At Kerry Consulting, we recently conducted a poll asking business leaders across Southeast Asia which trait they value most in crisis-era leaders.
Composure emerged as the clear frontrunner, ahead of decisiveness, adaptability, endurance, and foresight.
This result reflects a growing consensus, one that our consultants increasingly hear echoed by clients across industries: in times of uncertainty, the ability to remain calm and clear-headed is what sets the most effective leaders apart.
What Is Composure, Really?
Composure, in a leadership context, is the ability to maintain emotional equilibrium under pressure. It does not mean detachment or denial, but the deliberate regulation of one’s emotional responses in order to stay effective. Academic literature often equates composure with low neuroticism, high emotional stability, and strong self-regulation — traits which enable rational thinking even when events are spiralling.
Importantly, composure is not the absence of emotion. It’s the ability to channel emotion constructively. A composed leader feels the tension of a major restructuring, the pressure of economic downturns, the urgency of a geopolitical shock — but doesn’t allow those feelings to dominate their behaviour. Instead, they acknowledge the reality, gather facts, and act from a place of clarity.
In high-stakes moments, leaders are emotional anchors for their teams. Numerous studies in organisational psychology have demonstrated that team members unconsciously mirror the emotional state of their leader. A composed leader transmits steadiness. An unravelling leader — no matter how decisive or visionary — risks spreading anxiety, confusion, and ultimately poor judgement throughout the organisation.
Is Composure a Fixed Trait?
To some extent, yes. Psychological models such as the Five-Factor Model include emotional stability as a core personality trait. Research consistently links this quality with higher leadership effectiveness. Leaders who score low in neuroticism — that is, those who are less prone to anxiety and volatility — are more likely to perform well under pressure.
That said, composure is not wholly innate. It is also a skill that can be trained and strengthened over time. Emotional regulation strategies — including mindfulness, reframing, and scenario planning — have been shown to significantly improve an individual’s ability to stay calm in challenging situations.
In fact, leadership development programmes increasingly incorporate resilience and stress-management training as standard components. The message is clear: while some individuals may be naturally composed, all leaders can — and should — work to become more composed, particularly as the frequency of crises rises.
Why Composure Tops the List in Crisis Leadership
1. Composure makes other traits usable.
Stress disrupts cognition. The part of the brain responsible for complex decision-making — the prefrontal cortex — is impaired when leaders are overwhelmed by emotion. A visionary plan is useless if the person executing it is panicking. Composure keeps the mind clear, so foresight, adaptability, or decisiveness can be applied meaningfully.
2. Composure builds trust.
In moments of crisis, people crave stability. A leader who projects calm gives confidence that the situation — while difficult — is under control. Research has shown that emotional regulation in leaders is directly linked to follower trust and perceived competence. Particularly in culturally diverse settings like Southeast Asia, where harmony and collectedness are often equated with authority, composure signals capability.
3. Composure reduces mistakes.
While decisiveness is often praised, hasty decisions made in a state of agitation can do more harm than good. Composed leaders are more likely to slow down their thinking, assess the situation accurately, and take action that is timely and appropriate. They make fewer errors, communicate more clearly, and recover more quickly from setbacks.
4. Composure prevents burnout — in the leader and the team.
Endurance, when coupled with composure, becomes sustainable. Leaders who persevere through a crisis while maintaining their calm are more likely to preserve their own energy and model emotional resilience for their teams. Composure shifts endurance from a grind into a steady, values-driven commitment.
The Importance of Composure
Composure is not merely one leadership trait among many — it is the condition that allows the others to function effectively. Without composure, foresight becomes irrelevant, adaptability turns erratic, endurance risks burnout, and decisiveness can slip into impulsiveness. The value of these traits depends heavily on the emotional steadiness that composure provides.
A leader may foresee market disruptions, but if they panic when they materialise, that foresight fails to translate into effective action. Similarly, a decisive leader who lacks composure may act swiftly but unwisely. Even endurance, a hallmark of resilience, becomes unsustainable without the pacing and perspective that composure offers.
In this way, composure is the trait that activates and integrates the others. It transforms potential into practice. Good leadership in crisis does not rely on isolated strengths, but on how those strengths work in concert — and composure is what allows that concert to happen.
Implications for Executive Recruitment
In assessing leaders for crisis-readiness, employers should look beyond CV bullet points and consider how candidates behave under pressure. Past experience managing crises can be informative, but even more useful is an understanding of a candidate’s emotional regulation style, stress tolerance, and communication approach when things go wrong.
As executive search partners, we often work with clients to assess composure not as a standalone trait, but in how it enables the execution of broader leadership competencies. This can include how a CFO remained clear-headed during a liquidity squeeze, or how a Head of HR de-escalated a morale crisis during mass restructuring. These behavioural signals are far more revealing than titles or tenures.
In today’s environment — with volatility no longer a temporary state, but a defining feature of business — composure is not just a ‘nice to have.’ It is essential. As clients seek leaders who can navigate prolonged uncertainty, recalibrate in real-time, and lead with steady assurance, composure will increasingly become a benchmark trait in executive hiring.
The Real Test of Senior Leadership
Crises will come in many forms — macroeconomic downturns, policy upheavals, digital disruptions, public health shocks. Some will be anticipated. Others will blindside us. But one constant remains: the best leaders are those who stay composed.
Composure allows leaders to think when others are reacting, to communicate when others are shouting, and to build trust when confidence is scarce. It does not replace other traits — it enables them. And in the boardrooms and leadership teams of Southeast Asia, it is becoming a non-negotiable attribute of those entrusted with navigating the storm.