Bob Sternfels: Leading with Clarity in a Complex World

As Global Managing Partner at McKinsey & Company, Bob Sternfels helps leaders and organizations navigate disruption and build resilience. At Oslo Business Forum, he shared a message that felt both urgent and grounding: in an unpredictable world, clarity is the new competitive advantage.

“I’m going to show you how to lead with clarity in an unpredictable world and realize lasting and substantial performance,” said Bob.

He offered three insights for leaders building strategy and culture in the age of complexity:

1. Strategy is more relevant than ever.
2. Organization is the critical companion to strategy.
3. How we lead as individuals may matter most of all.

Strategy: More Important Than Ever
Baseline uncertainty has more than doubled since 1990, and its frequency and impact are accelerating. Artificial intelligence and other disruptive forces are reshaping entire industries faster than most leaders can anticipate.


"The rewards for bold navigation have never been higher."


Bob warned that responding with caution can be as dangerous as failing to adapt. “Aiming too low can kill you,” he said. The rewards for bold navigation have never been higher, as most industries shift toward a “winner-take-most” model.

To lead through this volatility, leaders must focus on three strategic priorities:

Targets. Set goals that stretch ambition, not just meet expectations.
Speed. Move ahead of the next S-curve by identifying where to play next.
Discontinuities. Look beyond your industry for insights and resist the instinct to dismiss what doesn’t fit your current model.

Bob Sternfels: Global Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company at Oslo Business Forum  2025. 

Organization: The Companion to Strategy
But strategy alone isn’t enough. We succeed or fail through organization, but most organizational models today are built for a world that no longer exists.

“I often hear from CEOs, ‘My organization is not perfect,’” said Bob. “In fact, I’ve never met one who said they have the perfect model. So, we started digging into why.” 

Bob traced the origins of today’s matrixed structures back to Gil Clee’s Creating a World Enterprise (1959), a framework designed for an era when “technology” meant telephones. “We must get out of this thinking from 1959,” he said.

Modern enterprises need new architecture built for empowerment, speed, and talent agility:

Flatter organizations that emphasize accountability over hierarchy.
Faster organizations that measure and reward speed as a metric of success.
Talent-centric organizations that hire for potential and character, not just credentials, and invest in continuous skill development.

Bob cited research showing that faster organizations outperform slower ones with five times higher innovation and three times higher revenue.

Leadership: As Important as Strategy and Structure
If strategy defines direction and organization enables execution, leadership brings both to life. Today’s employees, Bob noted, expect their companies to take on roles once reserved for governments: addressing issues of well-being, development, and societal impact.

“How you lead determines whether you succeed or fail,” he said, emphasizing four critical traits of next-generation leaders:

1. Exothermic energy. Radiate energy outward by managing your own. Recharge through rest, exercise, and reflection.

2. Continuous learning. Foster curiosity and openness instead of defensiveness.

3. Resilience. Build the capacity to stay centered and rebound quickly.

4. Humor. Use humor to break down hierarchical barriers, invite connection, and fuel creativity and innovation.

The Leadership Equation for the Future
Bob closed with a simple but powerful equation:

Strategy is back. Our organizational models must evolve. And how we lead personally matters more than ever.

When our reality changes, we must change with it. In a world defined by complexity, the leaders who win will be those who combine clarity of strategy, simplicity of structure, and humanity of spirit.

Key Points

• Strategy must adapt as fast as reality. Change is constant, but clarity will be your compass.
• Speed is the new advantage. The fastest organizations are also the most innovative and profitable.
• Outdated organizational models slow you down. Flatten your hierarchy, speed up your execution, and empower your talent.
• Leadership is a human endeavor. Energy, learning, resilience, and humor drive culture

Questions to Consider

• Is your organization designed for agility or for control?
• How are you measuring speed and innovation today?
• Do your goals stretch your ambitions, or simply sustain the status quo?
• What are you doing to recharge and radiate energy for your team?

Join Oslo Business Forum 2026: The Human Edge now! The Human Edge is about unlocking the strengths that no machine can replicate: creativity, courage, trust, and resilience to thrive. Don't get left out - join Northern Europe's greatest leadership happening today!