Over the years, I’ve attended more executive leadership conferences than I can count. I’ve completed Gallup Strengths, Myers-Briggs and countless other assessments designed to explain how leaders think, communicate and make decisions. I’ve listened to CEOs, military leaders, economists, psychologists and entrepreneurs share their perspectives on leadership. I’ve also had the privilege of interviewing Formula 1 drivers, NASA leaders and entrepreneurs about what separates exceptional performers from merely competent ones.
What strikes me looking back isn’t how different their experiences have been.
The common thread I noticed was how the most effective leaders aren’t simply experts in their own disciplines. They’re relentlessly curious about everyone else’s. They recognise patterns others overlook. They ask better questions before they offer better answers. Above all, they’re exceptional interpreters. They take seemingly unrelated information, connect it to the broader business context and help others understand what it means.
For decades, organisations rewarded specialisation. The best in-house lawyer became general counsel. The best corporate marketer became chief marketing officer. The best technologist at a company became chief information officer. This pattern reflected an era when expertise was the scarcest and most valued resource.
Today, information to acquire expertise is abundant.
Artificial intelligence can summarise research in seconds. Dashboards deliver real-time metrics.
The challenge is no longer gaining information. It’s interpreting it.
More and more I notice that the next generation of leaders will be distinguished less by what they know than by how well they interpret what everyone else knows. They’ll connect developments in technology with changes in client expectations. They’ll understand how geopolitical events influence markets, how regulation shapes innovation and how organisational culture affects performance. They’ll recognise that no important business decision lives inside a single function anymore.
Interpretation is more than analysis.
It requires context.
It requires judgement.
It requires understanding not only what is happening, but why it matters and what should happen next.
As I’ve seen not only from my experience but the careers of friends, peers and mentors, the role of the chief communications officer has become increasingly strategic. Communications leaders have long been required to interpret complex information for multiple audiences while balancing business priorities, stakeholder expectations and reputational considerations. They have rarely had the luxury of viewing issues through a single functional lens.
Today, every executive is becoming an enterprise interpreter.
The CFO must understand technology.
The CIO must appreciate culture.
The general counsel must anticipate geopolitical risk.
The chief talent officer must understand economics and demographics.
Functional expertise still matters. But the organisations that thrive won’t necessarily be those with the smartest specialists. They’ll be the ones whose leaders can interpret complexity, connect the dots across disciplines and help others make better decisions.
In an age increasingly defined by artificial intelligence, information will continue to become more accessible.
Judgement will become more valuable.
And the executives who matter most won’t simply be experts.
They’ll be enterprise interpreters.
Allan Schoenberg is the chief communications officer at Vinson & Elkins.
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