Leadership Development
The leader of the future is a Connecting Leader, someone who connects to themselves, their team, their organization, and the outside world to deliver value on every level. This type of leadership role is critical in a business environment shaped by daily crises, sky-high complexity, and increasing expectations that organizations will address social and environmental problems that governments and other institutions can't. Connecting leaders understand those forces and envision the future to chart a way forward through constantly evolving workforces and workspaces, orchestrating teams, businesses, and ecosystems for impact. Always with a purpose-driven, human-centered approach that's ever more critical in the face of AI-driven technological advancement.
At Heidrick & Struggles, we know what makes great leaders. Building on our 70+ years of delivering leadership insights, we did the hard work to develop and refine our point of view on the future of leadership—The Connecting Leader—integrating market research, proprietary assessment, consultant expertise, and client feedback. More broadly, we use best-in-class industry and behavioral expertise to create scalable, personalized development solutions, whether assessing top executives across sectors for impact and potential or crafting engaging experiences that transform leaders as they ascend within their organizations and industries. Our leadership development framework provides practical skills and tools for effective leadership, combining professional development with career advancement opportunities for early career professionals and senior leaders alike. Delivering evidence-based leadership concepts, solutions, and results for maximum organizational impact—it's all we do.
The future of leadership: The Connecting Leader
The world has changed, and leadership has changed. Connecting leaders who build human-to-human relationships will positively impact all stakeholders and collectively raise their teams, organizations, and ecosystems to the top in the short and long term. These future leaders demonstrate modern leadership by connecting with their teams through strong interpersonal skills, applying critical thinking and curiosity to observe and learn, and opening their enterprise to the world to scale and accelerate growth. These leaders also envision the future and the needed transformations while creating value through their ecosystems and delivering to their clients, today. They understand that leadership development equips future-ready leaders with a learning mindset to stay curious, agile, and adaptable through continuous learning and best-practice application. These leaders will leave a lasting legacy on the people they work with, the organization they work for, and the world we live in.
The connecting leader: Five imperatives for leaders today
How are leaders around the world leveraging connecting capabilities to help their organizations thrive? Our research shows that effective leaders share core capabilities rooted in authentic connection—the ability to inspire, influence, learn, adapt, and support their team’s professional growth. By unifying diverse teams, guiding change, and fostering growth, they create positive impact for all stakeholders and elevate their teams, organizations, and ecosystems in both the short and long term. These leaders leave a lasting legacy on their people, their organizations, and the world.
The connecting leader: Learning mindset
Ability and willingness to learn are the foundations of successful leadership in today's world. Our leadership development framework emphasizes continuous professional development and provides exclusive access to insights that help leaders adapt to changing business environments. Leaders who embrace learning create unique opportunities for themselves, their teams and organizations to thrive in an ever-evolving landscape. This article offers tips on how companies can help leaders foster a learning mindset.
The connecting leader: Orchestrating ecosystems
Leaders today must be able to build connections within and across their organization and its ecosystems, even as they change. Effective leaders make time to understand the wide range of stakeholders and develop practical skills for managing complex relationships. Our leadership development framework provides tools for navigating organizational dynamics and creating ecosystem partnerships while maintaining focus on strategic objectives and team performance. This article offers tips on how companies can help leaders develop the capabilities they need.
For senior executives focused on business transformation and accelerating growth.
For closing capability gaps among leaders who are critical to strategic priorities.
For next-generation leaders building the mindsets and skills to take on bigger roles.