Global Leadership Forecast 2025

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Global Leadership Forecast 2025

Europe Leadership Report 2025

Global Leadership Forecast 2025: Insights and Trends

The Global Leadership Forecast 2025 delivers critical insights into today’s top leadership challenges, including bench strength, trust, and CEOs’ top concerns. For the first time, the report explores AI's impact on leadership roles, teams, and strategies.Based on rigorous research and global data collection, the forecast comprehensively examines the complexities of leadership development, highlighting skill gaps, talent challenges, and the evolving expectations of modern leaders.

Gain insight into the strategies that enable organizations to develop effective, adaptable leadership teams to tackle today’s challenges and seize tomorrow’s opportunities.

Download Global Report

Global Leadership 2025: Insights and Trends

The Global Leadership Forecast 2025 delivers critical insights into today’s top leadership challenges, including bench strength, trust, and CEOs’ top concerns. For the first time, the report explores AI's impact on leadership roles, teams, and strategies. Based on rigorous research and global data collection, the forecast comprehensively examines the complexities of leadership development, highlighting skill gaps, talent challenges, and the evolving expectations of modern leaders.

Gain insight into the strategies that enable organizations to develop effective, adaptable leadership teams to tackle today’s challenges and seize tomorrow’s opportunities

Download Global Report

Europe Leadership Report 2025: Trends, Challenges, and Solutions

The Europe Leadership Report 2025, part of DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast series, provides essential insights into evolving leadership challenges across Europe

Amid economic turbulence, technological advancements, and shifting workforce dynamics, European leaders face unprecedented pressure to adapt. The report spotlights critical concerns, including leadership stress, trust deficits, readiness for AI integration, and gaps in frontline leaders’ sense of purpose.

Discover evidence-based strategies to rebuild trust, ignite purpose, and cultivate resilient leadership in an ever-changing business landscape.

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What It Takes to Lead: The New Leadership Playbook

Leadership is reaching an inflection point. Accelerating change, AI disruption, and rising expectations are reshaping what it takes to lead and demanding unprecedented agility. While driving business results remains critical, today’s exceptional leaders must also thrive amidst continuous change and master the human elements: building trust, cultivating growth, and forging authentic connection. Our forecast reveals how organizations that develop these vital capabilities transform leadership into their greatest competitive advantage.

Report Finding

Leadership Trust Crisis

Leadership credibility is eroding, with trust in managers dropping from 46% to 29% since 2022. Global challenges, workplace polarization, and generational divides intensify the leadership trust crisis. Without strategic intervention, this erosion threatens retention, weakens leadership pipelines, and undermines organizational performance.

Report Finding

Leadership AI Divide

AI adoption exposes a leadership divide: frontline managers, burdened by implementation responsibilities, are 3X more likely to be concerned about the impact of AI than senior leaders. Low trust in senior leadership further hinders their alignment. Success hinges on bridging this gap through transparent communication, collaborative involvement, and aligned leadership teams.

Report Finding

Leaders Under Pressure

Leader stress is escalating, with 71% reporting increased stress and 54% of those leaders feeling concerned about burnout. Time scarcity is a key driver, with only 30% feeling they have enough time to fulfill their responsibilities. Alarmingly, 40% of leaders who reported increased stress said they also considered leaving their leadership role, revealing a systemic risk to leadership pipelines and highlighting the critical need for organizations to reimagine how they support and empower their leaders.

Report Finding

Top Talent Dilemma

CEOs face a critical paradox: retaining top talent while managing costs amid economic uncertainty. More than half rank talent as their primary concern for the next five years. For them, the risk is clear: economic pressures may demand cuts but losing key talent risks eroding leadership pipelines and resilience. Long-term success hinges on balancing talent investment with fiscal prudence.

Report Finding

Future Skills Shortfall

Eighty-three percent of HR leaders say there is a growing demand for new leadership skills, yet development lags. Key future-focused skills—setting strategy, change management, talent development, and decision making—remain critically underdeveloped, threatening innovation and growth in an evolving business landscape.

Explore the Global Leadership Forecast 2025 Today

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About the Global Leadership Forecast Series

DDI's Global Leadership Forecast is the world's most extensive study examining leadership practices and their business impact across industries and economies. For over two decades, this research has captured the evolving dynamics of global leadership, drawing insights from 10,796 leaders and 2,014 organizations worldwide in its latest edition. Packed with rich data and actionable strategies, the Global Leadership Forecast equips organizations with evidence-based solutions to transform leadership potential into lasting competitive advantage.