Just one in three leaders trust senior executives in 2025, finds DDI

Trust in leadership is in freefall.

According to a global survey of 13,000 leaders, including CEOs and HR professionals, by HR consultancy DDI, only 32% expressed confidence in senior leadership at their company.

And leaders who trust their immediate managers dropped from 46% in 2022 to 29% in 2024 – that’s a 17 percentage point decline in just three years.

A related challenge is that leaders are feeling the pressure – they are getting more and more squeezed, with 71% dealing with significant stress levels since stepping into their current leadership roles.

For Stephanie Neal, Director of the Center for Analytical and Behavioral Research at DDI, this stress finding was the “most interesting” in the research.

Half (52%) of the 71% who are stressed are grappling with burnout, and 40% are considering leaving their roles. Plus, under one in three feel they have the sufficient time to execute their responsibilities to the right standard.

This reality “not only fractures the leadership pipeline, but also risks team stability,” Neal tells UNLEASH.

When leaders are stressed and burnt out, it filters down throughout the organization, and other elements like productivity, trust and morale start to suffer.”

All of this is a serious concern for employers – “without strategic intervention, this erosion of trust threatens to cascade, harming employee retention, the leadership pipeline, and organizational performance”, stated the report.

In fact, the report found that 41% of the 230 CEOs surveyed identified future leaders as a top challenge for organizations in 2025.

What’s the solution to the trust challenge?

The key is more support from senior management.

Those leaders working in more supportive environments (when it comes to learning, development, wellbeing and trust) are 10 times more likely to excel in their role and three times less likely to experience to experience chronic stress.

Neal adds: “Leaders who feel they can self-reflect, engage in open discussions, and leverage learning resources are 1.5 times less likely to intend to leave their roles within the next year.

“HR organizations can support leaders work-life balance and healthy growth by providing personalized, insight-driven coaching and development opportunities that align with their intrinsic drive to learn, grow and lead with purpose.”

The link between AI and trust in leadership

Not only is the lack of trust in organizations affecting retention, the leadership pipeline and organizational resilience, but it is also impacting how organizations are thinking about the topic of the moment: AI.

“Overall, leaders seem to feel positive about AI adoption within their organization”, shares Neal – but leaders who trust their senior executives are 2.2 times more likely to feel excited about using AI at work.

Plus, those trusted senior leaders are 2.8 times less likely to encounter resistance to AI.

It is evident that AI success relies on trust in senior leadership.

Good practice here, according to DDI, is to have clear communications and collaborative leadership.

It’s important to remember that “leadership is not about maintaining control but about earning trust continuously” – with AI, senior executives need to engage in “consistent, genuine dialogue that acknowledges the human impact of technological change”, according to the DDI report.

Neal concludes that leadership needs to be “clearly communicating how and where AI will be implemented, along with the impact on employees, to make implementation successful”.