On Hot Coals & Shifting Sands: Reflecting on Leadership in 2025

Hello KSKOers

At the end of 2024, I was asked what i thought the main trends shaping leadership were and now, as 2025 comes to a close, I want to reflect on those top trends to see how things have panned out, where we are and where I think we’ll be going in 2026. Join me in reflecting on 2025, a year of rapid change and throwing the baby out with the bath water and scanning the horizon to see what’s coming in 2026.

Looking forward to joining you on your learning journey!

At the end of last year, I set out 11 of the top trends that were shaping leadership at that time. Those 11 trends were:

Humanism: Leaders must demonstrate care and empathy, recognising the human aspects of their people.

Being a human focused leader that shows care and empathy is still very relevant in 2025, and as we move into 2026. Over the last few months of 2025, we’ve seen many leaders show a distinct lack of humanity towards their people. The Labour government’s confirmation of the redundancy of 18,000 NHS staff working in the integrated care boards and NHS England has shown this. People were notified of the objective via un-co-ordinated messaging and then had to wait months before being told about the plan. I’m not convinced patients will end up getting better care because of it.

Authenticity, Humility and Vulnerability: Leaders should be open about their values, strengths and weaknesses to build trust.

I think this goes hand in hand with humanism. In a time of uncertainty, people want to see leaders being honest about what they know and don’t know. It’s not a time for bluff and bravado. We don’t want puffed up egos and chest beating. We want to know that leaders get our worries, understand our challenges and acknowledge that redundancies notwithstanding, we did good jobs that made a difference.

Values and Purpose: Clear organisational values attract employees seeking meaningful work and alignment.

People want to work for organisations where their values align and what they do every day is purpose driven. But, when people are having to make difficult choices about heating their homes or feeding their families, they may have to shift values and purpose down the list as heating and eating creeps up ever higher. I think, post-Covid, we’re definitely in a different era of awareness of values and purpose, and leaders still need to very much at the top of their game in setting and promoting organisational values and purpose. In 2025, People know what their values are, whereas they didn’t pre-Covid. I don’t think we will ever close the lid on that Pandora’s box, but….