If you look around the places and spaces where power and influence is currently held, it would be fair to conclude that leadership has been running on fumes for a while now.
We keep pushing outdated models that reward dominance, short-term wins, and performative confidence. And yet we wonder why burnout is rising, trust is falling, and workplaces feel more transactional and disengaged than ever.
But there’s a quiet shift underway and those paying attention will recognise it not as soft, but as strategic.
My prediction: the edge in the future leadership will come from three traits we’ve long under-valued:
Inclusion, compassion and long-term focus
These aren’t buzzwords. They’re hard-won traits often displayed by women who’ve had to navigate systems that were never built for them. And rather than being rewarded, they’ve often been side-eyed, sidelined, or told to “toughen up.”
But what if these very traits are the ones that will help us lead through increasing complexity in a world that’s crying out for systems change?
The quiet revolution is already underway
The rise of women leading on their own terms, not mimicking outdated leadership norms, but rewriting them, is already happening. I see it every week in my Impact Makers program: women navigating power and pressure with clarity, compassion, and courage.
According to the Harvard Business Review this style of leadership is defined as wise compassionate leadership and it’s about getting hard things done in human ways.
It’s not about sacrificing performance. It’s about sustaining it without compromising people or values along the way.
Compassion isn’t fluff. It’s measurable advantage
Compassion, is defined as the ability to notice suffering in yourself or others and act to alleviate it. But here’s what most people miss: compassion isn’t a feeling, it’s a skill. And like any skill, it can be trained.
Studies from Harvard Business Review and the Compassionate Mind Foundation show that compassionate leadership leads to higher trust, stronger teams, and better decision-making in high-stakes environments.
It doesn’t mean going easy. It means leading in a way that strengthens relationships while delivering results.
This isn’t just theory for me it’s also the focus of my Honours thesis in Psychology, where I’m exploring how the science of compassion plays out in decision-making. I’m especially interested in how we move beyond intention to actual compassionate behaviour. What does it look like to lead compassionately when pressure hits? How do we build capability in this space?
Because if we want a leadership future that’s inclusive and sustainable, we need more than good intentions; we need systems and skills that make compassionate action the norm, not the exception.
Integrity is hard to spot. Compassion makes it visible
While integrity remains one of the most admired leadership traits, a recent Forbes article exposes the uncomfortable truth: it’s also one of the hardest to reliably detect. Performative ethics, polished personas, and strategic charm often mask toxic behaviours that erode trust from the inside out.
This is where compassionate leadership becomes not just a moral compass, but a practical integrity signal.
Because unlike charm or posturing, compassion shows up in patterns, especially under pressure. It’s relational. It’s observable. And as the research shows, it consistently builds trust, psychological safety, and sustainable performance.
Chamorro-Premuzic argues that the best predictor of future integrity is past behaviour, especially as experienced by those closest to a leader. That’s exactly why compassionate leadership matters now more than ever it’s not what leaders say, it’s what people feel in their presence. It’s about doing the hard things the human way, consistently.
In a world where integrity can be faked, compassion is harder to perform and easier to prove.
Want to lead with more compassion? Start here.
Here are three simple, evidence-backed actions you can take to build your compassionate leadership muscle:
Practice a daily compassionate pause
It’s a 60-second check-in before a difficult conversation, a decision, or a moment of tension, where you ask:
- What might this person be feeling right now?
- What would wise, compassionate action look like in this moment, for them and for me?
This technique is grounded in compassion-focused therapy developed by Paul Gilbert and has been shown to reduce reactivity, build empathy, and improve leadership effectiveness, especially when practiced consistently.
Choose one act of self-compassion
Compassionate leadership starts with how you treat yourself. Ask yourself: What would self-compassion look like for me today? Then do it guilt-free. Whether it’s pausing for breath, setting a boundary, or letting go of perfection, these micro acts build internal capacity for leading with strength and softness.
Start a “what I got right” journal
Each day, jot down one moment where you acted with courage, clarity, or compassion. Why? Because our brains are wired to remember the missteps. This re-trains your attention toward your strengths, and helps you track growth where it matters.
If not you, then who
The very traits women get punished for today are fast becoming the traits that will define the most effective leaders of tomorrow.
It’s why I launched If Not You, Then Who? a national, research-led movement gathering the voices of women across Australia to reimagine leadership in ways that reflect how we actually live, lead, and want to make change.
If you’re the kind of woman who leads with substance, who’s done contorting yourself to fit into leadership models that were never designed for you, this is your space to add your voice to something bigger than a seat at the table.
Because the future of leadership won’t be built on exclusion, it’ll be shaped by courage, compassion, and human-centred wisdom.
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