People leaders are experiencing demands that have grown faster than organizations’ ability to support them, pushing the role to an unsustainable breaking point, according to new research from McLean & Company.
The global HR research and advisory firm’s latest report found that workplace complexity, rapid technological change and rising employee expectations are pushing leadership responsibilities beyond sustainable limits. Many people leaders have become organizational catchalls tasked with delivering results, strategic alignment, improved company culture and emotional support without adequate clarity or capacity, according to the firm.
The research reveals significant stress among people leaders. According to McLean & Company’s HR Trends Report 2025, people leaders are 1.7 times more likely to experience high stress than individual contributors. The firm’s Engagement Survey from 2022 to 2025 found 40 per cent of people leaders report being unable to maintain work-life balance.
“People leaders are carrying a workload that has expanded far beyond what the role was ever designed to support,” said Lexi Hambides, director of HR research and advisory services at McLean & Company. “They are expected to coach, inspire, drive strategy and support wellbeing while navigating constant disruption.”
Skills gap widening as future demands increase
The report found 73 per cent of respondents feel that leaders’ skill sets will need to change completely or almost completely to adapt to the future of work in 2030, according to McLean & Company’s Future of Work survey from 2024. The increased use of AI, automation and distributed teams continues to add new layers of complexity and demands for adaptability, the firm said.
Despite rising demands, many organizations struggle to prepare leaders for these realities. The research highlights that 74 per cent of organizations find it challenging to develop effective people leaders, according to the HR Trends Report 2025. Workload pressure is the top barrier.
This contributes to a growing pipeline risk, according to the firm. High-potential employees are increasingly opting out of leadership roles due to stress and limited reward. Those who do step into leadership roles often lack human-centric competencies such as empathy, emotional intelligence and relationship-building that the future of work will depend on, the report said.
AI increases need for human-centric leadership
The firm’s report underscores that AI will heighten, not diminish, the need for strong human-centric leadership. As routine tasks become automated, the uniquely human capabilities of leaders become even more critical, according to the research.
The report calls for a fundamental redesign of the people leader role to enable leaders to focus on what drives the greatest impact: enabling people, fostering resilience and translating strategy into meaningful action. This includes clarifying the purpose of the role, redesigning workloads to account for both visible and invisible responsibilities, aligning HR programs and processes with leadership expectations, and using technology to free up leaders’ time for higher-value work, according to McLean & Company.
The full report, Transforming the Role of People Leaders, is available from McLean & Company. The firm supports organizations through leadership development coaching and its Leadership Strategy Workshop.
McLean & Company is a division of Info-Tech Research Group.
