Building Resilience
How board and C-suite collaboration can build organisational resilience
A new comparison of Deloitte’s Global Board and CEO Resilience Survey with Australian trends highlights how local boards are rising to the challenge of disruption. While aligned with their global peers on the fundamentals of resilience, Australian directors are showing a sharper focus on cybersecurity, culture, and talent as the cornerstones of long-term growth.
Boards Leaning In
Globally, 86% of boards say they have stepped up their role in monitoring risk, overseeing growth strategies, and bolstering long-term resilience, with 39% reporting a significant increase. In Australia, the trend is the same: directors confirm they are spending more time on strategy development, scenario planning, and embedding resilience into boardroom culture.
Culture as a Foundation
Open communication, agility, and trust are seen as essential leadership factors in building resilience. Globally, 66% of board and C-suite leaders rank transparent communication as the single most important factor, and Australian directors echo this view, but with trends showing confidence that they are embedding resilience into organisational culture.
Resilience isn’t just about defence. It’s about understanding evolving customer and stakeholder expectations and taking considered risks to secure growth over the longer-term. This will require courage, agility, but most importantly, the right leadership tone and organisational culture for success.
Tharani Jegatheeswaran, Deloitte National Client Relationships Leader and Boardroom Program Leader
Resources and Risks
Boards worldwide express high confidence in financial strength (82% agree or strongly agree) but are less convinced about technology (63%) and human capital (64%). Australia mirrors this pattern: the trend indicated finances are strong, but technology readiness is a concern, and talent remains a critical gap.
When it comes to risks, the differences sharpen:
- Global: In the short term (2025), the top concerns are geopolitical and economic volatility (55%), cybersecurity (50%), and tech disruption (42%). In the long term, technology disruption rises to the top (52%), followed by talent (42%) and geopolitics (41%).
- Australia: The trending areas of focus for boards are cybersecurity, digital disruption, and human capital, showing a more concentrated lens compared to the broader global risk profile.
How Boards Engage
Both Australian and global boards are leaning towards more scenario planning and informal board-executive discussions to stay ahead of disruption. While 57% of global respondents say their chairs have increased informal meetings with the CEO, Australian directors also point to more frequent scenario-based meetings as the best way to boost effectiveness. But in both cases, ad-hoc committees of the board are viewed as adding little value.
The Bottom Line
Australian boards are aligned with global peers in stepping up governance, focusing on culture, and investing in scenario planning to boost resilience. But the local emphasis on cybersecurity and cultural agility suggests that Australian directors see less impact on their business from global geopolitical challenges and are positioning themselves proactively addressing emerging risks.
Resilience, in both Australia and worldwide, is being reframed not just as defence against disruption, but as a platform for growth, opportunity, and long-term trust.
The global report shows we’re all grappling with the same significant priorities of technology, talent, and geopolitics. Increasing governance and the use of scenario analysis is helping guide boards through an increasingly turbulent global environment. What stands out in Australia is how strongly boards are prioritising cybersecurity and culture as the cornerstones of resilience.
Tom Imbesi, Climate Leader, Global Boardroom Program & former Chair of Deloitte Australia
