Across 2025, leadership teams operated in a context that was noisy, fragmented, and unforgiving on execution. Geopolitical tensions, regulatory shifts, structural margin pressure, accelerating AI adoption, and changing workforce expectations converged at pace. For many of the organisations we work with at Phipps Cameron, this was not simply a “challenging year” but a signal of what the operating environment now looks like.
84% of companies report being unprepared for current and future disruptions [x]
What 2025 brought into sharper focus is that leadership effectiveness is shaped less by tenure, role history, or technical expertise alone, and more by how leaders behave in practice. How they interpret uncertainty, translate intent into action, create clarity, shape culture, engage stakeholders, and manage their own impact proved decisive.
As we move further into 2026, six leadership capabilities stand out as both diagnostic of past success and predictive of future resilience.
1. Contextual Judgement
Making sense of complexity before taking action
In 2025, leaders operated in environments shaped by overlapping disruptions and competing signals. Risks were no longer isolated or linear, but increasingly interconnected across geopolitical, technological, and economic dimensions.[1] In this environment, leadership judgement was tested not by the absence of information, but by the challenge of interpreting multiple, sometimes conflicting, signals without overreacting or becoming paralysed.
57% of global CEOs expect uncertainty to persist, yet more than half continue to increase investment in transformation rather than waiting for stability [x]
Leaders are increasingly required to commit capital and make strategic choices despite ongoing uncertainty, elevating the importance of disciplined sense-making rather than instinctive reaction.
Effective leaders treat judgement as a leadership discipline, not an instinct. They:
interpret multiple signals together rather than in isolation
distinguish structural shifts from temporary disruption
test assumptions before changing direction
use scenario thinking to anticipate emerging patterns
remain curious rather than fixed in their thinking
In 2026, as complexity continues to be structural rather than episodic, leaders will be evaluated less on decisiveness alone and more on the quality of the thinking that precedes their decisions.
2. Decisive Execution
Translating priorities into measurable progress
In 2025, many organisations were clear on what needed to change, but far fewer were able to execute consistently against those intentions. Execution challenges became more visible as organisations attempted to balance reinvention with operational delivery and financial discipline, stretching leadership attention and delivery capacity. Where progress stalled, research into corporate transformation pointed to execution failure: too many priorities, unclear ownership, slow decision cycles.[2] These issues were particularly visible in capital-constrained environments facing margin pressure. [3]
Companies with decisive leaders are 4.2 times more likely to be healthy compared with peers [x]
As strategic agendas become more crowded, leaders are increasingly required to simplify, prioritise, and convert direction into sustained delivery rather than parallel activity that does not compound into impact.
Effective leaders make focus visible and enforceable. They:
set a small number of value-critical priorities and enforce trade-offs
clarify ownership and decision rights early
intervene early when execution momentum drifts
delegate outcomes, not just tasks, with clear accountability
invest in upskilling and building the right capabilities to achieve strategic goals
In 2026, with tighter capital markets and increased performance scrutiny, leaders will be expected to show disciplined follow-through, not just strategic intent.
3. Strategic Coherence
Aligning leadership action around a shared direction
In 2025, many organisations found that the challenge was not simply having an effective strategy but maintaining alignment around it. Inconsistent messaging, and fragmented leadership narratives created friction across teams and diluted impact,[4] with misaligned senior leadership teams posing the key risk to strategy execution.[5] Even where strategy was sound, lack of coherence slowed execution and weakened the connection between day-to-day decisions and long-term value creation.
Employees who feel most aligned with leadership goals are 78% more motivated than those who report the least alignment [x]
As the pace of change continues, leaders are increasingly required to translate strategy into a clear, shared value creation plan and ensure that priorities, investments, and decisions consistently reinforce that plan.
Effective leaders treat coherence as ongoing leadership work, not a one-time communication exercise. They:
invest time aligning the senior team before cascading messages
explicitly link decisions and trade-offs back to strategic priorities
reinforce a clear ‘north star’ through consistent language and behaviour
help teams understand how their work contributes to organisational value
reduce conflicting signals by simplifying priorities
In 2026, strategic coherence will be essential not only to enable adaptation without organisational drift, but to ensure that energy, capital, and leadership attention are consistently directed toward value creation.
4. Cultural Stewardship
Shaping behaviour, not just articulating values
In 2025, culture increasingly became a visible performance factor rather than an abstract concept. Under sustained pressure, leadership behaviour, inclusion, and the ability to develop and retain talent materially influenced whether organisations could maintain pace, quality, and engagement. Global workplace research continued to show that trust, psychological safety, and inclusive leadership practices are closely linked to engagement and discretionary effort.[6]
Only 49% of employees trust their employers to create a workplace culture where everyone can thrive [x]
As expectations around inclusion, development, and performance rise simultaneously, leaders are required to actively shape the conditions in which people can perform, grow, and contribute at their best.
Effective leaders understand that culture is created through what they role-model, reinforce, and invest in. They:
set clear behavioural standards and model them consistently
create psychologically safe environments where challenge improves decisions
invest in developing talent and building future capability, not just delivering today’s results
recognise and reward behaviours that support collaboration and performance
intervene early when behaviour undermines standards or inclusion
In 2026, the ability to create inclusive, high-performance environments will increasingly determine whether organisations can sustain results and retain critical talent under continued pressure.
5. Stakeholder Navigation
Managing influence across an expanded ecosystem
In 2025, leadership increasingly took place across complex systems that extended well beyond the formal organisation. Leaders were required to operate across functions, businesses, geographies, and external institutions, often with different incentives, norms, and expectations. At the same time, institutional trust in business leadership continued to decline,[7] while regulators signalled a more assertive and interventionist stance.[8]
42% of CEOs who believe their company will not remain viable without change cite regulatory shifts as the primary influence on economic viability [x]
As organisations become more international, more regulated, and more interdependent, leadership impact is increasingly shaped by the ability to align interests, build credibility, and mobilise action across organisational, institutional, and cultural boundaries.
Effective leaders act as orchestrators of interest not just communicators of messages. They:
anticipate cross-border and cross-stakeholder implications and friction points
sequence engagement deliberately rather than reactively
adapt their approach across cultural and institutional contexts
build trust through consistency, transparency, and follow-through
align external commitments with internal capacity to ensure credibility
In 2026, as stakeholder expectations continue to rise, leaders who can align interests proactively will protect both performance and reputation.
6. Self-Awareness
Understanding personal impact as a leadership lever
In 2025, sustained pressure and rising expectations increased the demands placed on individual leaders. Decision-making accelerated, roles broadened, and accountability became more visible. In this context, effectiveness depended not only on judgement and expertise, but on leaders’ understanding of how they lead, how they show up under pressure, and how their behaviour lands on others as demands evolve.
Research consistently points to self-awareness as a foundational leadership capability, shaping decision-making, adaptability, team dynamics, and organisational culture.[9] Leaders who actively reflect on their impact and seek feedback are better positioned to adjust their approach as context changes and complexity increases.[10]
While 95% of people believe they are self-aware, only 10-15% truly are [x]
As leadership roles expanded beyond what any one individual could reasonably cover alone, awareness of where leaders added the most value, where their stress responses helped or hindered performance, and where they needed to rely on others became increasingly important.
Effective leaders use self-awareness as a performance enabler. They:
have a clear view of their leadership style and working preferences
recognise how they show up as individuals and as part of a team
understand their default responses under pressure and actively regulate them
seek and act on feedback, especially when it is uncomfortable
adjust their approach depending on the situation and people involved
use awareness of their own gaps to work more effectively through others
In 2026, as leadership roles continue to intensify, sustained effectiveness will increasingly depend on leaders’ ability to understand and regulate their own impact under pressure, not just on their judgement or expertise.
What 2026 requires
Taken together, the experiences of 2025 point to a clear shift in emphasis: leadership effectiveness is increasingly shaped by behaviour in context, not background alone. The leaders and teams that progressed were those whose judgement, execution discipline, clarity, cultural impact, stakeholder effectiveness, and self-awareness aligned with the realities they were operating in.
As organisations enter 2026, three implications follow.
First, leadership capability must be made explicit. These behaviours cannot be inferred reliably from experience alone. They need to be surfaced and understood deliberately.
Second, leadership performance is increasingly a team-level phenomenon. How individual styles combine at the top determines speed, decision quality, and organisational coherence.
Third, development must be targeted and evidence-led. Generic leadership development will be less effective than approaches grounded in a clear understanding of behavioural strengths, risks, and interaction patterns.
2026 will not reward leaders simply for what has worked before. It will reward those whose behaviours are aligned with what the environment now demands.
References:
[1] “Global Risks Report 2025”, World Economic Forum, 15 Jan 2025, https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2025/
[2] “How to get your operating model transformation back on track”, McKinsey & Company, 07 Aug 2025, https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/how-to-get-your-operating-model-transformation-back-on-track
[3] “The profitability paradox: Competing for relevance and returns”, PwC, 24 Nov 2025, https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/transformation/asset-and-wealth-management-revolution.html
[4] “Resilience Pulse Check: Harnessing Collaboration to Navigate a Volatile World”, World Economic Forum, Jan 2025, https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Resilience_Pulse_Check_2025.pdf
[5] “Workforce 2025: Power Shifts”, Korn Ferry, 17 Apr 2025 https://www.kornferry.com/insights/featured-topics/workforce-management/workforce-planning-insights
[6] “PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025”, PwC, 12 Nov 2025, https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/workforce/hopes-and-fears.html
[7] “2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report”, Edelman Trust Institute, 17 Jan 2025https://www.edelman.com/trust/2025/trust-barometer
[8] “FCA launches 5-year strategy to support growth and improve lives“, Financial Conduct Authority, 25 Mar 2025, https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-launches-5-year-strategy-support-growth-and-improve-lives
[9] Dr. C. Ran, T. Enosh Chandra, P. Prakash Reddy, & S. Sathvik Varma. (2025). SELF AWARENESS TO ORGANISATIONAL SUCCESS: TO MINDFUL LEADERSHIP PATH. International Journal of Research in Management & Social Science, Volume 13(Issue 4 October - December 2025), 117–124. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18150091
[10] “The Double-Edged Sword of Self-Awareness in Leadership”, Psychology Today, 29 Sep 2024, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-clarity/202409/the-double-edged-sword-of-self-awareness-in-leadership
