Explore how leadership will change in the coming years. Learn about emerging leadership trends and how to prepare for the future of leadership.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Thu 6th November 2025
Leadership will change fundamentally as organisations adapt to technological disruption, shifting workforce expectations, and increasing complexity. Research from Deloitte indicates that 86% of executives believe leadership requirements are changing faster than ever before, yet only 14% feel confident their organisations are developing leaders equipped for future challenges. The leadership approaches that succeeded in the past will prove insufficient for the challenges ahead. Those who understand how leadership is changing—and develop capabilities accordingly—will thrive while others struggle.
This guide explores how leadership is evolving, what's driving these changes, and how current leaders can prepare for the future.
Multiple forces are transforming leadership requirements:
Technological disruption: Artificial intelligence, automation, and digital transformation fundamentally alter work. Leaders must guide organisations through continuous technological change while leveraging technology's possibilities.
Workforce evolution: Generational shifts, remote work expansion, and changing expectations about purpose and flexibility reshape employee-employer relationships. Leaders must engage workforces with different values and needs.
Increasing complexity: Global interconnection, faster change cycles, and systemic challenges create unprecedented complexity. Simple solutions to complex problems no longer suffice.
Information democratisation: Universal access to information changes authority dynamics. Leadership can no longer rely on information control or superior knowledge.
Stakeholder expansion: Beyond shareholders, organisations must serve employees, communities, environments, and broader societies. Multi-stakeholder leadership replaces shareholder primacy.
Crisis frequency: Economic disruptions, pandemics, climate events, and social upheavals occur more frequently. Crisis leadership becomes ongoing rather than exceptional.
| Change Driver | Leadership Implication | Required Adaptation |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | Guide digital transformation | Tech fluency |
| Workforce | Engage diverse expectations | Flexibility, purpose |
| Complexity | Navigate uncertainty | Systems thinking |
| Information | Lead without information control | Influence, trust |
| Stakeholders | Balance multiple interests | Multi-stakeholder focus |
| Crisis | Continuous adaptation | Resilience, agility |
These forces collectively reshape leadership:
From directive to enabling: Leaders will enable others' success rather than directing their actions. Empowerment replaces control.
From certain to adaptive: Leaders will navigate uncertainty rather than execute fixed plans. Adaptation replaces prediction.
From hierarchical to networked: Leadership will distribute across networks rather than concentrate in hierarchies.
From transactional to purpose-driven: Leaders will engage through purpose and meaning rather than purely transactional relationships.
From human-only to human-machine: Leaders will orchestrate human-machine collaboration rather than leading only humans.
From local to systemic: Leaders will address systemic challenges rather than optimising individual units.
Emerging leadership behaviours include:
Facilitating rather than directing: Leaders will create conditions for others' success rather than providing detailed direction. Facilitation enables distributed problem-solving.
Coaching rather than instructing: Leaders will develop others through coaching conversations rather than instruction. Coaching builds capability.
Questioning rather than answering: Leaders will ask powerful questions rather than provide answers. Questions stimulate thinking others can apply broadly.
Experimenting rather than perfecting: Leaders will embrace experimentation over perfecting plans before action. Learning through doing accelerates adaptation.
Connecting rather than controlling: Leaders will build connections across boundaries rather than controlling within them. Connection enables collaboration.
Sensing rather than planning: Leaders will continuously sense environmental changes rather than relying on periodic planning. Sensing enables responsiveness.
Some traditional leadership behaviours will diminish:
Detailed directing: Specifying exactly how work should be done. Autonomy replaces detailed direction.
Information hoarding: Using information control as power source. Transparency replaces hoarding.
Individual heroics: Solo problem-solving and decision-making. Collective intelligence replaces individual heroics.
Long-term planning: Multi-year plans assumed to predict the future. Adaptive strategy replaces rigid planning.
Competitive orientation: Internal competition as motivation source. Collaboration replaces internal competition.
Risk avoidance: Minimising all risk. Intelligent risk-taking replaces blanket avoidance.
Essential future leadership skills include:
1. Digital fluency: Understanding technology's possibilities and limitations. Leading technology-enabled transformation.
2. Adaptive thinking: Adjusting approaches as circumstances change. Thriving in uncertainty.
3. Systems perspective: Understanding interconnections and systemic dynamics. Seeing patterns and implications.
4. Emotional intelligence: Understanding and managing emotions—one's own and others'. Building trust and connection.
5. Collaborative capability: Working effectively across boundaries, functions, and organisations.
6. Cultural intelligence: Operating effectively across cultural contexts. Leading globally diverse teams.
7. Learning agility: Learning quickly from experience. Continuously updating knowledge and approaches.
8. Purpose articulation: Connecting work to meaning and contribution. Inspiring through purpose.
Developing future-ready skills requires:
Diverse experiences: Seek assignments across functions, geographies, and organisation types. Breadth builds adaptability.
Continuous learning: Commit to ongoing skill development. Future leadership requires constant learning.
Feedback seeking: Actively solicit input on your leadership. Feedback accelerates development.
Experimentation: Try new approaches deliberately. Learning through doing develops skills.
Reflection: Process experiences to extract learning. Reflection converts experience to capability.
Mentoring relationships: Learn from others navigating similar challenges. Mentors accelerate development.
Coaching engagement: Work with coaches to develop specific capabilities. Coaching personalises development.
| Skill Area | Development Approach | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Digital fluency | Tech immersion, learning | Ongoing |
| Adaptive thinking | Diverse challenges | Years |
| Systems perspective | Cross-functional experience | Years |
| Emotional intelligence | Feedback, coaching | Ongoing |
| Collaboration | Partnership projects | Ongoing |
| Cultural intelligence | Global experience | Years |
| Learning agility | Stretch assignments | Ongoing |
Hierarchy won't disappear entirely but will evolve:
Flattening structures: Organisations will remove layers, pushing decision-making closer to information and action.
Network overlays: Formal hierarchies will coexist with informal networks where influence flows differently from authority.
Dynamic authority: Authority will shift based on context rather than remaining fixed in positions.
Team-based structures: Self-managing teams will handle more work, with leaders coordinating across teams.
Project-based organisation: People will move between projects rather than remaining in fixed functional positions.
Hybrid models: Most organisations will blend hierarchical and network elements rather than choosing one.
Leadership roles will evolve:
From individual to collective: Leadership will increasingly be shared among team members rather than vested in individuals.
From permanent to situational: Leadership will shift based on situational requirements rather than being permanently assigned.
From broad to focused: Some leadership roles will become more specialised as complexity increases.
From internal to boundary-spanning: More leaders will operate across organisational boundaries—with partners, communities, and ecosystems.
From strategic to operational blur: Distinctions between strategic and operational leadership will blur as all levels require strategic thinking.
Preparing for leadership change involves:
1. Assess current capabilities: Evaluate your leadership against future requirements. Identify gaps honestly.
2. Develop future-ready skills: Invest in building capabilities that will matter more going forward.
3. Update mental models: Challenge assumptions about what leadership requires. Embrace new approaches.
4. Build adaptability: Strengthen capacity to adjust as requirements continue evolving.
5. Expand networks: Develop relationships that will support future leadership effectiveness.
6. Embrace technology: Become comfortable with technology that will increasingly shape leadership context.
7. Cultivate learning orientation: Commit to continuous learning as leadership continues evolving.
8. Model desired behaviours: Demonstrate the leadership approaches your organisation will need.
Organisations must also adapt:
Update leadership models: Redefine what leadership means for future requirements.
Redesign development: Create development programmes building future-ready capabilities.
Adjust selection criteria: Hire and promote based on emerging leadership requirements.
Enable experimentation: Create space for leaders to try new approaches.
Build learning cultures: Foster environments supporting continuous learning and adaptation.
Flatten appropriately: Remove unnecessary hierarchy while maintaining necessary coordination.
Invest in capability: Allocate resources to developing future leadership capacity.
Common misconceptions include:
"Technology will replace leadership": Technology will change leadership but not eliminate it. Human leadership remains essential for purpose, meaning, and complex judgment.
"Hierarchy will completely disappear": Some hierarchy will persist for coordination, accountability, and career progression. Evolution not elimination.
"Soft skills will dominate": Technical skills will remain important alongside interpersonal capabilities. Balance matters.
"Change will stop": Leadership evolution will continue indefinitely. Preparing for change means building adaptation capacity, not reaching a stable state.
"Young people will automatically lead better": Digital natives have some advantages but lack experience. Effective future leaders will combine perspectives across generations.
"My current approach will suffice": Leadership approaches require continuous updating. Past success doesn't guarantee future effectiveness.
Leadership will shift from directive to enabling, from certain to adaptive, from hierarchical to networked, and from transactional to purpose-driven. Leaders will facilitate rather than direct, coach rather than instruct, and orchestrate human-machine collaboration. These changes respond to technological disruption, workforce evolution, increasing complexity, and stakeholder expansion.
Future leaders will need: digital fluency to guide technology-enabled transformation, adaptive thinking to thrive in uncertainty, systems perspective to understand interconnections, emotional intelligence to build trust, collaborative capability to work across boundaries, cultural intelligence for global contexts, learning agility for continuous development, and purpose articulation to inspire through meaning.
Leadership will become differently important rather than less important. As work becomes more complex and knowledge-based, leadership that enables, inspires, and develops others will matter more. What changes is how leadership is exercised—less through control and direction, more through influence and empowerment. Human leadership remains essential for purpose, meaning, and complex judgment.
Prepare by: assessing your capabilities against future requirements, developing skills that will matter more, updating mental models about what leadership requires, building adaptability for ongoing change, expanding networks supporting future effectiveness, embracing technology shaping leadership context, cultivating learning orientation for continuous evolution, and modelling desired leadership behaviours.
Hierarchy won't completely disappear but will evolve. Structures will flatten, networks will overlay formal hierarchies, authority will become more dynamic, and team-based structures will handle more work. Most organisations will blend hierarchical and network elements. Some coordination and accountability mechanisms hierarchy provides will remain necessary.
Leadership change is driven by: technological disruption transforming work, workforce evolution with different expectations, increasing complexity requiring new approaches, information democratisation changing authority dynamics, stakeholder expansion beyond shareholders, and more frequent crises requiring continuous adaptation. These forces collectively reshape what effective leadership requires.
Leadership change is already underway and will accelerate. Technology adoption, generational shifts, and external pressures drive rapid evolution. However, deep behavioural and cultural change takes time. Leaders should begin adapting immediately while recognising that full transformation requires sustained effort over years. The key is continuous development rather than waiting for clear endpoints.
Leadership will change—is already changing—in fundamental ways. The forces driving this transformation show no signs of abating. Leaders who recognise and adapt to these changes will thrive; those who cling to approaches that worked in the past will struggle.
Preparation requires more than acquiring specific skills or adopting particular behaviours. It demands developing capacity for continuous adaptation as requirements continue evolving. The leaders who succeed won't be those who master any particular approach but those who continuously learn and adjust.
Begin developing future-ready capabilities now. Challenge assumptions about what leadership requires. Build adaptability as your core capability. The future of leadership belongs to those who embrace continuous evolution.
Anticipate change. Adapt continuously. Lead into the future.