A Wake-up Call for Executives: Three Critical Trends That Will Reshape Leadership

SuccessFinder unveils its Future of Leadership report

MONTRÉAL, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - SuccessFinder, a pioneer in behavioral talent assessment for the workplace, released its Future of Leadership report which identifies three major trends redefining what leadership success will look like in 2026, based on assessments from 17,000+ leaders.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Tech Acceleration — Adapting to AI is imperative, but leaders aren't all wired to do so.
Today's leaders must combine digital fluency with human judgment to interpret data responsibly, foster innovation, and guide adoption of new technologies. Yet only 26% of them currently score high for flexibility — a key skill in adapting to rapid change.

Economic Uncertainty — Resilience and rapid decision-making have become essential.
Volatile markets, competitive shifts, and constant disruption demand quick, strategic thinking. However, just 18% of leaders scored high in stress tolerance — signaling a major gap in readiness for instability.

Human-Centric Leadership — Empathy, connection and psychological safety matter more than ever.
Employees seek more than direction; they want purpose, inclusion, and wellbeing. Empathy and emotional safety are strategic drivers of retention, engagement, and performance, yet these traits remain underrepresented among senior leaders.

"Today's leaders demonstrate strong collaboration and analytical thinking, but struggle in key areas such as empathy, adaptability and resilience," explained Carolyn Hass PhD, Chief Operating Officer at SuccessFinder. "To bridge the gap, organizations need a data-driven approach to identify their leadership challenges, define a model aligned with their context, and assess their talent to tailor development accordingly. In-depth evaluation and continuous feedback are essential to ensure leaders grow in step with the business."

Strong management fuels innovation, accountability, and resilience. To sustain these advantages, companies must align leadership development with their strategic goals, focusing on the specific traits that drive long-term success.

About SuccessFinder
SuccessFinder helps organizations deeply understand their leaders. Powered by our unique psychometric assessment and contextual insights, our platform surfaces high-impact talent signals and turns them into clear, personalized actions HR can take—quickly and effectively. HR teams turn to SuccessFinder not for assessment reports, but for the intelligence they need to engage leaders, build strong teams, scale development, and drive better business outcomes—every single day.

SuccessFinder drive results for hundreds of leading organizations around the world, including PwC, Circle K, Alaska Airlines, CAE, Magna International, iA Groupe financier, and McKesson/Rexall.

SOURCE SuccessFinder