Leaders are under pressure like never before. For the first time in history, we have five generations working side by side. They all have different needs, perspectives, and preferred ways of working. The workplace has never been so global, and leadership has never been so complex. Today’s leaders must manage across time zones. They will lead both in-person and remotely. They are also expected to connect meaningfully with diverse teams. The era of top-down, authoritarian leadership is over. People won’t just do what they’re told and nor should they. Modern leadership demands far more. Including being effective, efficient, inspiring, and empowering, all at once. But how can leaders do it all?
The Pressure on Employers
Staff are more detached from their companies than ever before. They are less connected to the mission, and unsure what’s expected of them. This has a huge impact on productivity, retention, and ultimately, business success. Managers are having to take on additional responsibilities to try and tackle these issues. Customer expectations are shifting, too, with increased demand for more immediate, digital experiences. 70% of managers say they’ve had no training to address these new needs. It’s clear that upskilling isn’t optional; it’s essential. I spoke with leaders who are taking charge of their own development. Critically, they are helping others rise with them.
Investing in Yourself and Others
Tiffany Johnson is customer-driven. She is the Chief Product Officer at embedded payments firm NMI. She believes the future of payments will be shaped by voices that reflect the diversity of customers. For her this means the industry needs leaders who will invest in people from different backgrounds to their own.
She credits her own progression to the mentors and allies who supported her along the way. “Mentors may not have looked like me, but they saw me.” Now, she’s paying that forward. Tiffany says that upskilling thrives in environments where people open doors for each other. That could be by making introductions at networking events, offering speaking opportunities, or advocating for someone to take on a big project. Tiffany is an avid believer that better leadership will be the result of “lifting others as we climb.”
Redefining Leadership Through Inclusion
Pam Kaur is Head of Platform at Alloy Labs and co-founder of TechSis. She began her career in banking “almost by accident” while studying computer science. Over ten years, she rose through roles as CIO, CTO, board advisor, and digital transformation leader. She helps banks and fintechs bridge the gap between innovation and adoption.
Pam is honest about the barriers to learning and the need to make time and space for upskilling. She also speaks candidly about imposter syndrome. “Imposter syndrome isn’t a reflection of your ability. It’s a byproduct of an environment that wasn’t really built for people like us.” For her, the strength of community dismantles self-doubt. She says leadership must evolve to “read the room,” to better understand the perspectives of the people in the room. She says, “I would love to see leaders sponsor talent that doesn’t look like them,” as a way to build a stronger talent pipeline. She encourages listening, empathy and a commitment to learning to get this right.
Coaching for a Better System
Sophia Nadri has pivoted to coaching. She spent years as a financial services engineering manager and is now on a mission to “smooth the path” for the next generation of engineering leaders.
Her journey began in computer science and applied mathematics. In her career, she’s held positions from DevOps to Architecture and Product Engineering. She has always loved collaboration, saying, “That part of creating the perfect team of different people who just clicked together to solve something was just very exciting to me.”
Inspired by her own coach, Sophia launched a leadership accelerator. This focuses on the neglected transition from individual contributor to engineering manager. She knows this is an area where support is often missing. Her program includes defining a leadership style and delivering through critical thinking. She teaches managing people with adaptability and building influence through trust and authenticity.
“Instead of asking what’s wrong with the person, maybe we can ask what’s standing in their way.” She’s passionate about changing environments to suit people. She says, “Leadership doesn’t mean changing who you are. It means asking what kind of leader you want to be and learning from there.”
Start Learning Now
Asha Patel, Global Portfolio Sales Trader at Instinet, entered the industry in 2008. She has since become a champion for inclusive, forward-looking leadership.
She says that great leadership operates at many levels. These include managing the team dynamics and different personality types. Committing to learning about your team and their differences is key to fair and shared opportunities for growth. For Asha, diversity of thought is what fuels thriving teams.
Top-down initiatives help people learn and expose them to new ideas. Managers sharing responsibilities improves confidence and learning. Peer sponsorship encourages better skills cohesion. Asha encourages boards and senior leaders to tie succession planning to performance goals. This means that for anyone to progress, they have to lift others to rise.
Her own governance journey began early. She has committed to expanding her responsibilities in recent years. This includes her board position with Sustainable Trading, which has propelled her professional experience. Her message is simple, “You don’t need to wait for seniority to gain governance experience; start early and grow your perspective.”
Communication as the Cornerstone of Leadership
Tracy Prandi-Yuen, VP of Global Partnerships at Boku, became a people manager early in her career. She described that time saying, “I became a manager in my twenties, I was promoted by merit and learned on the go.” She realized quickly that communication was the most critical skill she needed to master. “You have to motivate, nurture, and grow your team. And from time to time, there are difficult messages that you have to deliver.”
For over a decade, Tracy worked intentionally to refine her communication. She looked at sentence structure and word choices. She’s observed great communicators and taken courses to improve. Eventually, what began as a weakness became her greatest strength.
She now champions open, inclusive cultures that encourage and celebrate debate. She says the best environments give people a voice, “especially when they’re questioning the status quo.” Tracy encourages this and welcomes it as an opportunity to improve. She wants managers to feel empowered enough to be challenged. She says, “Feedback doesn’t threaten leadership; it strengthens it.” She added that at Boku, she has made a real impact on global growth. She said, “I’ve learned that growth truly comes from communication. We’re tackling complex real-time payments challenges across borders and cultures, and that only works when people feel heard and trusted.”
The leadership landscape has changed, and the skills required have too. Empathy, adaptability, communication, sponsorship, and inclusion are now non-negotiables. The leaders who will thrive in this new era are those who continue to learn and lift others as they climb. They will build workplaces where every voice has the chance to be heard.