GFC White Paper on New Leadership Models for Future Generations 2026

The challenge of future- proofing leadership1 Leadership today is not future-proof and, in many cases, not even present-proof. The systems and institutions, assumptions and traits that have long shaped how leadership is defined and exerted are under unprecedented pressure. Technological disruption, geopolitical fragmentation, ecological stress, and widening societal divides are reshaping the conditions under which leaders make and implement decisions. Leadership models that were once built on stability and hierarchy can no longer sustain themselves in a world marked by constant transformation, increasing acceleration, and complex interdependencies. The widespread erosion of trust in leaders and institutions worldwide is not the cause, it is a symptom of a more profound crisis. Leadership has failed to evolve at the pace of reality, at the pace of crises that unfold. What is more, it often lacks the perspective of future generations. According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer1, nearly 70% of people believe that both business and government leaders are misleading the public. Similarly, 61% of the people surveyed report a moderate or high level of grievance against governments and businesses. Moreover, over half of them also report having a zero-sum mindset. That is, believing that support to a different group in society would inevitably come at the expense of their own group. The leadership implications of this finding are far- reaching: If leadership is about galvanizing groups towards a shared goal, reconciling opposing sides becomes nearly impossible. Groups view their solutions as incompatible, resulting in gridlocks at the expense of society, security, prosperity, and the planet. Moreover, this gridlock reinforces the perception that leaders are incapable of delivering results, thereby increasing the trust deficit and starting a vicious cycle. Dialogue and the capacity to deal with competing views, along with a shift in the use of distributed intelligence, are crucial for fostering co-creation rather than relying on top- down approaches. Dialogue is not an end in itself, but a means for rebuilding trust, for collaboration and action. However, in today’s state of permacrisis – the lasting confluence of different sources of disruption at a global scale – it is easy for pressure and reactivity to overpower reason. Leaders find themselves in an overwhelming information environment: We have more data than ever, but not always better knowledge, let alone better judgment. Dis- and misinformation make finding common ground even more difficult.2 To appease social media or public sentiment, leaders may make short-term or ill-informed decisions, temporarily defusing tension, but ultimately undermining trust. This hinders lasting positive outcomes for current and future generations. A shift from short-term decision-making to long-term impact and resilience is therefore direly needed. Individual resilience also becomes an essential factor, as the mental health and physical integrity of leaders are increasingly under pressure. The personal risk of visibility and speaking up is mounting. This has become apparent not only through public defamation campaigns, but also physical attacks on political, business, academic and civil society leaders across continents and the political spectrum. As the toll for leaders and their loved ones gets higher, the leadership pipeline further diminishes and one may ask: Do I really want to lead under these conditions? Or, conversely, who are the people stepping into leadership under these conditions? Structural inequalities or opaque practices in the leadership selection process further aggravate challenges and introduce bias in the leadership pipeline. This context calls for leadership ethics that can bridge divides. A survey conducted within the YGL community supports this, as it ranks the possession of a moral compass as the most crucial leadership skill of our time.3 Too often, leadership has been confused with charisma, mere visibility, or personal ambition. While local and cultural contexts need to be considered, criteria to identify true leadership vocation grounded in values evidence and long- term perspective, are also crucial. All of the above makes clear: To meet current challenges and to actively shape future ones, we must innovate at the core of leadership, its practice, and approaches. This is precisely what this report aims to explore. First, it proposes four systemic leverage points that appear particularly promising for making leadership both present- and future- proof: The leadership pipeline and the selection of leaders The decision-making and action of leaders The legacy of leadersThe training and development of leaders01 02 03 04 6 Next Generation Leadership for a World in Transformation: Driving Dialogue and Action