The future of work has been a recurring theme in futures research for decades. Work plays indeed a central role in societal change. In systems analysis, the change in work inevitably draws our attention to the pressures for change in leadership, too. Now much work is hybrid work – mainly knowledge work that is conducted multilocally at offices, homes, third places, and on the go. This creates for place-independent employees a new working reality where virtuality and digitalisation enable telepresence, oscillating with various periods of physically working with colleagues and virtually working remotely. Leadership models and skills have to change accordingly. We tackled this topic at Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) in the T-winning Spaces 2035 project.
As a starter…
When considering the future of leadership, we must also consider how other sectors will change and how society and the world as a whole will evolve. Anticipating the future of leadership is naturally closely linked to anticipating changes in working life. As society evolves, leadership must also change along with it and respond to new challenges. According to Hamel (2007), for the first time since the birth of industrial society, the only way to build a future-proof business is one that is suitable for people. He sees desirable leadership as one that guides companies to spontaneous renewal, brings innovation to all activities and in which companies deserve the enthusiasm and creativity of the people working in them. Otala (2008) similarly sees knowledge capital as the most important source of a company’s success and value creation. Thus, the skill of managing knowledge capital becomes the most important factor in competitiveness.
Companies need a vision that inspires and motivates their employees. Vision does not refer to traditional “operational goals”, but to a broader understanding of the company’s purpose. Spies (2003) defines leadership as the functional embodiment of the organisation’s purpose – not just what the company is and does, but what it is intended to become. The vision must also be implemented at all levels of the company. A fundamental change in the operations of companies occurs with the creation of shared value when business goals and broader social goals will be combined.
A shift towards a digital meaning society
A digital meanings society means that it is not information, goods nor technology that are increasingly processed, produced and consumed, but rather the cultural meanings contained in them. A digital meanings society describes a social entity that consists of production, technology and lifestyles. The purpose of more and more social functions is to create meaningful experiences for citizens, who become active designers of their own environment – active energy producers and consumers (= prosumers) (Heinonen 2020). Such development is by no means automatic - its realisation requires a future state of will in the minds of citizens, companies and political decision-makers. A digital meanings society can also be called a ubiquitous society, which is built on the utilisation of digitalisation and the search for and expression of meanings everywhere. The Latin word ubique literally means ‘everywhere’ (for ubiquitous society, see Heinonen & Ruotsalainen, 2012; Heinonen & Ruotsalainen, 2012b). Leadership in a digital meanings society requires mastery of the so-called techno-sociosphere i.e. recognising, understanding and utilising both digitalisation and meaningfulness. This indeed is a hybrid skill, especially needed for managing hybrid work force.
The ideal of working life in an ethically and ecologically sustainable meanings society is a state of equilibrium, in which production that consumes natural resources, is transformed from material and “meaningless” to production that is nature-saving, immaterial and meaningful, also nurtures spiritual and cultural well-being (Heinonen, 2020; 2022). In this, work strengthens the employee’s self, identity and meaning in life, and the product serves the consumer with the same purpose. In addition, both production and consumption are ecologically sustainable. Thus, the digital meanings society heralds a new “grand narrative” to replace the old ones. The new narrative capitalises on one hand, on the balance between humans and the Earth, and on the other hand, on humans and work/production/economy. In the European Union, the strategy guiding research and policies is the twin transition of green and digital (European Commission 2022).
We can see the need to deepen this twin transition into the model of a digital meanings society. In it, digitalisation is an enabler of both nature (green) and human well-being and a guarantor of meaningfulness. The twin transition also takes place in the form of hybrid work - in terms of the use of physical and virtual space.
The imperative of strategic foresight and the promise of visionary leadership
Let us zoom back on the futures of leadership. Strategic foresight will be at the core of leadership in the future – it is number one of leadership competencies (Heinonen, 2009). Furthermore, Kuosa (2012) claims that the change in the knowledge need of leadership is primarily due to the following six things:
1. The amount of knowledge and information is increasing exponentially.
2. Essential knowledge is drowning under the information tsunami.
3. Knowledge is becoming obsolete at an unprecedented rate.
4. Social media offers countless new avenues for acquiring knowledge and teaches us to be critical of all claims and information.
5. Expert opinions are becoming only slightly better-founded competing views in the market of opinions.
6. We learn that the real nature of the human world that a leader deals with is complex, uncertain and paradoxical. They involve unresolved contradictions, and there is usually no single truth.
In leadership, there are roughly four alternative strategies for preparing for the future. These are proactive strategy, resilient strategy, robust strategy and foresight strategy. At the heart of the latter is strategic foresight, which aims to visualise a specific game situation for the decision-maker (Kuosa, 2012). This probing foresight activity then makes it possible to formulate a proactive strategy that makes organisations proactive. Strategic foresight is ideally combined with visionary leadership. Strategic foresight is a capability without which organisations will not survive. Visionary leadership, in turn, looks to the longer future as well as to a broader perspective and value-based assessments. A visionary leader understands that in the future, the most important capital for companies will be intellectual and social capital: comprehensive support, development and harnessing of employees' knowledge, skills, emotions and values. The visionary leadership model and thinking promoted by Pentti Malaska are explored in more detail in his biography (Pouru-Mikkola et al. 2018).
Visionary leadership is defined above all by the idea that the future is viewed in a consistently long-term perspective. Another essential aspect of the approach is that the future is looked at from the present and how the desired vision, which is in the future, can be achieved. The importance of visionary decision-making is emphasised, for example, in situations that are completely new in nature. (Wilenius & Pouru, 2017). In the context of visionary leadership, a vision refers to a collectively created view of the future. A good vision is characterised by the fact that it cuts through all levels of the organisation and can be identified with. The broader social context is also essential. It is not only about how to maximise the “interest of shareholders”, but also about what the role of the organisation or company is in terms of the wider society. It is also worth emphasising that in visionary leadership and in Pentti Malaska’s thinking, a vision refers to a concrete action plan that is brought from words to actions. (Wilenius & Pouru, 2017, p. 146).
Inspired by Schoemaker and Day (2020), we can also talk about futures vigilance. According to these authors, what unites vigilant organisations is that they manage to detect opportunities and challenges faster than those that do not have this trait. They are able to act flexibly and time-efficiently by detecting weak signals early. The difference is like night and day compared to reactive organisations that have to adapt to change and unexpected situations. In this process, the ability of leaders to react to weak signals of change plays a key role. (Schoemaker & Day, 2020). Futures vigilance therefore stems in part from the future-oriented thinking of leaders. It has echoes of the idea of visionary leadership, which also emphasises the ability to act in uncertain situations and a long-term perspective. My claim is that those companies that nurture futures vigilance will succeed, whereas ‘future-proof’ companies are only an illusionary concept. (Heinonen et al. 2022). Futures will always remain uncertain to some degree. No company can lull itself into a self-deceiving future-proof confidence.
Leadership trends and disruptions
The Millennium Project’s Delphi-based Work and Technology 2050 scenarios address new leadership challenges (Glenn & the Millennium project 2020). Future leadership will combine traditional leadership skills with new, time-related skills. Traditional skills include strategic thinking and vision, while new skills include digital literacy, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and an understanding of ethical issues. The role of a leader in the future will be to act as a kind of curator who brings together different skills and expertise. Success in this role requires the desire, skill, and open-mindedness to work in multidisciplinary networks. Leadership will also emphasise a collaborative and inclusive approach in the future. Future leaders will also operate in a rapidly changing environment. The ability to respond to technological developments and changes in the market and workforce is essential. The capacity to make ethical choices and consider their broader societal impacts is also needed.
Hasnain (2023) highlights seven trends for the future of leadership by 2030, of which I wish to highlight the strengthening remote work model. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work, and this trend is likely to continue. Leaders must develop new strategies for managing and leading remote teams, building trust and community. Remote work was already frequent before the pandemic, but during the crisis it became a critical function. After the pandemic, even many who were not previously keen on remote work, continued that mode. The skills needed to lead and manage hybrid work force is now a contender for the most needed leadership skill. Hybrid work is not a monolith – the work arrangements should always be decided based on the best functionality and circumstances. There should be clear rules and transparency in hybrid work policy inside an organisation. Compelling employees to come to office more than is necessary sounds as poor leadership practice as does also the one that allows telework being done in hazy circumstances and without monitoring employees’ wellbeing or suitability to it.
Leaders are constantly under pressure from the opposing demands of leadership. On the one hand, a leader should be inspiring and reassuring, but at the same time, performance goals guide work, and achieving success is at the core of the job (Quantic 2022).
Some highlights of our findings…
Based on our international T-winning Spaces 2035 interview data, we obtained the following insights into the challenges and skills needs of future leadership (Heinonen & Viitamäki 2025). One interviewee highlighted diversity challenges as an essential issue for leadership, because these challenges are numerous and vary by country and region. He, in turn, considered futures literacy to be a key leadership factor. This is particularly emphasised for leaders who must be able to re-evaluate situations. One interviewee mentioned that there are leadership skills that apply to all employees and thus make them better leaders. Such skills include a better understanding of communication and information flow, information management skills within a group, adaptability and a willingness to experiment. Emphasising these skills for all employees indicates that leadership is not only the prerogative of people in supervisory positions. Employees at all levels of the organisation must learn certain skills in order for the work community to succeed.
The interview data also revealed more traditional perceptions of leadership. One interviewee pointed out that good leadership is based on the leader acting as an example. A good leader inspires his/her subordinates to act and promotes the development of teams and individuals. This also happens through a good leader getting the employees to discover their own abilities. Therefore, a core task of leaders is to ensure the growth of teams and individuals. However, the key issue is how to implement this activity at a practical level. It is also essential how to get the company's vision into a form that employees can promote it in practical activities. The leader can be thought of as a link between the company's top management and the employees. In this case, it is worth paying special attention to the role of vision in leadership. In line with visionary leadership, the implementation of the vision plays a key role.
Servant leadership
Servant leadership is at the heart of the digital meaning society described at the beginning. Servant leadership is a holistic leadership style that encourages employees in many activities such as interaction, ethics, emotions and spirituality in such a way that they are empowered to grow to their full potential. Servant leaders see themselves as the pilots of their organisations (van Dierendonck 2015). In this altruistic and ethical leadership style, the well-being and growth of employees are paramount. Servant leaders strive to grow the organisational resources entrusted to them. Leadership is criticised for failing to meet the needs of our hunter-gatherer culture. The small family-like tribes of hunter-gatherer societies have been replaced by bureaucratic organisations and a globally mobile workforce. As a result, the sense of tribal cohesion we long for is missing. Servant leaders, on the other hand, are able to manage the challenges of the modern workplace while creating a sense of hunter-gatherer tribal cohesion.
Servant leadership differs from other value-based leadership styles such as transformative leadership, ethical leadership, and authentic leadership, especially in terms of motives and goals. Transformational leaders do focus on the needs of their subordinates, thereby achieving the goals of the organisation (= a means to an end). Instead, servant leaders focus on the multidimensional development of their employees as an intrinsic value. (Nathan et al. 2019).
Servant leaders seem yet like a utopia in our dominant work culture where efficiency seems to be the main goal. However, they would sit well in the scenario ‘Self-Actualisation Economy’ drafted by Paul Saffo in the Millennium Project (Glenn & the The Millennium Project 2020).
As a sweet dessert…
Many different theories and trends have been developed in research on leadership. Their emergence and development are described in detail in the book Leadership for the Future (2021) edited by Thomas Mengel. He argues that we still need truly innovative new long-term approaches to leadership, envisioned from the future and developed for the future. Previous generations have associated leadership with heroism, the bravest hunter or warrior, later with saints or enlightened autocrats. In his opinion, old leadership models need to be shed like snakeskin and it is time for new models to emerge. Mengel reflects that perhaps the wrong questions have been asked when considering what makes a leader. We should be asking what makes us a certain kind of culture in which leadership is defined? Instead of theories that focus on leadership characteristics, as well as leadership theories that draw from behavioral sciences, Mengel urges us to turn our attention to contingency leadership theories, feminine leadership models, and the above-mentioned concept of servant leadership. Farrow (2020), on the other hand, emphasises the importance of team members, rather than the leader, in guiding the organisation into new innovative channels. One can also speak of a post-managerial trend. Karp and Helgø (2008) argue that we are subsequently facing a post-managerial society, intersected by complexity. According to Morne Mostert (Mostert 2025; Heinonen 2025) one of the gravest mistakes of our times has been the adoption of the idea of machine in our functions and ideal ever since the industrial revolution. In this Age of the Machine, many organisations seem to be more interested in adopting artificial intelligence than paying attention to how company leaders think, learn and make decisions. Indeed, in our hypercomplex Age of AI, he sees the knowledge of us humans and humanity emerging as the biggest challenge in developing society and education of leaders. I wish to conclude by adding hybridity into this holistic equation.
Sirkka Heinonen
The writer is a Professor Emerita at Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC).
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