The report issued by the WEF’s Global Future Council on Leadership, with support from the group’s Forum of Young Global Leaders, will be discussed at the 19-23 January annual meeting of the WEF in Davos, Switzerland. Thomas is co-chair of the Global Future Council on Leadership, which is comprised of leaders between age 30 and 40 representing 17 countries, and he is a co-author of the Foreword to the new report, entitled Next Generation Leadership for a World in Transformation: Driving Dialogue and Action.
“Rethinking leadership in a time of unprecedented technological disruption, stretched planetary boundaries, and growing global and societal divisions is essential for restoring trust in leaders and societies at large as well as for achieving better outcomes for people and the planet,” says the Foreword.
Changes to enable effective leadership
The report calls for 4 key strategic shifts to reinvigorate leadership and ensure dialogue in leadership practice:
1
From linear to intergenerational
Ensuring that youth voices reflect the aspirations of future generations.
2
From control to co-creation
Enabling collective problem-solving.
3
From individual authority to shared agency
Enlarging the ‘space of responsibility’ for outcomes based on co-creation.
4
From short-term performance to long-term impact
Reflecting a shift in mindset to prioritise lasting outcomes over immediate wins and popularity.
Global leadership lab to promote dialogue and share research
The report concludes with an open invitation for collaboration on a new global leadership lab that creates a space for ongoing dialogue on leadership across generations, regions and sectors, while also developing an interactive repository of global research and leadership innovations. “Collectively, these shifts propel leadership that is distributed, adaptive, and builds on dialogue – capable of listening deeply, learning continuously, and acting collectively, thus helping to enhance cohesion and trust in and across societies,” the report concludes.
Featured research
Global Future Council on Leadership,
with support from the Forum of Young Global Leaders (2026) Next generation leadership for a world in transformation: driving dialogue and action. World Economic Forum.
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