- Good leadership can be taught – according to new research from Bocconi University
- The study found that people can learn through life-changing experiences, such as exposure to leadership examples in early life, or participation in leadership skills programs.
- But what does a good leader look like in 2025?
The world today is defined at a sharp pitch by failures of leadership.
The neoliberal promise of economic uplift has destroyed local manufacturing and eviscerated the middle class. Failure to lead on climate change has led to countries underwater and cities aflame. Quality is cut in an everlasting race for the bottom (line). Wars are erupting. Governments fail to form and last.
Can leadership in 2025 uplift the world? Well, it’s off to a rocky start. A mixture of chaos and failure haunts leadership. But it might not be too late…
How can we learn to be good leaders?
If we lack strong leadership, we need to develop strong leadership. Fortunately, good leadership can be learned – at least according to research from one of Italy’s leading higher education institutions.
Two professors from Bocconi University’s Department of Management and Technology, Luisa Gagliardi and Myriam Mariani, conducted a ‘natural experiment’, studying the effect that the end of compulsory military drafting in the US (which concluded in 1972) had on leadership. They discovered that people can learn to become good leaders by having opportunity to live and perform leadership in various areas of their lives.
The researchers discovered that compulsory drafting in the United States had broadened young men’s exposure to both exemplary and flawed leadership, while also incentivising them to pursue higher education. However, following the draft’s abolition, the researchers also found that the probability of American men assuming leadership roles in research teams declined in comparison to their counterparts in nations that maintained conscription.
This indicates that people can learn to become leaders through life-changing experiences, such as exposure to leadership examples in early life, or participation in leadership skills programs, says Professor Gagliardi.
“Above all, higher education has proved to be the strongest leadership-enhancing experience that people can go through early in their life,” he says. A strong case for continuing education – one that those who attack universities, or any bastion of learning, could do well to heed.
To address the current decline in leadership readiness, the study advocates for the provision of early life, inclusive leadership enhancing opportunities to help shape attitudes and capabilities. These include formal education, corporate internships, and on-the-job training but could also span to other domains, such as political activism, associationism, and sporting activities, the researchers say.
What does a good leader look like in the age of AI?
Humans have always been better at inventing tools that change the way we live and work than adapting to the big changes these tools cause, state Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter in the Harvard Business Review. They offer examples of social media which, despite connecting us can also isolate us from one another, as well as the internet in general, which gives us access to gigabytes of data to inform our decisions, and yet results in making us more distracted than ever.
With the acceleration of the use of AI, automation, and robotics, leaders are increasingly required to deal with major disruptions to workplaces and workforces caused by AI and tech. A recent study from Vienna University of Economics and Business, for example, finds that robots in the workplace damage employees’ mental well-being, leading to higher turnover.
Leaders then, will have to reimagine their roles in ways that demand agility, empathy, and an acute digital aptitude.
Traditional hierarchies, long the bedrock of corporate leadership, are proving increasingly obsolete. The days of top-down, command-and-control management structures have given way to a more decentralized, collaborative approach. In 2025, the most successful leaders will be those who embrace a model of shared authority, where decision-making is distributed across diverse teams rather than concentrated at the top.
With this in mind, leaders need to get a better sense of what is going on in their companies. In the Financial Times, Pilita Clark calls for more CEOs on the shop floor, to understand the reality of what a company does and offers, and what it could do better, saying that “Too many leaders avoid spending time with workers doing the jobs the business depends on”.
She writes that she suspects “many executives shy away from the shop floor because they have succumbed to an aspect of power poisoning, or the way behaviour changes when you reach the top.”
Companies have to pioneer structures that empower employees at all levels to take ownership of work. As Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, put it: “Leaders are only as effective as their ability to create an environment where others can lead.” The ability to foster a culture of empowerment is a necessity. If a more equitable profit shift followed, that would be welcome.
The growing need for sustainability
If sustainable commitments were once considered less than essential, they are now central to leadership in 2025, especially given governmental abandonment across much of the world.
Investors, consumers, and employees are still holding businesses to a higher standard, demanding that sustainability be embedded within corporate strategy rather than treated as a tick-box exercise, in the face of increasing climate catastrophes the world over.
However, a recent study from Imperial College Business School reveals a significant gap between corporate sustainability efforts and actual emission reductions. It suggests that most companies’ emission pathways do not align with the Paris Agreement, jeopardising national climate targets. The research highlights the need for deeper corporate engagement and systemic change to meet global sustainability goals.
And it may be in leaders’ best interest. Companies like Patagonia have shown that sustainability and profitability are not mutually exclusive and can be profit-creating in the extreme. The leaders of today and tomorrow must go beyond greenwashing and commit to tangible, science-based targets that drive meaningful change. This requires a shift in mindset: sustainability is now the opposite of a cost, and it can be a competitive advantage in a crowded (and burning) world.
How can leaders navigate geopolitical chaos?
The interconnected nature of the global economy means that corporate leaders must be as adept at navigating geopolitical risk as they are at managing financial performance. The rise of economic nationalism, ongoing trade tensions, and disruptions in critical supply chains have reinforced the importance of resilience and contingency planning.
Anjli Raval, writing in the Financial Times, says, “The confidence to make bold decisions even during tough times is critical to corporate growth. But taking risks in the face of uncertainty has been harder in recent years as executives struggle with seemingly never-ending upheaval, ranging from geopolitical tensions and workforce pressures to technological disruption.”
Companies such as Apple, which has diversified its supply chain beyond China, and semiconductor firms reshoring production to mitigate geopolitical risk, highlight the necessity of proactive leadership. Those who can anticipate and respond to these disruptions will be best positioned to maintain operational stability in an increasingly fragmented world.
Understanding leadership in 2025
Tackling the leadership drought into 2025 will not be one-note or simple, but we must step up, in business and government, as well as local society.
The challenges are complex, the need severe, and the pace of change relentless. Yet, for those who do step up, the promise of a better world awaits.
Ultimately, the leaders who will thrive in this new era are not those who seek to impose control but those who can inspire trust, cultivate innovation, clarify uncertainty, and mitigate danger.
The future is shaped by today’s leaders. Now is the time to cultivate positive leadership that drives change and inspires progress.
By, Tom Willis
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