Trust in managers has dropped from 46% in 2022 to just 29% in 2024, as per the survey conducted by DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2025. This isn’t just a statistic but a wake-up call. High-performing teams are raising the bar on what they expect from their leaders, and organisations that fail to respond risk losing their best people.
The Australian leadership development market is projected to grow from USD 1.46 billion in 2025 to USD 3.22 billion by 2035, driven by one undeniable reality: teams won’t settle for outdated leadership models. They’re demanding leaders who can navigate hybrid work, leverage AI responsibly, communicate with emotional intelligence, and create psychologically safe environments where people can do their best work.
The shift in what teams actually need
Gone are the days when leadership development focused primarily on technical competencies. Research shows that 77% of organisations lack sufficient leadership depth across levels, which means many companies are promoting technically strong individual contributors into leadership roles without equipping them for the human side of leadership. The result? Managers who excel at individual tasks but struggle to inspire teams, address conflict, or create alignment.
Today, if you want to build a high-performing team in Australia, invest in developing people skills in your leadership.Your teams want leaders who demonstrate empathy whilst maintaining accountability. They expect transparency in decision-making, not top-down directives. They need leaders who can hold difficult conversations without avoiding conflict, and who build trust through consistent behaviour rather than grand gestures.
What high-performing teams expect from leadership training in Australia
1. Hybrid leadership capabilities
Hybrid work isn’t going anywhere. Yet many leadership programmes still treat it as an afterthought, if they address it at all.
Teams working across home and office don’t need leaders who micromanage Zoom calendars. They need leaders who build trust without constant visibility, give feedback that lands over video calls, and keep teams aligned when face-to-face time is scarce. These aren’t soft skills. They’re essential capabilities that determine whether hybrid teams perform or fall apart.
2. Emotional intelligence, not just strategic thinking
90% of top performers have high emotional intelligence. Teams led by leaders with such quality experience significantly lower turnover and higher engagement.
Yet many leadership development programmes in Australia still treat emotional intelligence as a soft skill rather than a core competency. High-performing teams know better. They want leaders who understand how emotions drive behaviour, who can read the room, and who respond to stress with composure rather than reactivity.
Emotional intelligence is teachable but it requires experiential learning, not PowerPoint slides. The best leadership training Australia offers incorporates real-world scenarios, reflective practice, and individual coaching to help leaders develop self-awareness and empathy in measurable ways.
3. AI literacy without losing the human touch
AI is reshaping how work gets done, and teams expect leaders who can navigate this shift confidently. But AI literacy doesn’t mean becoming a technical expert. It means understanding how AI can enhance decision-making, streamline processes, and free teams to focus on higher-value work while recognising the ethical implications and limitations.
McKinsey found that companies in the top quintile for digital and AI maturity deliver 2–6 times higher shareholder returns than their peers. Leaders who can leverage technology without losing sight of the human element will drive performance. Those who resist or over-rely on automation will struggle.
4. Psychologically safe environments
Picture this: A project manager realises three weeks before launch that the timeline her team committed to is impossible. She knows this because her developers have been working late every night, stress is climbing, and quality is slipping. But in the weekly status meeting, when the director asks “Are we on track?”, she says “Yes, all good.”
Now picture a different scenario: Same situation, but this time she says “We’re behind. I misjudged the complexity, and I need your help reprioritising features to deliver what matters most.” The director doesn’t punish her honesty—he thanks her for flagging it early and works with her to adjust scope.
That’s psychological safety. And it’s not built by being nice. It’s built when leaders respond to bad news without blame, when they admit their own mistakes openly, and when they address underperformance without humiliation.
Creating this culture requires more than intention. It demands practice, feedback, and often an external voice to call out the blind spots leaders can’t see themselves.
5. Continuous learning, not one-off workshops
Let’s be honest: one-day workshops rarely stick. High-performing teams expect leadership development that’s woven into daily practice and not treated as a checkbox exercise.
Effective programmes combine workshops with individual coaching, peer accountability, and structured follow-up. They align leadership behaviours with business priorities and measure outcomes beyond participant satisfaction. They recognise that behaviour change takes time and reinforcement, not motivation alone.
The cost of getting leadership development wrong
Delaying or underinvesting in leadership development can reduce profits by as much as 7%. But the real cost shows up in ways that are harder to quantify: disengaged teams, preventable turnover, missed innovation, and leaders who burn out trying to do it all themselves.
Australian organisations can’t afford to treat leadership development as a nice-to-have. Not when 52% of organisations report that scalability and sustainment of leadership programmes are their top challenge. Not when the best talent increasingly chooses employers based on leadership quality and development opportunities.
Building leadership that high-performing teams deserve
The organisations that win in 2025 and beyond won’t have the flashiest programmes, they’ll have leadership development that’s tailored, experiential, and delivers measurable results.
At TransforMe, we’ve partnered with leading Australian organisations to build leaders who navigate complexity, communicate with clarity, and inspire high performance. Whether you’re developing first-time managers or senior executives, the principle is the same: leadership is a behaviour, not a title. And behaviours are shaped through practice, feedback, and accountability, not workshops alone.
High-performing teams are raising the bar. Are your leadership programmes keeping pace?
If you’re ready to explore leadership development that drives real results, TransforMe’s programmes are designed for organisations committed to building leaders who inspire, influence, and perform.
