Global report unveils growing disconnect between bosses and employees

A new global report has revealed a striking disconnect between the leadership qualities organisations promote and what employees actually expect from their leaders, raising fresh questions about how companies identify and develop future executives.

Findings from Hogan Assessments, based on personality data from more than 21,000 executives and survey responses from over 9,000 employees across 25 markets, suggest that the traits helping leaders rise through the ranks may not be the ones that build trust on the ground.

According to the executive dataset, leaders most commonly demonstrate competencies such as inspiring others, competing effectively, presenting ideas, taking initiative, and driving innovation. These traits, the report suggests, reflect a leadership culture often shaped by visibility, influence, and performance signalling.

When asked what they want from their leaders, respondents highlighted effective communication, sound decision-making, accountability, integrity, and leadership ability, qualities rooted less in performance optics and more in consistency, trust, and execution.

“Surprisingly, we find absolutely no overlap between the top five competencies global executives display and the top five competencies global respondents say they want leaders to display,” the report noted, underscoring the scale of the disconnect.

The gap extends beyond skills into values. Nearly half of respondents (48%) said it is important for leaders to prioritise networking, teamwork, and belonging. However, Hogan’s executive data showed leaders tend to place greater emphasis on quality, aesthetics, tradition, authority, profit orientation, and experience-based decision-making, signalling a potential misalignment between leadership priorities and employee expectations.

“This matters because a leader’s values determine what they prioritise and incentivise,” the report said. “When leaders don’t signal that the values most important to the team matter, workers lose a key reason to invest in the team’s success.”

A risk to engagement and performance

The report warns that this mismatch could have tangible consequences, including disengagement, reduced productivity, and increased talent attrition. When employees feel leadership lacks accountability or alignment with their expectations, trust erodes, often silently, before showing up in performance metrics.

To address the gap, the report calls for a rethink in how organisations identify and evaluate leaders. Rather than prioritising traits like executive networking ability or presentation skills, companies should focus on behaviours linked to trust-building and execution.

Recommended steps include using structured personality and values assessments, along with behavioural interviews that probe real-world decision-making. Candidates should be asked to demonstrate how they have handled accountability, communicated in difficult situations, and fostered inclusion within teams.

The report also urges organisations to redesign leadership development programmes around employee-valued traits, such as coaching for self-awareness, scenario-based learning, and training in self-management.

Equally important, it says, is reforming recognition systems. Leadership evaluation frameworks should reward decision quality, follow-through, and ownership of outcomes rather than visibility or influence alone.

Finally, companies are encouraged to redefine “high potential” talent in a way that reflects organisational culture, strategy, and workforce expectations.

“Leadership pipelines are strongest when organisations align how they identify and develop leaders with what employees actually value,” said Allison Howell, CEO of Hogan Assessments. “Trust, accountability, and sound judgment are not secondary qualities. They are central to team effectiveness and long-term performance.”