Exhausted leaders are largely staying in their jobs, but that stability may conceal a growing performance problem, according to DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2027.

Nearly one in five leaders frequently feel "used up" at the end of the workday. Yet only 6% of highly stressed leaders intend to leave within the next year. Leaders who frequently feel depleted are 3.9 times more likely to learn about problems later than they should, DDI found.

The research draws on responses from 11,395 leaders and 2,519 HR professionals across more than 1,900 organizations in over 50 countries. Its first installment examines change readiness, trust, engagement, AI and future leadership skills.

Only 17% of leaders feel confident anticipating and reacting to change, a figure that has barely moved since 2025. Meanwhile, 66% of organizations have restructured within the past two years. Among those organizations, just 11% of HR professionals say their leaders are very capable of navigating the pace and nature of change.

"The pressures on leaders are compounding," said Rosey Rhyne, manager of DDI's Center for Analytics and Behavioral Research. "Recurring restructuring is reshaping leaders' roles, and AI is redefining how their work gets done."

Organizations with effective change leadership are 2.4 times more likely to meet or exceed financial targets, according to DDI.

Trust is weakest among individual contributors

Trust is weakest among employees responsible for carrying out organizational decisions. Among individual contributors, 21% trust senior leaders and 25% trust their immediate manager. Leaders who trust senior leadership are 5.9 times more likely to say its decisions translate into action.

Only 9% of leaders are fully engaged under DDI's measure, which examines immersion in work, energy and purpose. Half are only somewhat engaged, rising to 54% among frontline leaders.

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