A Dive Into Key Leadership Trends For 2024

Being a business leader in 2024 is arguably tougher than it’s been for some time, with the events of the past few years still having an impact – whether that’s return-to-work versus flexible/remote working, skills shortages affecting development, rising energy costs, or simply the current economic climate.

In my role at Amiqus heading up our Executive Search service, I speak to many current and potential business leaders to ascertain trends, gauge their mood, and understand their challenges and thoughts for the year ahead and beyond.

I also make sure to look at other sectors and markets to stay ahead of forecasted trends. And I want to start to share some of the articles and reports that particularly resonate with me as the key topics and challenges that I also hear about from leaders in the games industry.

First up, world renowned and hugely respected management consultancy specialist McKinsey has recently offered its thoughts on the eight points that CEOs should be prioritising in 2024. Unsurprisingly, AI is top of the list – the consideration of what parts of businesses can benefit from utilising the technology, and how these tools could potentially reshape industries. You can read more here.

Research giant, Gallup has offered some suggestions of key issues to tackle employee engagement. The topline: that employers and employees are heading for a ‘relationship reset’ this year as the return-to-work versus remote versus hybrid debate continues within organisations themselves, as well as for the general workforce around the world.

Gallup’s six key points to consider are:

? Global worker stress remains at a record high

? Engagement is slowly recovering, with some areas for improvement

? Leaders are restoring trust, yet have much room for improvement

? Managers are getting squeezed

? Organisations need a long-term hybrid work strategy

? Hybrid culture can be great – if done right

Discover the full findings and report here.

Meanwhile, Stylist Magazine has published an article taking a look at the ‘soft skills’ that are essential in management roles: “Today’s working world is complex. It’s flexible, it’s post-pandemic and it’s competitive. This means that both managers and employees need to be able to tune into their empathy, practise thoughtful communication and demonstrate emotional intelligence more than ever before – so why are these skills still being called ‘soft’?”

The article looks at why soft skills matter for managers; how to hire for soft skills; how to introduce soft skills to managers who are lacking; and how to build your own soft skills as a manager. It’s a really insightful piece and worth a look here.

I hope you find these articles useful. I’ll be sharing more over the coming weeks. And if you have any you’d like to share back with me, please get in touch!

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash