Three Nonnegotiable Leadership Skills for 2025
As we step into 2025, the workplace feels as turbulent as ever. Leaders today face constant disruption, hybrid work challenges, economic uncertainty, and rapidly shifting employee expectations. So what core leadership skills do you absolutely need to thrive in this climate—and how can you build them?
Let’s start with a little history.
During the early Industrial Revolution, factory floors were often covered in sawdust—so much that even a tiny spark could set the entire place ablaze. Sound dramatic? Sure. But it’s not far off from today’s work environment. While the fires we face are digital, emotional, and cultural instead of physical, they’re no less volatile.
As a leader walking through a figurative factory full of virtual sawdust, you need the right toolkit—not just to avoid disaster, but to create calm, clarity, and momentum.
Below are three nonnegotiable leadership skills for 2025—and evidence-based ways to build them.
1. The Baseline Skill: Fairness
Today’s workforce is restless. Engagement is dipping. Political polarization is rising. Pay dissatisfaction is high—roughly 70% of workers report being unhappy with their compensation.
Transforming widespread discontent into motivation isn’t easy. But there’s one lever that still works: fairness.
Not just legal fairness (though that’s a given), but interpersonal fairness—the kind people feel in everyday interactions. Do you treat everyone with respect? Do you judge ideas based on merit, not by who shared them? Do you create space for every voice, or does bias creep into meetings?
It’s a tough needle to thread. The most common objection? “I shouldn’t treat top performers and low performers the same.” And that’s true—you shouldn’t. But fairness doesn’t mean sameness. It means consistency, transparency, and dignity in how people are treated.
Why it matters: Research shows that fairness protects against burnout. When people believe they’re being treated fairly, they’re more resilient, more engaged, and less likely to emotionally check out. When fairness is absent, burnout accelerates.
How to build it: Understand the three dimensions of fairness:
- Relationship justice – Do people feel respected in how you treat them?
- Task justice – Are your decisions well-reasoned and transparent?
- Distributive justice – Are outcomes proportionate to effort and contribution?
To grow these muscles:
- Use feedback loops to uncover how your actions are perceived.
- Apply simple decision-making frameworks to reduce bias.
- Pay attention to the “small data”: Are your thank-you emails heartfelt? Do you share credit fairly?
Fairness, in the end, is built through hundreds of micro-actions. When it comes to leadership, the little things are the big things.
2. The Growth Driver: Curiosity
Here’s a hard truth: You might be doing good work… but still feel stuck. Maybe your potential isn’t fully recognized. Maybe you’ve grown more than your role allows.
Curiosity can be the unlock.
Think of curiosity as a career growth accelerator. When you proactively seek out new knowledge—within or beyond your organization—you create momentum. You open new conversations. You uncover paths others overlook. You stretch yourself before someone gives you “permission” to stretch.
And it’s not optional anymore. Over half of employees are already learning outside of work. A lack of curiosity can now be a career-limiting move.
But how do you build curiosity if it doesn’t come naturally?
Psychologists say curiosity is triggered by “information gaps”—when you know some of a topic, but not all, your brain itches to close the gap. The irony? Most corporate cultures discourage curiosity. When we don’t know something, we hide it. We fake confidence. We keep up appearances.
To cultivate curiosity:
- Drop the facade. You don’t need to know everything. It’s okay to wonder aloud.
- Map your gaps. What topics do you sort of understand but want to explore more deeply?
- Create rabbit holes. Follow that itch to learn. Read, listen, ask questions. Join communities.
Be the person who’s “interesting and interested.” Curiosity won’t just grow your career—it will energize your leadership.
3. The Safety Valve: Sense of Humor
Let’s say you’ve nailed fairness. You’re fueling growth with curiosity.
Now comes the human element—because, let’s face it, leading people is unpredictable.
That’s why a sense of humor is your third must-have skill for 2025.
Let’s be clear: This isn’t about being funny. (Your HR department thanks you in advance.) It’s about perspective. It’s about knowing when to not take yourself—or the chaos around you—so seriously.
Think of humor as your pressure release valve. When everyone else is spiraling, it allows you to stay grounded. It helps teams breathe, connect, and reframe stressful situations.
Of course, humor in leadership requires emotional intelligence. It should never come at someone’s expense or be used to dodge accountability. But a well-timed moment of levity can transform tense rooms, defuse conflict, and build trust.
And let’s be honest: most of us aren’t performing surgery or negotiating peace treaties. The stakes are high, but they’re not that high. Give yourself and your team permission to laugh once in a while.
Choosing humor over heaviness keeps burnout at bay—and builds bonds that last far beyond the moment.
Final Thought: Surviving the Spark
We’re not standing in sawdust anymore—but we are still surrounded by sparks.
To lead in 2025, prioritize:
- Fairness – to build trust.
- Curiosity – to spark growth.
- Humor – to maintain perspective.
These three skills aren’t flashy. They’re not buzzy. But they are deeply human—and that’s exactly what leadership needs now.
About the Author
Melissa Swift is the founder and CEO of organizational consulting firm Anthrome Insight and author of Work Here Now: Think Like a Human and Build a Powerhouse Workplace (Wiley, 2023).
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