Today I'm giving you a look at the trends that I am seeing this year in leadership and business. You'll also get my number one tip for the most impactful type of development you can offer your organization in 2024. Ready to get ahead of the game in leadership development? Let’s dive into the top leadership trends of this year together! 

1. Lean into strengths (now more than ever!)

We’ve shouted from the rooftops the benefits of Strengths-Based Development before, and this approach is still at the top of our list for 2024 (and for good reason!). 

This far into working from home, more and more employees are finding themselves burnt out from increased demands, lack of work-life balance, and the state of world affairs. As a result, many leaders are describing to me that their teams are in a state of sheer exhaustion. 

When dealing with overwhelm, Strengths-Based Development is the fastest way to get rooted, dig into possibilities, and spark personal momentum within employees no matter how uncertain the world might feel. 

For those less familiar with Strengths-Based Development, this strategy pulls from a variety of best practices in leadership training, drawing on the fundamentals of positive psychology and authentic leadership. It advocates that, in order to help workers succeed and thrive, leaders need to help them understand and leverage their skills and capabilities. 

The CliftonStrengths Assessment offers a perfect way into this kind of work, helping individuals to discover and maximize their most powerful natural talents. This assessment emphasizes the importance of understanding your innate strengths to develop greater confidence and empowerment in your work, as well as strategies that help you to manage your weaknesses (as opposed to trying to fix them).

In other words, organizations who give their teams Strengths Support focus on what's strong rather than what's wrong. 

Already familiar with the power of Strengths? Great! In 2024 it’s ever-important to continually return to it in new ways. Digging deeper into what’s applicable in this moment when it comes to our personal awareness and how we overcome obstacles and break through to new levels in our careers and lives. 

To begin, consider asking yourself the following: How can using my Strengths work for me this week? Or: How can I get to know myself in a new way so that I can continue to commit and make decisions to tap into the best sides of myself moving forward? 

Whether you’re new to strengths or want to dig deeper into what you’ve already learned, our 21-Day Strengths Challenge can help you do that. ​​For 21 days you’ll receive daily reflection questions and videos that guide you in discovering… 

The value you bring to your work and what you need to do it. 
Ready to join us? Click here to sign up for our 21-Day Strengths Challenge. 

(Oh, and in case you’re thinking “I don’t know if I have the time,” the challenge consists of short, action-packed emails and videos that are available to digest at your own leisure!). 

2. Revisit and rework your 1-on-1 rituals

If you’ve been around at Leadology for some time now, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that empathy is a key skill necessary for daring leadership. Of course, empathy feels so much more easily achieved when you’re in-person– with the opportunity to have organic conversations near the watercooler, share lunch with your coworker, or just catch up over coffee. 

Without these organic encounters, having empathy in a remote work environment can feel a little more elusive. Trust us, we get it– Zoom fatigue is real, and you probably aren’t keen on holding 1-on-1 meetings anymore, especially after a long endless day of staring at your screen. But, both in and especially out of the physical office, keeping these 1:1 commitments is an important way to show empathy and maintain connection with teammates. 

If your 1:1 meetings are starting to feel a bit repetitive, unnecessary or even stale, get curious about how you can add some variety. Consider the ways that you can check back in and close the loop with things that have recently come up in conversation between you and teammates. Show active listening by getting specific with your questions. Here’s a sample script to get you started. 

“A few months ago you mentioned you were having trouble with xyz. How are you feeling about that today?” 

As you probably know, these uncertain times have been quite the rollercoaster all around, and we need connection and empathy for the ever-changing mental and emotional states we’re all experiencing. Doubling down on the power of effective 1:1s can help you do that. 

3. Dig into skills of curiosity and receiving feedback

Whether you’re an independent contributor or leader within your organization, it’s absolutely essential that you become and stay curious. Fostering curiosity around experimentation is key to steady professional development and personal growth. 

While you may notice that curiosity is key right now, actually knowing where to start developing it may not be as clear. To get you started, we recommend seeking feedback wherever you can, particularly from those you trust and are excited to learn from. 

Once you've identified these individuals, take the conversation to the next level by asking them for specific feedback regarding your performance and development. Identify whether you’re looking for evaluation, appreciation, or coaching. Why it’s important to you, and be sure to close the loop once someone has taken the time to share their thoughts with you. 

In all, getting more savvy and strategic about your own advancement and professional development is going to be a skillset that will keep you ahead of the curve both now and well into the future. 

4. Invest in managerial development 

As those who are responsible for both the high-level strategy and everyday execution of such plans, managers are sandwiched in between two skill sets that are absolutely critical to the success of any organization. Generally, managers require more attention, support, and development opportunities in order to really give them the proper tools to truly succeed. As a result, investing in managers’ professional development is going to keep your whole organization secure as ever. 

You might be wondering how urgent it is to budget out the time, space, and resources for managerial development. Gallup shoots straight and tells us that the cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee's annual salary. Because the cost of losing an employee is so high, it will always be mission-critical to understand and narrow in on the management levels in your organization, including the sort of development that they require to produce great work and feel fulfilled.

At Leadology, we have an entire slate of programs specifically designed for the real-life problems of managers, as well as the real-life skills that they need to succeed in their roles. 

One of them is Activate, our interactive video-based training and coaching program for busy managers who struggle with unproductive team communications. This results-driven leadership development course helps managers to gain an increased awareness of talents; develop a toolkit for leading productive conversations; and build communication skills for navigating change, overcoming challenges, and maximizing the potential of teams. In our experience, Activate is the secret ingredient to improving accountability, aligning expectations, and supporting teams all around. 

Interested in what Activate can do for you and your team’s professional development? Schedule a call with the Leadology Team to learn more about the kind of growth that’s in store. 

5. Adopt a blended - or hybrid - approach to development 

One the biggest and most exciting leadership trends we’re anticipating this year is around how employees will learn. In the past, countless companies had invested in in-person development and brought employees and experts in from around the world. 

In our current circumstances, the pandemic has forced a pivot to much more remote development, forcing us to innovate when it comes to how we think about employee development. Over the past years, what has been most impactful in this space is those companies who have a harmonious combination of both synchronous (communal) and asynchronous (self-paced) learning. 

Not only has this allowed for employees to learn on their own time, which creates a sense of autonomy in one’s work, but it’s maintained the ability to bring employees together in groups to forge a necessary sense of connection and common professional development language while remote.

Gallup tells us that most people leave their jobs when they have a perceived lack of opportunity to learn and grow in their respective role. In response, a blended approach to internal professional development offers various solutions to the challenges posed by remote work. In fact, not being able to learn in-person is simply no excuse to not thoughtfully train your employees during the pandemic. 

There are already plenty of fantastic solutions to these existing obstacles in a world that’s working from home, but it appears as though a blended approach is leaving the biggest - most lasting impact on employees. This approach, which has been dubbed the HIVE Method (high impact virtual experiences), takes the old school long workshop and breaks it down into smaller, more engaged learning moments. It is all about taking the time to focus on individual learning, and then come together for a robust discussion, coaching, Q&A, and making a commitment to apply these things on the job. The chances of someone applying the skills they learned back on the job after a HIVE experience versus a traditional workshop increases by 62%.

The evidence behind this blended approach is exactly why we created Activate– one of our premier programs that features self-paced learning and a group coaching component, so that people can benefit from the agency and connection accessible through this learning model. 

So, which leadership development trends are you most looking forward to? Where do you feel obstacles or opportunities are arising in your organization? At Leadology, we’re dedicated to creating programs and content to try to solve your biggest leadership problems, so we’d love to know! Connect with us today.