most developed economies – the UK, US and Canada – all feel that leadership is headed in a negative direction
Global credibility of leadership
Over the past year, executives in India expressed the most confidence in the credibility of their business leadership and CEOs – 78 index points compared to an average of 70. Executives in Japan gave their CEOs the lowest marks of all for credibility, posting an index score of just 58
Positivity of leadership
Globally, executives were increasingly positive about the direction of business leadership, with the index score up 3.6 points over Q4 results and 6.5 points compared to Q2 2009