4 ways CEOs can become better leaders in 2025

As we kick off 2025, the best leaders are reflecting on both their leadership strengths and shortcomings and actively seeking opportunities to improve over the next year. They understand that what worked 5 or 10 years ago may not be as effective in today’s business landscape, and they demonstrate resilience and adaptability in the face of ongoing change.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s most high-performing CEOs and business leaders. I’ve noticed almost all of them share a ceaseless commitment to becoming better leaders. This has reinforced my belief that leadership is not merely a collection of innate traits but a never-ending journey.

The following are some of the tried-and-true ways I’ve seen CEOs successfully work toward becoming better leaders:

1. Keep a finger on the pulse

Leadership requires understanding what’s happening in the world, and how it impacts the business landscape. Today, leaders face unprecedented challenges, from managing four very distinct generations in the workforce to adapting to the rise of the hybrid work environment.

Effective leaders are doubling down on clear, transparent communication to foster a strong culture that bridges generational differences and geographies. As the adoption of emerging technologies such as AI and automation continues to rapidly accelerate, being technologically literate is also an increasingly critical mandate for today’s leaders to seize advantages.

Agile leadership has never been more essential as change and transformation become the status quo. Creating an environment where employees embrace change is key to success.

2. Set specific and measurable goals

It’s no surprise that high-performing leaders don’t only prioritize their business success but also their personal growth. However, goals around improving leadership skills can often be ambiguous. A transformational mindset requires setting goals that are both specific and measurable.

Homing in on the areas where leaders can have the most significant impact — and that can be measured over time — allows leaders to look back and track whether they have made meaningful progress. Looking for friction points (personally or within an organization) and setting goals that help eliminate them can be a helpful exercise in prioritization.

One simple tactic that can noticeably improve organizational productivity is to ensure that every meeting has an agenda. This added structure allows conversations to stay focused, productive and present.

3. Track success

Top leaders hold themselves accountable by regularly and objectively monitoring business metrics. They don’t just track revenue and the bottom line but also consider various qualitative factors.

Regularly assessing whether employees are growing and developing is an important benchmark — not just for the executive leadership team but for all colleagues. When employees feel they are gaining new skills, then job satisfaction, engagement and retention naturally increase. As a result, great ideas freely cascade throughout the entire organization.

To measure company culture, great CEOs create the structure to foster a high level of collaboration among teams and actively work to ensure processes don’t become overly bureaucratic as the company grows. CEOs can evaluate whether the team is operating at a strategic level if the innovative ideas that bubble up are closely tied to the company mission, vision and purpose.

Most importantly, keeping a close eye on KPIs around customer satisfaction guarantees that the product or service is aligned with evolving customer needs.

4. Seek community

The best leaders also surround themselves with people who both support and challenge them and are like-minded in their pursuit of growth. In my experience participating in peer advisory groups as a CEO, I’ve received constructive and honest feedback from trusted peers that I continue to reflect on to this day. These groups also naturally instill an essential leadership skill: listening intently without judgment.

Active listening helps leaders grow and learn from those around them. Rather than jumping right to a conclusion, effective leaders spend much more time thinking about the right questions to ask. They remain open, curious, and deeply committed to living a life of learning.

All CEOs are at a different place in their leadership journey and have their own unique goals. While the attributes and behaviors that work for one CEO may differ from another, the above four principles are foundational to any leader’s journey.

Leaders who are able to quickly adapt to the changing business landscape, consistently track qualitative and quantitative business metrics and connect with peers who will challenge them, will set themselves up for transformational growth in 2025.

This story first appeared in The Business Journals.

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