Dive Brief:
- Only 30% of U.S. employees say their senior leaders are “exceptional,” meaning they keep up with what today’s workforce truly needs, according to new research from The Grossman Group with The Harris Poll.
- Meanwhile, 16% of employees called their leaders “outdated” and said leaders left them “exhausted, overwhelmed, and burned out,” per the research. Another 54% of employees rated senior leaders as “good,” but the same employees said “they don’t feel valued as individuals, heard, or able to reach their full potential at work.”
- According to the research, employees working for “exceptional” versus “good” leaders are 10 percentage points more likely to feel their values, priority and identity are valued, seven percentage points more likely to feel heard and eight percentage points more likely to feel they are reaching their full potential.
Dive Insight:
Researchers surveyed 2,206 U.S. employees and examined what they said they needed from senior leaders as well as what their experiences were like working with them.
“Solid, dependable leaders are your organization’s biggest vulnerability,” David Grossman, founder and CEO of The Grossman Group, said in a statement. “And no one sees them as a problem. Good leaders are built for stable times. But we don’t live in stable times. Today’s uncertainties — AI disruption, economic volatility, geopolitical conflicts, and constant organizational change — create relentless instability. ‘Good’ leaders put the company at risk. We need more exceptional leaders.”
The six differentiators of exceptional leaders most admired by employees include managers who lead with gratitude. The research found that exceptional leaders were seen as 2.3 times stronger than good leaders at “expressing appreciation and making it a daily practice.”
In addition, exceptional leaders were 2.16 times stronger than good leaders at “genuinely empathizing” and creating what the research called “psychologically safe spaces for feedback and vulnerability.”
Another differentiator was creating an environment where employees want to come to work. Exceptional leaders were 2.2 times better than good leaders at fostering an inclusive culture, adjusting their communication styles, helping employees understand how they fit into a company’s long-term vision and meeting the moment, meaning they’re more likely “to actively support employee development and provide resources for growth compared to good leaders.”
Meanwhile, the research outlined some of the costs of outdated leadership styles and found that the top mistake made by leaders was asking for employee feedback “and then not acting on it, leaving employees feeling unheard and disengaged.”
Grossman said the next era of leadership will be defined by “how human, honest, and useful leaders are to employees,” rather than how polished, perfect or commanding a manager is.
“Employees can tell when leaders are performing versus genuinely connecting,” Grossman said. “Leaders who fail to evolve from merely good to exceptional will steadily lose trust, talent, and relevance, as employees disengage and organizations fall behind more adaptive competitors.”
Despite ongoing calls for leader empathy, however, some managers may find that empathy is not always helpful and that a certain level of emotional detachment is necessary, especially when making tough calls, according to new research from resume template provider Zety and human resources service firm Sigma Assessment Systems.