2026+领导力关键能力报告+Leadership+Skills+2026+Report

LEADERSHIP

SKILLS

2026REPORT

ResearchandInsightsby

JoeFolkmanandJackZenger

www.zengerfolkman.com|info@zengerfolkman.com

www.zengerfolkman.com|801-705-9375|info@zengerfolkman.com

Contents

LeadershipDevelopmentisNon-Negotiable

AIProvidesInformation—LeadersMakeDecisions

1

AIRaisestheBar—

2

3

EmployeeExperienceThatUnlocksDiscretionaryEffort

PsychologicalSafetyatWork

4

Control,Influence,and

INTRoDucTioN

Artificialintelligenceisrapidlychanginghowworkgetsdone.Andyet,as

organizationsinvestheavilyinAIandnewtechnology,manyinitiativesstillfail.

Thereasonisn’ttechnical.It’sleadership.

AIcanprocessinformationatscale,butitcannotreplacejudgment,trust,orcommitment.Itdoesn’tdecidewhatmattersmost.Itdoesn’tinspirepeopletostretch,collaborate,ortakeownership.Anditcannotcreatetheconditions

wherepeoplechoosetogivetheirbesteffort.

Aswemoveinto2026,leadershiphasbecomemore—notless—critical.

Thisisnotalistoftrendyskillsorspeculativepredictions.It’saresearch-drivenlookattheleadershipbehaviorsthatmoststronglypredictperformanceinaworldshapedbyAI,uncertainty,andconstantchange.

Thisreportintegrates:

·ZengerFolkmanresearchpublishedin2025.

·Datafromhundredsofthousandsofleadersanddirectreports.

·EmergingthemesfromHRandworkforcereportsshaping2026priorities.

Thegoalissimple:identifytheleadershipcapabilitiesthatconsistentlyproduceresults,regardlessofrole,industry,orleadershipstyle.

Thereisnosinglebestleadershipstyle.Whatseparatesexceptionalleadersarethebehaviorsthatconsistentlyincreaseeffectiveness.InanAI-poweredworld,thosehuman-centeredbehaviorsbecometheultimatedifferentiator.

—JackZengerandJoeFolkman

www.zengerfolkman.com|801-705-9375|info@zengerfolkman.com

AIRaisestheBar1

,EADERSHiP

$EVELOPMENT

AIcanscaleinformation.Itcannotscaletrust,judgment,orcommitment.AsAIadoptionaccelerates,organizationswillwinorlosebasedonwhether

leaderscantranslatenewcapabilityintoperformance—throughpeople.

Commonfailuremode:organizationsinvestintechwhileunderinvestingintheleadershipbehaviorsneededtotranslatetechintoperformance

(adoption,prioritization,trust,accountability).

Let’sbeginbystudyingacommonmyth:“Findthemosteffectiveleadershipstyle.”

www.zengerfolkman.com|801-705-9375|info@zengerfolkman.com

ZENGERFOLKMAN

THERESEARCH

ZengerFolkmantestedfourdistinctleadershipstyles—Expert,Connector,Driver,Strategist—toseeifoneconsistentlyoutperformedtheothers.

Result:Nomeaningfuldifferencesinoverallleadershipeffectivenessoremployeeengagementbystyle.

·4,377leadersstudied

·~14ratersperleader(boss,peers,directreports,others)

·Leadersaboveaverageinastylescoredroughly64th–73rdpercentile—strong,butnot“superhuman”

7AS/NE3TYLE"ETTERTHAN!NOTHER

graphsbelow,thedifferencesbetweenthe

Wemeasuredtheemployeeengagementofeachleader’sdirectreports.Asseeninthe

differentstyleswerenotstatisticallysignificant.

Takeaway:Greatleadershipisn’taboutwhichstyleyou

choose.It’saboutwhetheryoubuildafewstandout

strengthsandavoidfatalflaws.

STRENGTHS-BASEDDEVELOPMENT

ISTHEFASTESTPATHTOEXTRAORDINARY

“Across100,000+leaders,thedatapointstoacounterintuitivetruth:unlessaleaderhasacriticalderailmentrisk,thebiggestreturncomesfromamplifyingstrengths,notobsessingoverweaknesses.”

JackZenger,CEOofZengerFolkman

THEZFRULEOFTHUMB:3-5STRENGTHS+NOFATALFLAWS

Extraordinaryleadersdon’t

excelateverything.They

becomeexceptionalby

standingoutinafew

competenciesthatmattertotheorganization—while

stayingsolideverywhereelse.

Whatthismeansin2026...

WhenAIspeedsupwork,leadershipbecomesthedifferentiator.Theorganizationsthatpullaheadwon’tstandardizeleadersintoonemodel.They’llpersonalizedevelopmentsoleadersbecomemoreofwhotheyareattheirbestwhilestayingalignedwith

businessneeds.

ZENGERFOLKMAN

DoTHisMoNDAy

1.Identifyyourtop2–3strengths.

2.PickonebusinesspriorityAIischanging.

3.Definea“strengthapplication.”HowwillIusemystrengthtomovethatprioritythisquarter?

4.Addressanyfatalflawsignals(integrity,disrespect,chronicindecision,etc.).

AIProvidesInformation—2

LEADERSMAKE

DECISIONS

AIgivesleadersmoredatathaneverbefore.Butinformationabundancedoesn’tequaldecisionquality.

Infact,itoftenslowsaction,increasesriskaversion,andcreatesparalysis.

In2026,thecompetitiveedgebelongstoleaderswhocanconvertinsightintojudgment—andjudgmentintoaction.

www.zengerfolkman.com|801-705-9375|info@zengerfolkman.com

ZENGERFOLKMAN

THEMODERN

DECISION-MAKINGGAP

+

ToDAy’sLEADERsFAcE:

.

.

Informationoverload

Shorterdecisionwindows

Higherpublicconsequences

Morestakeholderswithcompetingpriorities

WHATTHEDATAsHowsABouTBREATDEcisioN-mAkERs

ZengerFolkmananalyzed15,804leaders,eachratedbyanaverageof14observers,comparingthetop10%andbottom10%indecision-

makingeffectiveness.

BIGRESULT

Topdecision-makersdramaticallyoutperformpeersin:

Overallleadershipeffectiveness

EmployeeengagementamongdirectreportsDecisionqualityisn’tjuststrategic—it’scultural.

.

AIacceleratesinputs.Leadersremainaccountableforoutcomes.

7QUALITIESTHATENABLEGREATDECISIONS:

WHyiTmATTERs

LEADERsHipSkiLLs

Leadersratedhighlyforanticipatingproblemsareseenasmoreeffectivebecausetheirteamsspendlesstimereactingandmoretimeexecuting.

ANTICIPATINGPROBLEMS

Leaderswhoanticipateproblemsdon’tjustmakebetterinitialdecisions—theyreducedownstreamfailure.

Momentumreducesoveranalysisandpreventssmallopportunitiesfrombecominglargeproblems.

ACTINGQUICKLY

Effectivedecision-makersdistinguish

betweendecisionsthatrequiredeepanalysisandthosewheredelayisthebiggestrisk.

Whenleadersclarifypriorities,teamsmakefaster,morealigneddecisionswithoutconstantescalation.

RELENTLESSFOCUS

High-performingleadersconsistently

identifythecriticalfewprioritiesthatdrivethemajorityofresults.

BALANCINGRISKANDREWARD

Playingnottoloseoftenmeansfallingbehind.

Theypreventsunk-costbiasfrom

compoundinglosses.Theymake

timelydecisions,notjustcorrectones.

Thestrongestdecision-makersevaluateriskintelligentlyratherthandefaultingtocaution.

RECOGNIZINGWHENCHANGEISREQUIRED

Leadersoftenclingtofamiliarapproaches

becausechangefeelsdisruptive—evenwhenevidencesuggestsit’snecessary.

WHA

QUE

Trustisn’t“soft.”It’sinfrastructure.Withoutit,evengooddecisionsstall.

ne?

BUILDINGTRUST

Inhigh-trustenvironments,peopledon’twaitforpermission,second-guessintent,orprotectthemselvesfromblame.

Itenablesdistributeddecision-making—essentialinAI-enabled,fast-movingorganizations.

CLEARSTRATEGICPERSPECTIVE

Strategicclarityallowsdecisionstocascadedownward.

Thesebehaviorsreinforceoneanother.Together,theycreate

environmentswheregooddecisionsaremade—andmadetowork.

ZENGERFOLKMAN

3

EmployeeExperience:

THATUNLOCKS

$iSCRETiONARY%FFORT

In2026,performancewon’tbedrivenbyjobdescriptionsalone.Therealadvantagecomesfromdiscretionaryeffort—theextraenergypeoplechoosetogivewhentheyfeelconfident,valued,andinspired.

CONFIDENCEISALEADERSHIPOUTCOME

ZengerFolkmananalyzeddatafrom587,544directreports,examininghowleadershipbehaviorsshapeemployees’confidencethattheir

organizationwillsucceed.

Finding:

Confidencedoesn’tcomefromslogans.Itcomesfromconsistentleadershipbehaviors.

www.zengerfolkman.com|801-705-9375|info@zengerfolkman.com

5BEHAVIORSTHATBUILD

ORBANIZATIONALCONFIDENCE

Confidenceriseswhenpeopleknowwherethey’regoing,whyitmatters,andhowtheycontribute.

1.Translatevisionintopersonalmeaning.

2.Maintainfocusontoppriorities.

3.Challengepeopletostretchbeyondperceivedlimits.

4.Createalineofsightbetweenstrategyanddailywork.

5.Connectworktocustomerimpact.

DiscRETioNARyEFFoRTisEARNED,NoTDEmANDED

Discretionaryeffort—thewillingnesstogobeyondwhat’srequired—cannotbe

forced.Itisachoiceemployeesmakebasedonhowtheyexperienceleadership.

ZengerFolkman’sresearchshowsaclearimbalanceinhowleadersattempttogenerateperformance:

PUSHvs.PULLInsight

·76%ofleadersareratedstrongeratdrivingforresults.

·Only22%areratedstrongeratinspiringandmotivatingothers

Pushingworks—uptoapoint.Itincreasescompliance.

Pullingworksdifferently.Leaderswhoinspirecreateenergyratherthanextractit.Theyconnectworktomeaning,recognizeeffort,andchallengepeopleinwaysthatbuildprideratherthanfear.

ZENGERFOLKMAN

REmEmBER:INTHESEENViRONMENTS,0EOPLEDON’TWORKHARDERBECAUSETHEYHAVETO—THEYWORKHARDERBECAUSETHEYWANTTO.

ZENGERFOLKMAN

RECOGNITION:THEOVERLOOKEDACCELERATOR

INASTUDYoF4,216LEADERs:

·Leadersinthebottom10%forrecognitionhaddirectreportsatthe26thpercentileinengagement.

·Leadersinthetop10%reachedthe75thpercentile.

Surprisinginsight:Seniorleadersscoreloweronrecognitionthan

individualcontributors—despitetheirrecognitioncarryinggreaterweight.

WHATTHATmEANsiN2026

Asworkbecomesfasterandmoreautomated,peopleneedmore—notless—humanaffirmation,clarity,andpurpose.

Thedatasuggeststhatevenmodestimprovementsinrecognitionpracticesyieldbenefits,whileincreasingthefrequencyandqualityofpositive

reinforcementcanhelpgoodleadersbecometrulyexceptionalones.

DothisMonday(LeaderPlay)

·Publiclyrecognizeeffort+impact(notjustresults).

·Replaceone“push”messagewithaninspiring“why?”·Ask:“Whatwouldmakethisworkfeelmeaningful?”

Control,Influence,and

PsycHoLoBicALSAFETy

ATwoRk

4

Speedandscaletemptorganizationstowardtightercontrol.

Butdecadesofresearchpointtotheoppositetruth:organizationsperformbetterwheninfluenceisshared,andpeoplefeelsafetospeakup.

www.zengerfolkman.com|801-705-9375|info@zengerfolkman.com

PSYCHOLOGICALSAFETY

Psychologicalsafetyisthebeliefthatyoucan:

Speakup

·Askquestions

·Admitmistakes

·Shareideas—withoutfear

ZFresearchfrom18,000+employeesshowsleaderswhofostersafetysee:

Intenttoquitdropfrom37%→20%

Extraeffortrisefrom23%→47%

0RACTiCAL!PPLiCATiONSTO"UiLD3AFETY

01

03

"UiLDANiNCLUSiVECLiMATE

Inclusionisn’tjustaboutdiversity—it’sabout

makingsuredifferentperspectivesarevaluedandheard.

"UiLDTRUST

Trustgrowsthroughconsistentactions,keepingyourword,

andrecognizingthetalentsofyourpeople.

02

"EOPENTO$iVERSE0ERSPECTiVES

Don’tjusttoleratedifferent

opinions—activelyseekthemout.OneexecutiveIknowtellstheirteam,“Wecan’tpromiseeveryonewillgettheirway,buteveryonewillhavetheirsay.”

04

"ALANCiNG4ASKS7iTHPEOPLE’S.EEDS

Thebestleadersknowwhentopushforresultsandwhentopauseforpeople.

“Psychologicalsafetyisn’tjustaboutcreatinga“nice”placetowork—itdirectly

impactswhetherpeoplestay,givetheirbesteffort,andhelpyourorganization

succeed.Andwhileyoucan’tchangeeverythingovernight,youcanstartshowing

updifferentlyinthemomentsthatmatter.”—JoeFolkman

www.zengerfolkman.com|801-705-9375|info@zengerfolkman.com

4

CONTROLVSTOTALINFLUENCE:THEREALLEVER

Tannenbaum’sresearchdemonstratedthatorganizationswithgreatertotalinfluence—whereexecutives,managers,andemployeesallfelttheyhadavoice—weresignificantlymoresuccessful.

ModernZFteamdatashowsthatsuccessisn’taboutwhoholdspower—it’sabouthowmuchtotalinfluenceexistsacrossthesystem.

InZFteamresearch:

·Teamswithstrongertotalinfluenceshowsignificantlygreaterengagementandeffectiveness.

ZENGERFOLKMAN

©2026ZengerFolkman.AllRights