Shifting attitudes and meaning for leaders and leadership – research findings.

This was my 2024 research project and it was a fascinating exploration. Thank you to the 180 people who completed a survey and the 40 people who got involved in the deeper dive roundtables.

If I was to sum up the findings in a few phrases I would say:

• Leaders must understand the humans they work with and lead – their motivation, how they work best and what they need to develop.

• Talk of generational groupings while interesting can feed our biases and detract from the development of that understanding.

• Societal shifts such as house prices, cost of living and parenting alongside life stages of individuals mean that leaders are likely to need to lead differently to the way in which their younger selves were led.

• Leadership needs to exist at all levels of an organisation, not just a few people at the top. It also needs to be redefined.

• Demands on leaders are increasing. Investing in leadership will contribute to an organisation’s adapatability, distinctiveness and success in my view, ultimately providing competitive advantage.

• Many people have re-evaluated their relationship with work. It remains important and can be an anchor for people in uncertain times but we need to get it right.

• Some old workplace norms such as needing everyone to do free overtime are being challenged and business models need a rethink as a result.

I have been discussing the findings with individuals groups and specific organisations this year and plan to do the research again next year. If you would like to be involved or would like to discuss it further please do get in touch.