Soft Skills Now More Important For Executive Careers, New Report Finds

LinkedIn’s latest report on C-suite and VP-level executives at S&P 500 and venture-backed “unicorn” companies shows how the role of corporate leadership is being influenced by changes to demographics and demands for interpersonal skills.  

The report found that today’s C-suite increasingly values the importance of soft skills over technical skills. In 2023, executives listed a 31% higher rate of soft skills on their LinkedIn profiles compared to 2018.  

The top 10 fastest growing soft skills among C-suite members and executives are skills including “strategic thinking,” “storytelling,” and “conflict resolution/negotiation.” The highest-valued soft skill is “presentations,” but the entire top 10 list is increasingly seen as necessities for great leadership to address challenges in the workplace.  

It also shows that firms are prioritizing people-centered interpersonal skills alongside the more technical demands of running a business. 

LinkedIn’s analysis shows the C-suite and executive branch is more gender-diverse now than it’s ever been before, though remains far from equal. Women made up around 38.5% of executives in 2023, an increase compared to 34.8% in 2018.  

Researchers note that, if this roughly 10% annual increase is sustained across the workforce over the next decade, gender parity at the highest levels of leadership could be achieved by 2036. 

C-suite age demographics are also changing. According to LinkedIn’s Economic Graph, “Millennials currently make up 44% of exec roles and are on track to surpass Gen X (currently 48% of exec roles) in 2025.” 

Alongside the skill and demographic trends, career paths for executives are also becoming less predictable. The old notion of a single-track career path to the top is quickly being replaced by a more inclusive, skills-based approach to leadership.  

The study found that more executives in today’s workforce have worked in more than just one industry or sector. The percentage of executives who have worked in just one industry has dropped from 89.2% in 2018 to 66.0% in 2023.  

As executives face new pressures from the advancements made in artificial intelligence (AI), new labor market dynamics, and the increasing importance of diverse leadership, today’s C-suites are prioritizing greater adaptability and interpersonal skills over technical ones.