Our review of the 2023 Global Leadership Development Study

Following their 2023 Global Leadership Development study, Harvard Business Publishing have released some fascinating insights into the world of learning and development (L&D), and how there’s a new mission on the horizon for people in charge of developing leaders. 

Having worked with the Center for Creative Leadership® (CCL) to consolidate multiple learning platforms, develop their offering further and secure their place at the forefront of executive education, we’re keen to stay at the forefront of the latest research going on in the field.

Here’s what we discovered…

The 2023 Global Leadership Development Study

Combining both physical interviews, as well as a survey of almost 1,300 learning and development (L&D) professionals and functional leaders, the 2023 Global Leadership Development Study from Harvard Business Publishing has revealed the complex challenges of developing leaders who need to be adaptable and ready for anything. 

Key call outs of the study include:

• A new mission for people in charge of developing leaders
• Key challenges for leadership development today
• Emerging approaches to addressing key leadership development challenges

What’s more, with the impact of digital transformation, weakened employee connections, fatigue amongst teams caused by long-term hybrid or remote working, plus the constant pace of change in the L&D space, the study also addresses why many organisations are turning to leadership development as solutions to prepare their employees for the challenges to come.

So, let’s dive straight in. 

A new mission for people in charge of developing leaders

Respondents to the 2023 Global Leadership Development Study reported that currently, their leadership training programs are designed with 2 primary goals in mind. These are firstly, to equip leaders with the skills needed to address future competitive and strategic challenges (40%), and secondly, to build an agile organisation with employees who are prepared to navigate change successfully (37%). 

Key challenges for leadership development today

The Harvard Business Publishing study also delves further into the 4 key challenges L&D teams are facing to meet their organisations’ expectations for preparing leaders to succeed. 

In terms of both approach and content, these 4 challenges are identified as:

Contending with continuous disruption beyond the C-Suite, as leaders throughout an organisation are now not only expected to effectively plan for and engage with a chaotic, unpredictable, and ever-changing environment, but also to successfully lead their teams through it, energised, motivated and ready to face the next challenge.

Survey question call outs and core responses:

Q. How important are the following leadership skills to meeting your expected business needs in the next year? 

• Willingness and ability to take risks (74%)
• Ability to provide clarity and direction to team members in dynamic situations (74%)
• Ability to not just endure but embrace ambiguity and uncertainty (68%)

Building the tech-savviness of all leaders, as the race to integrate generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools has revealed an increasing need for leaders at all levels to be able to assess and manage tech-related talent, accurately evaluate risks and opportunities, and effectively leverage data and advanced technologies in their own functional areas.

Survey question call outs and core responses:

Q. Over the next year, how will the role of leaders change?

46% of respondents say there will be a greater need to adapt to the penetration of emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning (ML), and robotics-based processes and leverage them to the benefit of business.

Humanising leadership in the digital age, goes hand in hand with the above point. This is because even whilst the focus on technology grows, leaders still lead people, and many are still uncomfortable with the expectations their teams now have of them when it comes to demonstrating genuine interest and concern for their personal lives and well-being. Here, the challenge is to help leaders better connect with and coach their team members as people, and respect their unique needs.

Survey question call outs and core responses:

Q. How important are the following leadership skills to meeting your expected business needs in the next year?

• Empathy in communication, feedback sharing, and listening (76%)
• High emotional and social intelligence (76%)
• Ability to manage conflict among team members (75%)
• Intent and ability to promote diversity and inclusion in the workforce (75%)

And finally, leading a long-term hybrid work strategy requires much more than compliance with a return-to-office (RTO) policy. This is because the way peoplework was already changing before the pandemic, but has now continued to evolve as organisational structures, teams, and the actual work itself change. For leaders, they must become master orchestrators of hybrid and remote work, considering the various impacts of where, when, how, and by whom work gets done.

Survey question call outs and core responses:

Q. Over the next year, how will the role of leaders change?

48% of respondents say there will be a greater need for the ability to ensure productivity and business growth amid growing adoption of gig, hybrid, and dynamic work models.

Emerging approaches to addressing key leadership development challenges

Highlighted in the 2023 Global Leadership Development Study are a number of compelling approaches to address these leadership challenges. These are:

Learning in the flow of life means that leaders are starting to recognise that they are in a constantly changing environment, and it is now essential for professional development to support a healthy work/life balance which integrates work and learning into the flow of life.

Survey question call outs and core responses:

Q. Preferred modes of delivering leadership development training programs

• Blended learning (45%)
• Instructor-led training (38%)
• On-the-job training through projects (28%)
• Online training (28%)

Leading learning from the top can be seen through high-level leaders getting more deeply involved in training, contributing insights to needs assessments, helping evaluate options, and even in delivering key components. This all works to align company culture, and demonstrate the organisation’s serious commitment to learning from the top.

Survey question call outs and core responses:

Q. What is the level of involvement of the CEO in identifying needs for leadership development training programs?

• Highly involved (54%)
• Involved to some extent (39%)
• Not involved at all (7%)

Developing adaptable authenticity is present when employees want genuine leaders who take real ownership of everything they say and commit to their teams, but being an authentic leader also means being open to change, growth, and incorporating new experiences into their style.

Survey question call outs and core responses:

Q. How important are the following leadership skills to meeting your expected business needs in the next year? 

• To better serve the customers and improve customer experience (47%)
• Improve employee engagement and productivity (46%)
• Equip leaders to effectively address any diversity gaps (46%)

Minding the new social capital and culture gaps involves creating a community, embedding values, creating networks across the business, and developing a consistent shared language. For successful leadership development strategies, remote and hybrid working makes achieving these objectives even more crucial, as maintaining the corporate culture will help drive creativity, innovation and prevent silos.

Survey core responses:

28% of respondents say that enhancing the culture of the company is actually among the top three needs they have for leadership development.Plus, more than 6 in 10 of those surveyed say their organisations now approach leadership development as an ongoing endeavour, conducting programs at least once per quarter. 

Our conclusion of the 2023 Global Leadership Development study

As organisations continue to face the challenges of contending with continuous disruption beyond the C-Suite, building the tech-savviness of all leaders, humanising leadership in the digital age and leading a long-term hybrid work strategy, they are looking to their leadership development professionals for solutions to help raise collective leadership strength.

With this, helping today’s leaders become ready for anything means revisiting strategies and providing effective training and support for leaders to transform themselves and the way they work.

For us here at BuildEmpire, this really resonates as ultimately, everything we build is about boosting productivity and improving employee engagement.

But don’t just take our word for it, check out some of the results the Center for Creative Leadership® (CCL) has experienced, who have had over 60,000 users complete courses and achieve certification. 

Interested in how we could strengthen your leadership training? Get in touch today.