Written by Alissa Parr, Director, Talent Solutions
The workplace has seen significant disruption and changes recently. The challenges of leadership are more prevalent than ever before in today’s fast-paced work environment. Overcoming these top leadership challenges is critical and requires leaders to properly prepare themselves and build the right strategies to overcome them. As we look toward the future, I want to highlight five of the greatest leadership challenges for 2025 and how leaders may seek to strategize around them.
What are the 5 challenges of leadership to address in 2025?
1. Leading a remote/hybrid workforce
The pandemic challenged businesses to continue operations in a different manner. Workers who had jobs that could be completed off-site started working remotely. While current rates differ depending on the source, it is estimated that only 21% work on-site full time, with the remaining nearly 80% of employees working either a hybrid schedule or being full remote.
Being dispersed may cause problems with communication, collaboration, and engagement for leadership in 2025. To this point, a Pew Research Center survey found that 53% of those who work from home say that it hinders their ability to feel connected with coworkers. Additionally, that same survey found that 41% of workers who rarely or never work remotely say that working onsite helps them to feel more connected with coworkers.
This places a burden on leaders to ensure that all employees feel connected at work, whether they be onsite, fully remote, or hybrid. To overcome these challenges as a leader, you’ll need to help employees working remotely feel more included to ensure they’re engaged in the vision and aware of company ongoings. Some ways to do this include:
- Authentically connect with your team by getting to know them as individuals. Learn about what excites them professionally or personally. Ask about their favorite foods or hobbies. Find commonalities and leverage those for further discussions.
- Communicate frequently, transparently, and in different ways (e.g., email, messages, verbally, etc.).
- Bring teams together to discuss their involvement in the company vision.
One practical tip for leaders navigating this challenge is to schedule ‘water cooler breaks’ – whether in person or through an online catch-up – to allow their team to gather and socialize without thinking about work tasks. This can help facilitate the interpersonal connection that all employees desire.
2. Promoting work-life balance
The lines between personal and work life can become blurred, especially when working remotely as it can be more challenging to disconnect. If team members are struggling to enforce boundaries working at home, their well-being could decline and they could experience employee burnout as a result. When this happens, employees feel less engaged, productive, and committed. Leaders who maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life are better equipped to help employees prioritize this balance in their own lives. By demonstrating concern for their team through this balanced approach and ensuring that employees have sufficient time and resources to complete their work successfully, leaders are more likely to foster a thriving team that promotes overall employee well-being.
One very simple way leaders can help improve work-life balance is to encourage their team to take short breaks during the workday. Breaks can take the form of a walk outside, meal prepping at home, or a quick call to a friend. The goal is to separate themselves momentarily from work. Additionally, breaks can leave individuals feeling more satisfied and engaged in their work, which positively impacts their overall well-being.
3. Providing support in times of economic uncertainty and constrained budget
When it comes to challenges of leadership, one that is not new is leaders are constantly being asked to do more with less resources. This is further complicated by today’s uncertain economy which is requiring many companies to make difficult decisions around company downsizing. Even though they may have fewer team members and resources, leaders are still expected to achieve their metrics and goals. This is going to require leaders to be more agile and think creatively about how to complete tasks in a more efficient and streamlined manner.
One tip leaders can employ to overcome this leadership challenge is to have group brainstorming sessions to generate ideas on how to work more efficiently on particular projects. This will not only generate ideas on how to do more with less, but also engage the team so they feel more involved in the company mission. During these times, it is easy for employee well-being to decrease, so leaders need to be acutely aware and sensitive to their team member’s wellness at work. Allowing them opportunities to express their voice and convey their value in company goals can improve the team’s morale.
4. Guiding employees through technology advancement and change
We’ve heard this phrase many times: change is the only constant. Technology advances so rapidly, which presents one of the most common leadership issues of staying updated and constantly adapting teams, departments, and organization to new tools, systems, and processes. This becomes even more of a challenge for leaders as the use of AI in the workplace continues to grow and become more prevalent.
Leaders need to effectively navigate and communicate through these changes to minimize resistance and ensure a smooth transition. When making adaptations to the future world of work, leaders need to ensure that these changes enhance productivity without causing stress on employees. As an example, AI can bring a lot of benefits to employees, even if it also brings uncertainty and anxiety. AI solutions are oftentimes used to augment, rather than replace solutions, processes, or procedures. Leaders should communicate the change in this way as well as the value the employee will bring despite the added technology, ensuring that these changes enhance productivity without causing stress on their team.
A good tip for leaders to keep in mind for addressing this leadership challenge is to always include the ‘why’ behind the change and to gather feedback on it after it’s been implemented. Providing a rationale helps employees understand the benefits of this change for both the employee and the organization, making them more receptive and likely to embrace it. Also, knowing that there will be an opportunity to share feedback shows that their opinion, insights, and contributions make a difference. These are factors that can’t be replaced by automation and technological change.
5. Ensuring cultural sensitivity with the rise in globalization
One positive trend in the workplace for 2025 is the focus toward globalization and diversification. Greater diversity in the workplace creates opportunities for more powerful ideas, collaborations, and outputs. With this increased diversity, leaders need to learn how to navigate cultural differences to ensure that their leadership style is adaptable to diverse teams. Effective cross-cultural leadership requires them to understand and respect cultural nuances. As such, their approach to communication and collaboration must be sensitive and respectful. It’s important for leaders to embrace differences and proactively engage with all their team members, asking for their input along the way.
As one final tip, they should simultaneously take it a step further and actively listen to the team in order to effectively overcome this leadership challenge. Listening and responding in a sensitive manner will help them gain knowledge of different cultural differences as well as ensure they are creating a psychologically safe environment at work.
Adapting strategies for tomorrow’s success
The modern workplace is fraught with today’s biggest leadership challenges that will need to be navigated. A common theme underpinning success amid all of these challenges of leadership in 2025 is that leaders need to authentically connect with others. They need to be agile and open to change to inspire others toward the overarching goals of the company. By feeling a sense of connection and excitement to the mission, employees will join their leaders in doing what is best for both the company and the individual employees.
