Some years bring incremental changes in leadership development. Others seem to change the whole game. Based on the signals I’m seeing and the questions I’m getting, 2026 is shaping up to be a year of seismic shifts. So what does your organization need to know to keep pace? Here are some key findings that are shaping how we work with clients and implement our New Lens® platform. I’m interested to hear whether this list aligns with what you’re observing.
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
The Leadership Crisis
1. 71% of leaders report significantly higher stress since stepping into their current role. The takeaway: Stress is the defining feature of leadership today. That means leadership development must teach capabilities like staying resilient (and helping others do so), setting priorities and managing personal energy.
2. 40% of stressed leaders are considering leaving leadership roles entirely to protect their wellbeing. The takeaway: I'm struck by how many leaders I’m hearing about who aren’t just leaving their current roles; they're done with leadership altogether. This signals deep problems on the horizon.
3. Trust in immediate managers has declined 37% since 2022. The takeaway: It's only natural that employees would mistrust unprepared managers, many of whom never wanted the job in the first place.
4. Only 44% of managers report having received any formal training. The takeaway: This shortfall feeds other problems ranging from retention to morale.
The Manager-Engagement Domino Effect
5. Manager engagement dropped from 30% to 27%, driving a broader decline. The takeaway: When managers disengage, their teams follow: 70% of team engagement variance is attributable to the manager.
6. Global employee engagement fell to 21%—matching the lowest levels since the pandemic lockdowns. The takeaway: Low engagement cost the global economy trillions of dollars in lost productivity.
7. In recent workplace learning surveys, employees increasingly expect their managers to serve as their primary guide to learning and career opportunities—yet most managers say they haven't been trained to coach or develop others. The takeaway: This gap between expectation and preparation is one of the most urgent disconnects I see in organizations right now. Manager-driven career development support is simultaneously more important and more fragile than ever, making manager coaching skills a non-negotiable focus for L&D.
Sources: Gallup, LinkedIn Workplace Learning
L&D as Competitive Advantage
8. L&D consistently ranks among the top factors in employment decisions. 83% of employees call development opportunities vital when choosing an employer; 92% say they'd choose the employer with better L&D given two similar offers; and L&D consistently appears alongside work/life balance and career progression as one of the top reasons employees choose an employer. The takeaway: Can we retire the idea that development is a “perk”? High-potential candidates are effectively screening you on your development offerings.
9. 66% of workers say they would consider leaving within 12 months if career-development-focused L&D were reduced or removed. The takeaway: Cutting learning is often a false economy that accelerates attrition.
10. 37% of Gen Z employees say they would look for a new job if their company doesn't provide adequate training opportunities. The takeaway: As Gen Z grows to about a third of the workforce by 2030, organizations that neglect development will face serious retention challenges with their youngest employees.
Sources: Docebo/People Management, TalentLMS, Iventiv, Scheer IMC
The Skills Evolution
11. 39% of workers' core skills are expected to change by 2030. The takeaway: The rapidly evolving business environment makes it more important than ever to focus on timeless capabilities like clear communication and strategic thinking.
12. Employees increasingly rely on peers and digital learning communities, not just formal programs, to keep up with change. The takeaway: L&D strategies that blend formal curricula with peer learning, mentoring and communities of practice will be best positioned to keep pace with the speed of work.
Sources: World Economic Forum, LinkedIn Workplace Learning
Go Deeper at Our Next Webinar
On January 29, join me for a session focused on 2026’s most important L&D trends.
We’ll share what we’ve learned through our work with New Lens about why traditional learning methods often fail to deliver sustainable change, what employees across generations expect from their development experience, why coaching remains one of the most underused tools in L&D, and how to create connection and change at scale—even in hybrid or distributed teams.
Join us to explore practical ways to ensure your leadership development efforts drive real results. Here are the details:
📅 Thursday, January 29, 2026
🕒 12:00 PM CT
🔗 Reserve your spot here: https://luma.com/qkos4s7j
Don’t wait for performance to drop before taking action. Discover how the New Lens® platform helps organizations support managers with bite-sized, actionable learning—built for today’s fast-paced, high-stress environments.