In today’s environment, effective enterprise risk management is no longer just about frameworks, risk registers, or scoring model — it is fundamentally about leadership.

Organizations are operating amid unprecedented levels of complexity. Geopolitical instability, rapid technological change, regulatory shifts, and interconnected global systems have made sudden disruption the norm rather than the exception. In this environment, the organizations that perform best are those with ERM leaders who can help the enterprise make sense of uncertainty, align decision-makers, and guide the organization forward with confidence.

This thought leadership piece Leadership Traits for Navigating Complexity (PDF), authored by Don Pagach, professor and director of research for the NC State ERM Initiative, distills key insights from senior ERM executives who participated in NC State’s Spring 2026 ERM Roundtable Summit. Drawing directly from their real-world experience, the article outlines the leadership traits that distinguish highly effective ERM leaders from those who remain narrowly focused on technical risk processes.

The insights captured in this article emphasize a critical shift. ERM leaders must evolve from being risk technicians to becoming enterprise-wide leaders who help organizations navigate complexity. That evolution requires skills that go beyond analysis—skills rooted in alignment, relationships, adaptability, and judgment.

Core Leadership Actions Highlighted in the Article

The article organizes ERM leadership effectiveness around four core actions that experienced risk executives view as essential:

1. Achieve Alignment Among Risk Parties

Effective ERM leaders create common ground across the organization by ensuring shared definitions of risk, clarifying roles across lines of defense, prioritizing the risks that truly matter, and leveraging technology to create a more integrated and forward-looking risk view.

2. Build Relationships to Lead

ERM influence is built on trust. The article highlights how strong relationships — across functions, business units, and leadership levels — enable ERM leaders to surface emerging risks earlier, encourage a speak-up culture, and maintain program effectiveness during periods of significant organizational change.

3. Engage with an Adaptive (Not Just Technical) Mindset

In complex environments, many risks cannot be solved with technical fixes alone. The article underscores the importance of adaptive leadership, sense-making, and perspective-shifting so ERM leaders can uncover underlying risk patterns and respond effectively to ambiguous, fast-moving situations.

4. Embrace the Capabilities of Highly Effective Risk Leaders

Using a compelling analogy drawn from safari guides operating in highly uncertain environments, the article illustrates how strong ERM leaders anticipate fast-moving risks, challenge assumptions, translate complexity into credible decisions, and lead decisively under pressure.

Why Leadership Is the Differentiator in ERM

Many organizations have invested heavily in ERM tools, governance structures, and reporting mechanisms. Yet leaders consistently observe that ERM still falls short of its potential impact when it remains disconnected from strategy, culture, and decision-making.

Who Should Read This

This thought piece is especially relevant for:

• Chief Risk Officers and ERM leaders
• Senior executives responsible for enterprise-wide risk oversight
• Board members and risk committee members
• Internal audit, compliance, and assurance leaders
• ERM professionals seeking to elevate their strategic impact

Download the Full Article

The full article expands on these leadership traits with concrete examples and insights directly from experienced ERM executives who are navigating uncertainty in real time.

About the Author

Don Pagach serves as professor of accounting and director of research for the ERM Initiative in the Poole College of Management, where he helps lead our ongoing research related to ERM. Dr. Pagach has conducted extensive academic research that examines characteristics of organizations that implement enterprise risk management and how investors in the marketplace value the embrace by organizations of ERM processes. Currently he has ongoing research projects that examine the impact of integrating an organization’s ERM processes with its focus on sustainability. He also works closely with visiting PhD students who come to NC State to partner on research related to ERM. Dr. Pagach is one of the co-authors of the ERM Initiative’s annual survey report on the Executive Perspectives on Top Risks, in partnership with Protiviti.

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