Leadership in 2025 – 7 Bold Trends Every Leader Needs to Know

Answer: Shifting from “culture fit” to “culture add” starts with redefining what you value in candidates. Instead of looking for people who mirror the existing team, prioritize those who bring diverse perspectives, skills, and experiences that complement your organizational goals. Update job descriptions to reflect a focus on innovation, adaptability, and diversity. Train hiring managers to recognize unconscious biases and emphasize inclusion. This approach fosters creativity and better decision-making within teams.

Answer: Work-life fusion integrates professional and personal responsibilities seamlessly rather than treating them as separate. Leaders can implement this by offering flexible schedules, encouraging asynchronous work when possible, and providing resources that support employees’ personal well-being (e.g., mental health programs or childcare assistance). By normalizing flexibility and autonomy, organizations can improve engagement, loyalty, and productivity while accommodating employees’ diverse needs.

Answer: Reverse mentorship pairs senior leaders with younger employees who can provide insights into emerging technologies, generational trends, and fresh perspectives on workplace values. This exchange fosters mutual learning, breaks down hierarchical barriers, and keeps leaders attuned to the evolving workforce. Companies that adopt reverse mentorship see improvements in innovation, engagement, and adaptability. Leaders can start by creating informal opportunities for cross-generational dialogue or formalizing a mentorship program.

[00:00:00] Debbie Goodman: Hello, everyone. Happy new year and welcome to the new season of On Work and Revolution. I’m your host, Debbie Goodman. And if you’re a first-time listener, here’s the quick intro. I am CEO of Jack Hammer Global, a global group of executive search and leadership coaching companies. We help some of the most progressive companies in the world to hire game changing leaders and through coaching, we help them develop into even more impactful ones.

My main mission with all of my work is to help companies and leaders to create amazing workplaces where people can experience their best work lives. And I’m really hopeful that 2025 brings fresh energy and drive towards, let’s call it a little bit of a utopian vision, but hey, I’m here for it. Okay, So it’s the beginning of the new year.

Everyone is coming out with their new year predictions. And so here are some of mine on the topic of leadership trends for 2025. You ready? Okay. Now let me start by saying this. If you’re relying on the same leadership and management strategies that worked five years ago, or even two years ago, okay, you’re missing a beat. There’s like been no adaptation, you’re falling behind. 

So, if you take even one idea away from this, please just go ahead and step into the brave new frontier. Here’s the kicker. While some leaders are pushing boundaries and reshaping the way we work, there are others who are doubling down on old ways.

I mean, I’m hearing more and more companies which are mandating five days a week in the office. Despite data showing hybrid work improves productivity. And then I’m seeing DEI budgets getting slashed, even though we know that diverse leadership teams outperform others by a significant margin. What’s the deal?

I mean, it’s very clear that the tension between progress and pushback, it’s a real thing. And on some days it feels like old school is winning. But, but the one thing I know is that the only real way is forward. I mean, we’re inevitably moving towards progress. The setbacks to those sorts of pre pandemic, industrial revolution-esque ways of working.

They are just minor detours. Moving forward is hard, but if you’re ready to lean into bold human centric leadership, okay, you’re in the right place. All right. Today I’m going to break down seven key leadership trends, shaping 2025. Some may sound a little bit pie in the sky. Others may feel like I’ve heard it before.

So don’t roll your eyes. If you’re still not doing anything about these workplace shifts, come on. It’s like time to buckle up. Okay. Ready?

Trend number one is the death of culture fit. Can we just retire the phrase culture fit, please? I mean, actually it’s just often just code for hiring people who look, think, and act like everybody else.

I see this all the time when the Jack Hammer team is briefed to hire C suite leaders, essentially we hear something like this. We want somebody who’ll be a great culture fit. But here’s the thing. Diversity is actually what drives innovation. I mean, did you know diverse teams are 87 percent better at decision making?

That is huge. So instead of looking for culture fit, start hiring for culture ad. Who’s going to bring fresh perspectives? Who’s going to challenge your thinking? Leaders who embrace this will find their organizations thriving in ways they never expected. I get it. It’s hard to hire someone who is different from the mould and to motivate for a truly diverse thinker and doer.

But that, that’s where the magic is. So, out with culture fit in with culture-add. All right, moving swiftly along. 

Trend two. Work life balance is a nonsense idea. Instead, think work life fusion. That’s a great soundbite, huh? Anyone who still is still striving for the so-called work life balance is frankly, I mean, you’re just in for a lifetime of unfulfilled aspirations.

Can we just finally accept that the time we spend working versus the time that we spend for the rest of our lives, it just always, it’s going to be out of balance. The scales will always be tipped more in one direction than the other. So, Work life balance is out, but work life fusion is in. This isn’t about separating work in one bucket and life in another.

It’s about figuring how to integrate them in a seamless way. Um, I read this Gallup survey found that employees with high work life integration are 23 percent more engaged in the work part of their lives. So that’s a pretty high percentage increase in engagement. Um, the leaders of 2025 are going to embrace the messiness of this fusion.

And they’re going to empower their teams to do the same thing. Flexibility is not a perk anymore, for God’s sake. It’s actually the foundation of a thriving workplace. And yes, it is hard. But figure it out. That’s how you get more productivity, more loyalty, more energy, more creativity, all the things you want. So to summarize, no more work life balance. Instead, we’re heading for work life integration. 

Trend number three. Okay. I have to admit, this is not an entirely new idea, but if you’ve not done anything about it, time to start. I am seeing reverse mentorship as a huge trend for the year. The smartest leaders in 2025 will seek mentorship from younger employees who understand emerging technologies, social trends, and workforce values.

They’re digital natives. They’re in tune with the zeitgeist of the younger generation. And regardless of your views on Gen Z work styles and values, they have tremendous value to add. And this is not just a nice to have. Data shows that companies with reverse mentorship programs see a 25 percent boost in innovation.

And come on, you don’t have to wait to set up a formal program. Just go ahead and engage with somebody in the team that’s 20 years younger than you. Um, if you’re not learning from your team, you are falling behind. So bring on reverse mentorship.

Trend four, double down on purpose. Again, not a new idea.

We’ve been talking about finding your why and identifying your purpose for a decade or more. But I can also tell you that most leaders don’t lead with purpose at the forefront of everything. They mostly lead with revenue as front and centre. Okay, so don’t get me wrong now. Revenue is critical. All right. I believe in that. But here’s the thing. Research study after research study shows the unequivocal link between purpose and revenue growth. An example, PwC found that 76 percent of employees want to work for companies with a strong sense of purpose. And those companies, actually grow three times faster than their peers.

That formula is pretty phenomenal. And this isn’t about slapping a mission statement on your website. It’s about actually embedding the purpose, the why, of why you hear at work into every decision. The thing is purpose isn’t just good for business. It’s actually essential for keeping your team inspired, aligned, engaged. And until we’re fully taken out by the bots, it’s still the people that matter.

Right? So you need to answer the purpose question for yourself, for your company, for your team to do it. Okay. If you haven’t yet, which is a perfect segue then into trend five. 

What would a piece on leadership trends be without talking about, huh, AI and leading in the AI era? All right, we have to include this, but I’m going to be as succinct as possible.

Otherwise, I risked going down the AI rabbit hole. Here’s what I truly believe. The real opportunity with leadership in the AI era isn’t about mastering technology or becoming the best prompt engineer or learning how to code if you’re a CEO. It’s mastering humanity. While AI can do so many, many, many things, it can do it great.

Um, it can’t build trust or foster connection. And it’s this trust and connection, which enables leaders to motivate, to inspire, to influence, to persuade, to empower in shitty work environments where trust and connection are poor to non-existent. I mean, AI might then be able to replace human potential, but if you drill into creating human centric cultures, where AI amplifies rather than replaces, that’s the game changer.

And if for no other reason than to future proof yourself as a leader, just dig into fostering great work cultures. I think that’ll just. Bring real progress to, to everybody. 

Trend number six. Okay. This one is close to home. The non-linear career path. Linear career progression is officially outdated.

Employees are taking career breaks. They making lateral moves. They are reinventing themselves, but here’s the very, very big problem. 76 percent of hiring managers. Undervalue non traditional resumes. I see this all the time. Very outdated views of what a good track record and a solid tenure should look like.

Granted, I mean, this does differ according to prevailing work cultures. For example, shorter tenure in tech industries in the US are considered totally fine. In Africa, repeated stints of under two to three years would be considered job hopping. Listen closely to this. Okay. In 2025, the best leaders will be the ones who champion flexibility, not just in work arrangements, but in career growth.

It is time to redefine what Qualified looks like and long sequential tenure in a single industry is truly, truly outdated. It may be easier to make sense of a career that follows a predictable pathway, but that is no longer a good measure of success. So, bring on the non-linear career path. And finally, speaking of flexibility, let’s end with this one.

Trend seven, the end of the five-day work week. Good God. I feel like I’ve been talking about this for years already. People, we are no longer working in factories in the 1800s. Okay. It’s no longer the industrial revolution. So why are we still insisting that people need to work together in the same physical space during the same time window of approximately nine to five?

We are seeing so many different successful models that are much more suitable to life and work in 2025. And I’m not just talking about fewer days in the office, although the four-day workweek, by the way, has been shown to be a huge success. The real future of work isn’t about fewer days in the office.

It’s about throwing out rigid schedules entirely. Did you know that data shows that we have approximately only four truly productive work hours in the day? Four hours of productivity. That’s it. So, then what on earth are we all doing the rest of the time that we’re at work? Can you imagine teams designing their own rhythms based on energy, creativity, and when they can produce optimal results?

I can, but this kind of innovation totally depends on the leaders that are running the show. And if you’re clinging to traditional structures, then you actually have to think about this. The best talent, and we know this at Jackhammer, the innovators, the game changers, they want to work at companies that are willing to rewrite the old damn rules.

So final trend for today, death of the in office five-day work week for good now already. 

And to close, leadership in 2025 isn’t for the faint hearted. It’s bold, it’s messy, and it requires a willingness to challenge the status quo the whole time at every turn, which I get it, it can be exhausting and tough, but also incredibly rewarding and fun.

Which is, I mean, that’s the approach I prefer because 2025 is here and the future of work is just waiting for bold, courageous leaders like you. So let’s go into it thinking of how rewarding it could be to be part of creating amazing workplaces for people to flourish and thrive. All right, then that’s it.

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening to On Work and Revolution. Let’s continue this conversation. You can ping me on LinkedIn or wherever you connect.