Six Leadership Megatrends from Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Kyiv, 13 June 2018. The research summarized in the recently published Global Leadership Forecast 2018 report (prepared by EY, Development Dimensions International (DDI) and The Conference Board) shows the powerful and pervasive impact of leadership practices on organizations striving to meet their business challenges, now and in the future. The research, which spans more than 1,000 C-level executives and 10,000 high-potential employees, includes 54 countries and 26 major industry sectors. It summarizes dozens of practical, evidence-based recommendations for critical business issues ranging from digital transformation to gender and generational diversity to the roles of purpose and culture in building an effective, sustainable leadership strategy for a digital age.

What are the overarching trends emerging from the research? There are Six Leadership Megatrends that can be used as consistent guiding principles flowing broadly into all aspects of leader talent management.

Digital Reshapes the Workforce: Across nearly every facet of the research, we saw the influence of digital readiness. Digitally advanced organizations and leaders are already outperforming their less technologically savvy peers, who risk being left behind, permanently.

Data’s Power Extends Beyond the Numbers: We expected to see data as an increasingly valuable commodity for people and business decisions. But we didn’t anticipate the heavy influence data and analytics have on business’ human side: inclusivity, agility, and fairness.

Culture Looms Crucial: Leadership strategies will fail without solid cultural cornerstones—clearly grasped and enlivened purpose, peer coaching, experimentation, psychological safety, and fully incorporated, diverse gender and generational views.

DIY Is DOA: Leaders who stand (and learn) alone—not given access to or eschewing coaching from peers and mentors, and failing to adopt a collective, shared, and team-centric view of leadership—may survive in the workplace, but they surely won’t thrive.

The Potential Pool Swells to a Lake: Organizations taking a broad view of potential—expanding their reach to activate and accelerate leadership talent—prove more financially successful, feature stronger top leaders, and employ more women at every leader level.

HR Navigates a Challenging Road Ahead: HR’s reputation as an Anticipator has taken a hit along with its declining rates of analytics success. Also, HR’s own digital readiness is lacking. If this isn’t addressed soon, HR’s ability to drive digital advancement will be crippled.

Olga Gorbanovska, Partner, People Advisory Service Leader, EY Ukraine: “Identifying and preparing future leaders is a quintessential “top of the house issue”. To that end, provide them with the freedom to try out new approaches and challenge old ones to encourage innovation and growth. Empower them to challenge the status quo as well as seek rapid development and feedback so that they gather the information needed to quickly make decisions and adjust. Be open and equality driven – consider and value the potential impact of any different backgrounds and experiences that leaders can bring. And, finally, develop leaders at all levels to be coaches and encourage their work in teams. Once all of these rules are adhered, you will get one of a kind results.”

The report consists of two dozen findings focused on how the enterprise-level objectives are achieved. Each finding includes precise, practical recommendations for learning from top-performing companies and for listening to and maximizing the potential of leaders themselves. Learn more from the full version of the Global Leadership Forecast.

About the report

Global Leadership Forecast 2018—a three-way collaboration with Development Dimensions International (DDI), The Conference Board, and EY—is the eighth Forecast since DDI began the stream of research in 1999. It’s also one of the most expansive leadership research projects ever conducted.

The research integrates data from 25,812 leaders and 2,547 HR professionals across 2,488 organizations. Not only are these perspectives numerous, but they are also diverse and highly representative of the business context facing global enterprises.

About EY 

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, legal, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.

For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

Global Leadership Forecast 2018 - © Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.