New DDI Study Signals Looming Leadership Exodus, with 71% Reporting Increased Stress

PITTSBURGH, PA, Jan. 22, 2025 – DDI, a global leadership company, today released its Global Leadership Forecast 2025, the largest and longest-running global study on the current and future state of leadership. This year’s study found that 40% of stressed-out leaders have considered leaving leadership roles to improve their wellbeing, threatening a structural breakdown in leadership pipelines.  

Spanning over 50 countries and 24 industry sectors, DDI’s eleventh forecast in the series examines responses from 2,185 human resource professionals and 10,796 leaders. The study explores the connection between talent retention and economic resilience, pinpointing several vulnerabilities in leadership pipelines, such as growing distrust, disillusionment, and development gaps.  

“Our new research reinforces the trend of conscious unbossing,” said Stephanie Neal, director of DDI’s Center for Analytics and Behavioral Research. “As organizations grapple with economic volatility, AI skepticism, and generational differences being amplified in the workplace, leadership is becoming a harder job — and a path that many talented people are opting out of. The encouraging news is that most leaders find self-reflection, open discussion, and continuous learning to be transformative practices in channeling stress into growth and innovation.” 

Other notable findings include:  

• The Growing Leadership Credibility Crisis: Trust in immediate managers plummeted to just 29%, a 37% decline since 2022. Older employees (ages 50-64) are the least trusting of their managers, suggesting a generational divide amid growing workplace polarization and uncertainty around AI.  
• High-Potential Talent on the Brink of Revenge Quitting: Among high-potential individual contributors, the intention to depart increased from 13% in 2020 to 21% in 2024. High-potential talent is 3.7X more likely to leave in the next year if their manager doesn’t regularly provide opportunities for growth and development, suggesting the future of talent pipelines hinges on organizational commitment to building experiences that accelerate growth.  
• Future-Focused Skills Fall Critically Behind: Leaders identified “setting strategy” and “managing change” as their two greatest skill gaps. Only 22% of HR teams currently prioritize these key skills, meaning many organizations risk stagnation and an inability to adapt to an evolving business environment.  
• A Leadership Perception Gap with AI: Frontline managers are 3X more likely to have concerns about the impact of AI compared to their senior counterparts, exposing the challenges of securing technology buy-in at the ground level. Frontline managers are also less likely to report high trust in senior leaders and confidence in their ability to advance strategic goals, highlighting how successful AI adoption requires cultural transformation and more empathetic leadership.  

“Paradoxically, attracting and retaining top talent is more important than ever in times of economic turbulence,” said Tacy M. Byham, Ph.D., CEO of DDI. “The Great Resignation may be long gone, but more than half of CEOs rank talent recruitment and retention as their top concern for the next five years. CEOs recognize organizational resilience and future-proofing hinges on having the right people in the right roles — but now it’s time to act on this realization.”  

For more leadership data and best practices, access DDI’s full report: https://www.ddiworld.com/research/global-leadership-forecast-2025  

About DDI 

DDI is a global leadership consulting firm that helps organizations hire, promote, and develop exceptional leaders. From first-time managers to C-suite executives, DDI is by leaders' sides, supporting them in every critical moment of leadership. Built on five decades of research and experience in the science of leadership, DDI's evidence-based assessment and development solutions enable millions of leaders around the world to succeed, propelling their organizations to new heights. For more information, visit ddiworld.com. 

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