Work | Leadership barometer: Too much responsibility and demands make people shy away from leadership positions

Finns avoid management positions due to excessive responsibility and demands. This is clear from the Leadership barometer, the results of which are reported Work and well-being at work development program TYÖ2030.

The barometer also shows that, in Finns’ opinion, fairness, equality and listening skills are emphasized in the qualities of a good leader rather than ambition, results-orientedness and courage.

According to the study, clear differences between different groups could be seen in the definition of a good and a bad leader. People under 30 think a good leader is an open, empathetic team player, while people over 30 think he is fair, cooperative and gives responsibility.

Based on the barometer, one of the challenges of management is that managers value results and business matters, while employees value good communication skills, empathy and fair treatment in management.

“Managers are required to have empathy, vulnerability and the ability to handle challenging situations while supporting well-being at work. Now we should reach the next level in leadership training: more emotional management, especially self-management,” says the director of education Sanna Valliaro South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) in a press release.

In the Leadership Barometer 68 percent of the respondents feel that in the future the manager’s most important task is to ensure mutual networking and working together among his employees. At the same time, almost 60 percent of the respondents consider a bad work atmosphere and team spirit to be the biggest challenge of management.

The leadership barometer found out Finns’ attitude towards leadership and management now and in the future. The survey was carried out as a panel survey in August 2024 and one thousand Finns aged 18–74 responded to it. The margin of error for the entire sample is 2–3 percentage points in each direction.