Why we should all be doing more to celebrate leaders in 2025

Why we should all be doing more to celebrate leaders in 2025

Juliet Taylor, CEO at Starfish Search

What does it really take to lead organisations in 2025? The question has been in my mind for a while, prompted partly by the state of flux we continue to find ourselves in. I’ve also been speaking for many months now to chief executives about the challenges they’re facing and their personal and professional struggles as they try to forge a path forward. Some are more open than others, yet their comments can still make me stop in my tracks.

Overwhelmingly, they are feeling that their experience in leadership roles is changing profoundly. While this is not always felt to be negative, the times we are in are clearly testing leaders everywhere. Many have told me this year that they do not feel, for example, as confident or as supported in their roles as they used to. Most are fatigued to some degree. Others feel that the rules of the game are changing, and that there will simply never be an end to their change programmes – when, they ask, is the right moment for me to move on?

Each thought it was just them. It was not. They have all been describing the same experience, just in different words, and it strikes me that these are not the exception – they’re now the rule. These are great leaders. They are talented, strong and experienced people. So, why is their experience changing and what does that mean for their successors? What does it take to lead well in today’s world?

We are only really starting to build a picture of what it is to be a ‘modern’ leader. In my world, the evidence is either anecdotal or accumulated over a number of different leadership recruitments we have been asked to handle.

What we also know is that, at the same time, more and more people who aren’t leaders themselves don’t think there are enough good leaders around. More people, it seems, leave jobs because they couldn’t see eye to eye with the boss; staff can be idealistic and have a pretty jaded view of the quality of leadership around them; they may now also be more outspoken about leaders they don’t respect. There is very little margin for error.

We already knew that there was not as much trust in leadership of our national institutions as there once was. Yet it is also harder for organisational leaders to feel that they are winning in the face of the constant challenges they are presented with. There are also complications for our most experienced and capable leaders in their ability to evolve their own approach fast enough, to impart their wisdom to others and to develop themselves to meet shifting expectations and perceptions.

The demands of the role are changing and it’s a rare individual who can adapt immediately, without needing time to review and reflect. For most, leadership is an ever-changing craft that requires regular shifts in thinking and interpretation of the world around us.

There are major factors still impacting on the environment we are leading in – a darkening political picture, ongoing economic instability and cash pressures, rising competition, risk averse boards and ever-changing stakeholders – it’s not hard to understand why leaders can feel isolated. We could argue, perhaps, that this is just not a golden time to be a chief executive, since leading anything in all of this noise demands constant pace, energy and rapid response. And having a vision that doesn’t connect with the reality of the situation, and an external environment that knocks ideas back can be seriously demoralising.

Disheartened? Don’t be. There is something else I have noticed over the last 12 months and that is the sharp divide between leaders who have told me they have totally disengaged with the world picture, and leaders who are up for doing what they can within their own sphere of influence to change things for the better.

In the work we do every day, a lot of which is for purpose-oriented organisations, it seems that the increased polarisation in society – or at least that the media is telling us about – is causing candidates to sign up to one side or another. There are enough leaders, it seems, who are motivated to build a bright future, and they are thinking, behaving and prioritising in particular ways.

So, with all that in mind, this is what I believe are probably the 10 characteristics of leaders who are successful and thriving right now:

1. Highly principled – they know themselves, accept who they are and are honest about their own red lines

2. They can run organisations as ‘work in progress’ – things are rarely completed these days and this can raise personal questions for them about when enough has been achieved to feel ok about moving on to their next role

3. Artful problem solvers, mainly because they are now solving a much broader range of problems far more frequently

4. Many are visionary and focused on setting a clear culture and values, as well as boundaries in which teams can develop and make mistakes in relative safety

5. They have a powerful sense of direction and use their own vision and passion to depict the end destination for their teams

6. Because of the above, and because they are personally flexible, they can course-correct quickly when they need to

7. They seem to manage and make decisions on half-information rather than the full picture

8. They are relentless in their pursuit of the right people for their teams – they may hire people and develop them, but they don’t appoint if the right candidate isn’t in front of them

9. They use their emotional intelligence to build bridges and carry influence

10. A combination of energy, perspective and resilience, in that they are able to believe in what they are doing, learn fast, accept failure and move on – their resilience comes from a core belief in what they are there to do: all those leaders who shared their experiences of constant challenge and diminishing home life said that this has kept them going.

Accepting the realities of life as a leader in 2025 is essential – both for leaders themselves, and for those around them. CEO burnout is a risk at the moment and boards have a role to play in valuing and supporting their leaders, to protect the individual and the organisation. So, too, do CEOs themselves. Talking to peers and having both social and professional places to go to share experience is important; in fact it is probably undervalued.

I have been struck, this year, by how many good leaders do not seem to realise how good they are; but I have also been struck by how few people in these roles feel able to share their own experience of the pressures they are facing with their peers when in fact there is huge commonality.

Simply keeping an organisation going now requires far more energy, effort and skill than it used to, regardless of relentless waves of change, transformation and development. We need to acknowledge the higher levels of accountability and exposure that CEOs in 2025 are prepared to hold in order to progress their organisation’s mission. I am fortunate enough to know many brilliant leaders, and to have a vantage point where I can sometimes see across their collective experience. This community deserves to be respected and celebrated far more, and by everyone around them.