Preparing to upskill in 2025? Here, we explore why skills-based leadership development matters and share the skills leaders need to know next.
In the 2025 Skills Horizon, our dynamic guide to what leaders need to know next, we spoke with more than 70 leaders and executives from around the globe about our changing world. The three quotes at the top of this article are taken from those conversations. They emphasise the necessity for leaders to stay curious and keep learning, so they can lead through anything.
How skills-based leadership development can help
The leadership team that upskills together, advances together.
A skills-based approach to workforce management sheds light on the skills and capabilities certain jobs and roles demand. As a philosophy, it improves inclusion and diversity, builds more adaptable and resilient workforces, and makes organisations more responsive to changes by widening their talent pool.
Its challenge lies in backgrounding the role of deep expertise and capabilities, in particular for technical professions and leadership roles. Yet, for leadership development, a skills-based approach can be useful when taken as one of many modules in a comprehensive approach to an organisation’s knowledge base. It offers a rigorous focus on skills assessment, learning and upskilling, and adaptability—all of which make it useful in changing environments.
Skills-based leadership development is as simple as A, B, C, D, E
Assess and adapt
Understand your leaders’ skills against external changes and future needs. What do your leaders need to know next?
Build a shared base
Think about leadership skills as shared, not individual, as broad, not exclusive. Are your leaders on the same page?
Chart leaders’ careers
Think ahead when crafting your leaders’ career pathways. Are you strategically developing leaders?
Develop and learn
Make learning and upskilling part of your organisation’s DNA. Are you continuously developing your leaders?
Evaluate and evolve
As your leaders advance, adjust your program accordingly. Are you keeping your leader development future-proof?
So, what are the 36 skills leaders need to succeed in the next decade?
From AI Fluency to Geopolitics and Business to Quantum Literacy, the Skills Horizon showcases what leaders need to know now, what they should be learning next, and what they should consider exploring. Many of these skills interact, overlap, and augment each other, which is why curious leaders who embrace lifelong learning are at an advantage.
If you’re keen to know more about the skills themselves, why they matter, and how they can give your organisation a boost, download the 2025 Skills Horizon.