Foundations of Leadership: Here's How to Build Your Leadership Arsenal in 2025
Eighty three percent of companies believe that developing young leaders is a crucial requirement in 2025, according to Join Genius. That’s promising. But at the same time, 63 percent of millennial workers believe they aren’t being fully developed as leaders by their employers, and that’s discouraging.
As a professional leadership coach, I’m here to tell you that this data is entirely accurate based on the stories and conversations I have with new managers and organizations every week. There’s limited time, limited resources and limited development opportunities in today’s workplace (especially startups and nonprofits), and companies everywhere are struggling to set new and young leaders up for success.
But this doesn’t have to be the status quo. Instead, new leaders can take professional development into their own hands and lobby their organization to help them become the best leader they can be. Don’t wait to be given the fish. Teach yourself how to fish!
Here are six ways to build your leadership arsenal in 2025, and why your company should support you at every step of the way.
ON THE JOB TRAINING
1. Practice active listening
Active listening comes down to more than just “hearing words”. Instead, there are three key parts: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. That means you’re not just hearing words, but you’re fully processing the information (cognitive), staying calm and compassionate throughout (emotional), and showing interest through your body language and responses (behavioral).
A great way to practice active listening is to use techniques like mirroring, paraphrasing and summarizing, and reflecting feelings back to the speaker.
For example, instead of just saying “Got it,” in response to someone’s comment during a one on one, try mirroring and paraphrasing with “So, you’re feeling overwhelmed by the tight deadlines because they’re impacting your ability to maintain quality — did I get that right?” This helps to not only confirm concerns, but it also opens the door to possible solutions.
The other thing to consider here is that there are a variety of different problems that arise when communicating. As Bernard Werber, the French fiction writer, once said:
“Between what I think, what I want to say, what I believe I say, what I say, what you want to hear, what you believe to hear, what you hear, what you want to understand, what you think you understand, what you understand…They are ten possibilities that we might have some problem communicating.”
Plus, we have data to back this up. According to a study by Nick Morgan, author of Can You Hear Me?, we are overconfident in our communication, but we shouldn’t be. People think we are understood by others in our communication ~90 percent of the time. The study showed we typically only understand each other ~50% of the time.
Mirroring, paraphrasing, asking questions, and communicating clearly and concisely to people, then, is a leadership superpower. After all, clarity creates calm. As the former Head of Remote at GitLab, Darren Murph, says, “Nothing tears a team apart faster than not knowing what is true.”
2. Level up your negotiation skills
The first thing most people think of when they hear the word negotiation is: salary negotiation. But negotiation skills don’t just come in handy when it comes to your compensation.
Negotiation is your secret leadership superpower to working well with others.
You see, the more senior you become in your career, the more time you’ll spend communicating, collaborating, compromising, aligning, and, yes… negotiating with others.
Leaders don’t always get their way. That’s why investing in your negotiation technique will serve you wonders.
Effective negotiation requires preparation, flexibility and an understanding of shared interests. I’ve learned this firsthand in leadership roles, where negotiations pop up in everything from project timelines to resource allocation (as well as in fighting for your own professional development!).
One game-changing strategy I’ve adopted is preparing thoroughly by mapping out priorities, both mine and theirs. For example, when negotiating a budget increase with a department head, don’t just push for more funding. Instead, frame your case around shared goals, emphasizing how additional resources would enhance collective success. This collaborative approach will help you find common ground as you advocate for something, which will increase your chances of getting what you need.
The other side of the negotiation coin is knowing when to pause. Oftentimes, negotiations can lead to a tense atmosphere. Instead of demanding more and pushing harder, step back and ask “Can we take a moment to revisit what success looks like for both of us?” Pausing will reset the tone and help you refocus on solutions.
As the saying goes, practice the pause.
3. Master the art of delegation
I’ve seen this mistake time and time again in my journey as a leadership coach. Delegation truly is an art and science form, and if you’re struggling to let go and believe you can do something faster alone, I have news for you: You’re wrong.
Failing to delegate will effectively put you on the fast track to burnout – and as a leader, you don't have the luxury of burning out.
It’s important to view delegation as a trust-building exercise. When a new project lands, ask yourself a series of questions, including:
“Who on the team would grow from this?”
“Who on the team has the capacity for this?”
“Who on the team has the skills from this?”
“Who on the team would love to do this?”
“Who needs to be responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed on this project?” (yes, RACI works!)
But it’s not just about the “who” when it comes to delegation. It’s also about how you set teams up for success and how you delegate. A few questions to ask in this realm include:
“When are the key timelines and milestones for this project?”
“How should this be done?”
“What does good look like? What does bad look like? Is that clear to them?”
“How am I setting the team up for success? Do I need to train them? Do I need to take things off their plate?”
“How will I delegate this project to them? How will we keep track of the status so I don’t need to ask them every day?”
Then, hand over the task with clear expectations, the right accountability, and a safety net for questions and support along the way. This will help you show (not tell) your team that you believe in their abilities.
OFF THE JOB TRAINING
4. Take a professional development course
If you’ve never invested in a course, make 2025 the year you do. Whether it’s a course on the power of emotional intelligence, or it is startup manager training, the right course will accelerate your leadership journey like nothing else.
I’ve taken countless courses across the years, and some have led to certification. I’m a Gallup-Certified CliftonStrengths Coach, an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and a Certified Royal Telos Executive Startup Coach. I’ve also completed different types of courses across different platforms and providers: there is no shortage of professional development courses that you can easily access!
On-demand
On-demand courses let you complete them at your own pace. They are best for individuals who have a hectic and everchanging schedule who cannot commit to live sessions each week.
Example: LinkedIn Learning
Choose from 21,000+ expert led courses that you can complete in your own time! Two of my favorites are Diversity, Equity and Belonging for Leaders and Compassionate Candor by Kim Scott (formerly known as Radical Candor!)
Live only
Live courses are great for individuals who need external accountability partners and want to show up to a weekly class and learn with a group of peers.
Example: Conscious Leadership
Learn how to become a conscious and curious leader by learning from the founders and other individuals from a wide variety of different industries.
Example: Leadership Launchpad
Our popular Startup Manager Training is a live course that brings together a curated group of new managers to learn tactical skills that they can apply right away on the job.
Hybrid learning
Hybrid courses have both on-demand and live cohort elements. These courses are best for people who enjoy a mixture of both self-directed learning (videos, readings, audio, etc) and group discussions.
Example: Uncertainty Experts
Learn how to be more resilient and confident in the face of uncertainty.
Across the years, I’ve learned practical tools for managing my emotions and reading others’ cues in tense situations. I’ve also learned the art of public speaking, project management, conflict resolution, presentation giving… the list goes on.
Professional development courses are more than just an investment in your career, too. They’re also an investment in you as a human being! The best courses are interactive and tailored to your specific growth areas, and leadership development platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, Skillshare, or even local universities often offer inexpensive options that fit busy schedules.
5. Read leadership-enhancing books and newsletters!
Books have been some of my greatest mentors. I recommend six of my favorite books to read that will support your leadership journey in this blog post. I also recommend my favorite newsletters to sign up to in this blog here.
I’ll let these two blogs speak for themselves, but to sum things up in one sentence for you: The more books you read, the more perspectives you absorb, and the more tools and knowledge you’ll have in your leadership arsenal.
6. Join (and engage in) leadership communities
Being a leader can feel quite isolating at times (we’ve all seen the hit TV show The Office with Michael Scott hiding behind closed doors unsure of what to do), but here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be.
I can’t stress this point enough. And no matter how much we scroll LinkedIn on our phones or engage in on-demand webinars, there is no substitute for real-life and human-to-human interactions.
As such, I encourage you to join a local leadership forum, engage in roundtables and have real-time conversations with other up and coming leaders in your space. More importantly, I encourage you to actively participate in these groups and reach out for as much support (and as many fresh ideas) as you can get your hands on.
Examples of leadership groups where you may find your community:
Pavillion: Perfect for managers who work revenue, marketing, sales, and CX
Operators Guild: Great for startup leaders who take more of an operational lens
Pollen: Ideal for leaders who are independent consultants
Vistage: A popular peer advisory community for CEOs
Got any ideas? Reach out and let us know!
These experiences have proved invaluable for me. I’ve no doubt they’ll be the same for you, too.
Take the time (and make the space) for more leadership learning this year
Whether you’re honing your skills on the job or investing in growth off the clock, every small step you take will help you become a resourceful leader who stands out from the crowd.
What’s most important is to remember that leadership isn’t about perfection, it’s about progress. You won’t master active listening overnight, nor will you immediately feel confident negotiating or delegating. And that’s okay. Each small step brings you closer to your potential.
If you’re interested in learning more about how Reframed Coaching can support your leadership development in 2025, connect with us here.