CEOs hold the most powerful positions in business organisations and are ultimately responsible for their company's direction. But to what extent do their personal characteristics play a role in this? According to Veter, it's important to look at strategic leadership from a more human perspective: ‘CEOs are not just professionals, but also people with experiences, values and beliefs that shape their work.’

Veter investigated the impact of these personal characteristics on strategic decision-making and company outcomes. She used panel data from S&P 100 companies and a survey of 150 Dutch executives and supervisors, many of whom were CEOs.

Predominantly feminine leadership profile stimulates corporate social responsibility

Veter first examined how CEOs' "masculine" and "feminine" characteristics relate to corporate social responsibility, such as sustainable environmental practices and employee well-being. She analysed CEOs' annual letters to shareholders using a text analysis tool. Based on their language use, each CEO was assigned a masculinity/femininity score. ‘This allowed us to identify feminine men and masculine women, and vice versa,’ Veter explains.

Companies with CEOs who exhibit predominantly feminine characteristics (whether men or women) invest significantly more in corporate social responsibility than companies with primarily masculine-oriented CEOs. ‘This difference does become smaller when the business risk is high or when shareholders wield significant influence,’ Veter explains.

Political orientation and socio-economic background influence sustainability focus

 Veter then investigated how political preference, socio-economic background and openness to change determine which sustainable development goals CEOs consider important.

Progressive CEOs and CEOs from lower and higher socio-economic backgrounds are more committed to social and environmental goals, such as combating inequality and climate change and conserving biodiversity.

Conservative and middle-class CEOs tend to focus more on economic goals, such as achieving sustainable economic growth, innovation and creating jobs.

Strikingly, among managers who are very open to change, socio-economic background is less predictive.

Marriage and parenthood are linked to a focus on growth

Finally, Veter investigated whether marriage and parenthood influence the extent to which CEOs focus on company growth. ‘CEOs have a very broad range of responsibilities and are constantly making choices regarding revenue, costs and stakeholder interests,’ Veter explains. ‘We wanted to know whether family circumstances influence how CEOs fulfil these responsibilities.’

Her analysis, which included both male and female CEOs, shows that marriage and parenthood are correlated with company growth. Married CEOs achieved higher growth on average, while CEOs with children tended to see lower growth. Business risk does play a role in this: in highly leveraged companies with a relatively large long-term debt burden, it matters less whether the CEO is married.

The person behind the leader is key

Instead of portraying a CEO as rational and focused on personal gain, Veter's research shows that experiences, values, family and background also matter. She argues that this also has practical implications: ‘When selecting and mentoring CEOs, you should look beyond just a resume and past performance – for example, also at someone's values ​​and way of seeing the world.’

Details PhD thesis

Lisanne Veter, 2025, 'CEO influence on strategic decisions and firm outcomes. A behavioral perspective'. Supervisors: Prof. H.W. Volberda and Prof. H.R. Commandeur. Co-supervisor: Prof. J.S. Sidhu.

Time and location

Thursday january 8, 2026, 10.00-11.30, Agnietenkapel, Amsterdam