Leaders today need not only to achieve current quarterly goals, but also to shape the future of the business and its people in the context of an often challenging environment. However, there is a clear gap between the skills leaders need and the skills that development organizations provide. According to DDI’s European Leadership Report 2025, leaders recognize the need to focus more on future skills, but are not trained in these areas.
According to the study, 80% of human resources organizations in Europe predict a surge in demand for new leadership over the next five years. However, only 22% of HR organizations prioritize addressing the top four most critical skill gaps that leaders themselves have identified.
These skills are crucial in helping leaders navigate change, support innovation and sustain business growth – so what does this mean for leaders and how can organizations deal with this challenge?
Leaders’ skills development is suffering from resentment
There is no shortage of news reports on future skills issues in Europe, especially as generative AI continues to transform the world of work across sectors. But while most HR leaders predict a surge in demand for new leadership capabilities, less than a quarter have prioritized key leadership skills including:
- Setting the strategy: 55% of leaders consider this to be essential, but only 13% have received training.
- Attract employees: 55% think this is crucial, but only 15% are developed in this area.
- Identify and develop future talents: 48% think this is crucial, but only 8% have relevant developments.
- decision making: 51% of leaders think this is crucial, but only 14% have received training.
It’s not just the skills that leaders lack; less than one in five leaders think they have enough time to fulfill their job responsibilities. This underscores the serious failure of European organizations to effectively manage and protect leaders’ time and support development.
Lack of time can lead to burnout among European leaders
The lack of adequate training and support for existing and new leaders may have a greater impact on European leadership talent, as the European Leadership Report also highlights the increased risk of European leaders in stress and burnout. In fact, further data from the report suggest that more than half (54%) of European leaders have increased significantly since they embarked on their current role. Of these leaders, 72% are worried about burnout, so 40% believe they have given up their leadership role altogether.
When leaders emphasize burnout, it creates a ripple effect throughout the organization, which not only affects the current team, but also the leadership pipeline, putting the organization at risk of losing leadership when it needs it most. The solution is how an organization supports its leaders.
Organizations that invest in targeted skill development and provide leaders with the time and tools to succeed are more likely to reduce burnout in the team. Organizations that reduce burnout rates are more likely to create resilient leadership teams to drive sustainable business performance.
In too many organizations, burnout culture remains a “dirty little secret.” Everyone felt it, but no one wanted to talk about it.
How companies manage burnout successfully is directly influenced by leaders. Why? Often, leaders’ actions lead employees to closer to burnout or reach full burnout.
Fortunately, leaders can build a “new routine” for themselves and their teams and break the cycle of burnout with role models. By actively promoting an environment that prioritizes psychological safety and well-being, it can normalize healthy collaboration, creativity and a sense of shared purpose in which all employees feel recognized and valued.
Support leaders to resolve burnout
Although leaders can manage burnout in their teams, they are still human. Many of them feel the weight of burnout at the same time. Often, they don’t want to admit their struggles because they are afraid of being vulnerable. As a result, their team also doesn’t want to admit their feelings, which means the problem can never be solved. Eventually, employees and leaders reached their limits and decided to leave, causing spiral fatigue of burnout.
Leaders are browsing the increasingly complex professional landscape, and their stress management approach reveals profound insights into their leadership philosophy. According to the European Leadership Report, the highest stress management strategy for leaders is:
- Talk to the current manager (52%)
- Self-reflection (51%)
This preference for manager consultation as the primary stress management strategy has a strong impact on preventing unnecessary turnover. Since more than half of leaders turn to managers for support, the organization has an early training system, but only if the manager has the ability to respond effectively.
For organizations, these actions are clear. By providing leaders with personalized, insight-driven development, they can reduce burnout risk not only within the leadership team, but also across the organization. By prioritizing employee satisfaction and well-being, organizations not only retain top talent—they create loyal, dedicated teams that can grow and grow over the long term at any time.
By Bruce Watt of DDI, Senior Vice President of Europe, India and Australia.
