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Ivy House leadership research

The realities leaders face and the capabailities they need to thrive

New research from Ivy House reveals the hidden reality of modern leadership.

While much of the conversation focuses on AI, technology and transformation, leaders are telling a different story. They’re navigating relentless change, absorbing pressure on behalf of their teams, and carrying an increasing human cost that often goes unseen.

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High-performing leader interviews across sectors

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HR and talent leader roundtable discussions

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Survey of 500 leaders, employees and HR professionals

The leadership story nobody is talking about

For years, organisations have encouraged leaders to be more human. More empathetic. More supportive. More connected.

Our research suggests leaders aren’t resisting those expectations.

The challenge is that they’re being asked to bring more of their humanity to work at the very time the conditions they’re operating in make that increasingly difficult. Across industries, leadership levels and sectors, one message came through consistently:

The human side of leadership is becoming harder to sustain.

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What we discovered

Among the wealth of findings, three things stood out:

Leaders have become the organisation’s pressure buffer

Leaders are spending increasing amounts of time protecting focus, translating ambiguity and helping teams stay motivated through uncertainty.

The biggest challenges aren’t the ones making headlines

Despite widespread attention on AI and automation, in reality leaders are focused on change, uncertainty, competing priorities and supporting people through complexity.

The future leadership pipeline may be more fragile than thought

Many leaders remain committed to their roles. But our research raises important questions about how sustainable leadership feels for the next generation of talent.

A sneak peek from the research

Leadership has never been more human, and that’s exactly why it’s becoming more challenging.

From the hidden role leaders play as an organisational buffer, to the mindsets and behaviours that distinguish high-performing leaders, the findings challenge some of the assumptions shaping today’s leadership conversation and reveal insights that every HR, L&D and business leader should understand.

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In this report you’ll discover:

The biggest challenges that are keeping leaders up at night

The three mindsets of high-performing leaders that matter most in today’s environment

The disconnect between what HR & L&D leaders see and what leaders are experiencing

The human cost of leadership, and how this compares at different levels within organisations

How to close the gap between learning and the real work of leading

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See the research brought to life

Ivy House CEO Natalie Benjamin and CLO Neil Trevena ran a podcast-style session on 23rd September to reveal key insights from the research.

They explored what sits behind the data and what organisations may need to change if human leadership is going to remain sustainable.

Look out for the recording coming soon!

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Read the full findings from The Humanity of Leadership.

About the research

The findings in this report are based on three sources of original research conducted by Human Dynamics Research on behalf of Ivy House.

The study was designed to explore how the role of leaders is changing, the capabilities that matter most in today’s environment, and how well organisations are equipping leaders to apply them in practice. 

The research included 18 interviews with leaders identified by their organisations as top performers, spanning frontline, middle management and senior leadership roles across manufacturing, finance, technology, retail, industrial services and the non-profit sector. Interview data was complemented by insights from a roundtable with senior HR and talent leaders across sectors, providing an organisational perspective on current leadership development priorities and challenges. Sur-vey data was also gathered from 500 respondents across the UK, US and Europe, including HR/L&D directors, senior leaders, frontline leaders and employees, all working in organisations with 250 or more employees.

Taken together, these research streams provide a broad evidence base for exploring the realities of leadership today, the capabilities that matter most, and how organisations can best support leaders in practice.