What do people want from a leader in a rapidly changing world?

Analysis What do people want from a leader in a rapidly changing world?
Gallup found that trust and hope are what people want most from their leaders, whether in government or the world of work. (Getty Images)
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Updated 18 February 2025
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What do people want from a leader in a rapidly changing world?

What do people want from a leader in a rapidly changing world?
  • Gallup poll spanning 52 countries reveals “hope” as the top need from leaders, followed closely by “trust”
  • In low-income countries, hope becomes crucial for reducing suffering and giving people a sense of a better future

LONDON: What are leaders for? It sounds like an obvious question, with equally obvious answers.

But a new survey, conducted across 52 countries and territories and accounting for 76 percent of the world’s adult population, has refined those answers down to just four words: hope, trust, compassion and stability.

And of these “four needs of followers,” one emerges head and shoulders above the rest – hope, followed closely by trust.

These were the headline findings of an international survey released by analytics and advisory company Gallup at last week’s three-day World Governments Summit in Dubai.

The summit, which has been held annually in the city since 2013, brings together heads of government, officials and thought leaders “to address universal challenges and set the agenda for next-generation governments.”

Topics tackled at this year’s summit included the impact of artificial intelligence and how governments can maintain the trust of their citizens in the face of the maelstrom of misinformation and conspiracy theorizing generated in this digital age.




The World Governments Summit in Dubai, which has been held annually since 2013, brings together heads of government, officials and thought leaders “to address universal challenges and set the agenda for next-generation governments.” (AFP)

And trust and hope, the survey found, are what people want most from their leaders, whether in government or at the head of the companies for which they work.

“Today’s leaders face profound and complex challenges, such as climate change, conflict and artificial intelligence, and must make decisions that affect the lives of their followers,” wrote Jon Clifton, Gallup’s CEO, who was present at the launch of the report during the World Governments Summit on Feb. 11.

The “Global Leadership Report: What Followers Want” put it this way: “In this changing world, it is crucial for leaders to understand the reasons people follow them.”

To better understand how people around the world perceive leaders and their impact, Gallup first asked participants to name a leader who has had the most positive influence on their daily lives. They then asked them to list three words describing what that leader contributes to their lives.

The survey found that “hope is the primary need of followers around the world” — a finding that would have come as no surprise to the 19th-century French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, who defined a leader as “a dealer in hope.”

When asked to list three words that best describe what leaders contribute to their lives, 56 percent said “Hope,” followed by 33 percent who named “Trust.”

It is, according to the Gallup report, essential for leaders to recognize that “hope is a powerful motivator. It stands out as the dominant need across followers, with 56 percent of all attributes tied to positive leaders grouping into this theme — particularly the attributes of inspiration, vision and personal integrity.




The Gallup survey found that “hope is the primary need of followers around the world.” (Getty Images)

“Hope gives followers something better to look forward to, enabling them to navigate challenges and work toward a brighter future. Without hope, people can disengage, lose confidence and become less resilient.”

The survey found that hope is the primary need across all 52 countries surveyed, ranging from just over four in 10 people in Bulgaria, Jordan and Lebanon to at least two in three in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Egypt.

In fact, hope as a need fulfilled by leaders was above the global average of 56 percent in Egypt (72 percent), Saudi Arabia (66 percent), the UAE (64 percent). By contrast, relatively fewer mentioned hope in Palestine (49 percent), Jordan (44 percent) and Lebanon (41 percent).

And the survey makes clear that, while government leaders obviously play a significant role in the lives of their citizens, other types of leaders understandably have a more direct, day-to-day impact on people’s lives and happiness.

Overall, asked what leader had the most positive influence on their lives, an overwhelming and perhaps unsurprising majority of those surveyed (57 percent) named a family leader.

Next, with 11 percent, came work managers, followed by political and religious leaders, both named by 7 percent of respondents.

Celebrities, the survey reveals, are rarely considered to exert the most positive influence in people’s daily lives — just 2 percent of adults name a celebrity.

Which type of leader has the most positive influence varies enormously from country to country – for example, workplace leadership is important to 70 percent of people in China and 52 percent in the UAE, while political leadership is cited by 38 percent in Tanzania (the highest rating), 33 percent in Israel and 22 percent in Turkiye.

While Gallup’s research into followers’ needs offers valuable insight, the answer to what makes a good leader lies in a holistic understanding of themselves, their role, and the needs of their followers. Without first understanding what followers expect and need, a leader’s ability to lead successfully is in question.

“Great leadership is defined not by authority alone, but by how much the people who follow leaders trust and support them,” the Gallup report said.

“The best leaders — of countries, organizations or other groups — keep their followers in mind when making decisions, because without them, even the most capable leader lacks true influence.”

IN NUMBERS

  • 60% of survey respondents say they look for hope in political leaders.
  • 54% look for it in family members.
  • 59% in religious leaders.
  • 59% in managers.

The survey also found a direct connection between wellbeing and life satisfaction and the extent to which the basic expectations of leadership — hope, trust, compassion and stability — are met.

Gallup measures life satisfaction by asking respondents to imagine a ladder with ten rungs, with the lowest rung representing the worst possible life and the highest the best.

Those who rated their current life a “7” or higher and their anticipated life in five years an “8” or higher are categorized as thriving. Those on “4” or lower are considered to be suffering.

By this metric the survey reveals a subtle but significant association between hope and life satisfaction. Among those who do not associate hope with the leader they mention, only 33 percent are classed as thriving and 9 percent as suffering, whereas thriving rises to 38 percent and suffering dips to 6 percent among those for whom the need for hope is met.

Although suffering is relatively rare, the survey results show it decreases as more needs are met. This is especially important in low-income countries, where higher levels of suffering make hope for a better future crucial in reducing pain.




While Gallup’s research into followers’ needs offers valuable insight, the answer to what makes a good leader lies in a holistic understanding of themselves, their role, and the needs of their followers. (Pexels)

Trust is the second most important need identified by the survey (33 percent), and this has “an additive role” when combined with hope and either stability or compassion, in which case rates of thriving increase to 43 percent and 39 percent respectively.

Followers need to trust that their leaders will keep their word and act with integrity, the “Global Leadership Report” says, adding: “Trust is the foundation of human relationships,” enabling people to collaborate toward shared goals more effectively.

The report adds that its research into the needs of followers “offers a blueprint for current and future leaders.”

“As we navigate an era marked by rapid technological advancements and global interconnectedness, the ability to pivot and respond to new challenges is more important than ever,” the report said.

“Leaders who keep the four needs of followers at the forefront when making decisions will likely be most destined to make a positive impact on the world.”




Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup. (Supplied)

The Gallup report further states that leaders “must ultimately know three things to succeed” — they must understand the needs of their followers and fulfil the four needs of hope, trust, compassion and stability; they must know themselves, and lead with their strengths; and “the most successful leaders also have a deep understanding of the demands of their specific role and the expectations attached to it.”

However, Gallup leaders cannot meet their followers’ needs without first knowing themselves, the report says, adding that effective leaders develop their innate strengths, refining natural talents through knowledge and skill to unlock unique leadership approaches and maximize their impact.

The best leaders, the report concludes, “achieve success — despite varied roles, organizations and industries — by bringing multiple teams together and making great decisions, driving the purpose and performance of their organization.

“The more leaders can provide their followers with hope, trust, compassion and stability by leaning on their unique strengths and applying them to the specifics of their role, the more successful they will be.”

 


Federal agents are seen arresting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil in a newly released video

Federal agents are seen arresting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil in a newly released video
Updated 22 sec ago
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Federal agents are seen arresting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil in a newly released video

Federal agents are seen arresting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil in a newly released video
  • Khalil is now being held in an isolated, low-slung ICE detention complex ringed by two rows of tall, barbed wire fences and surrounded by the endless pine forests
  • Khalil is a lawful US resident with no criminal history

NEW YORK: A video released Friday shows the moment federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student whose detention alarmed free-speech advocates.
The clip begins with at least three agents confronting Khalil in the lobby of his apartment building near the Columbia campus Saturday night. The agents inform him that he is “going to be under arrest,” then order him to “turn around” and “stop resisting.”
“There’s no need for this,” Khalil replies calmly as they place him in handcuffs. “I’m going with you. No worries.”


As his wife, Noor Abdalla, cries out in protest, asking in Arabic: “My love, how can I call you?” Khalil assures her that he will be fine and instructs her to call his lawyer.
Abdalla, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, then asks the agents to identify themselves. “We don’t give our names,” one replies.
The video was released by Khalil’s attorneys the same day the Justice Department announced it was investigating whether the university concealed “illegal aliens” on its campus.
Khalil is a lawful US resident with no criminal history. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he revoked Khalil’s permission to be in the US because of his role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, saying they had riled up “anti-Jewish” sentiment and amounted to support for Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has warned that the attempted deportation will be the “first of many” of people who joined protests against Israel’s military action in Gaza
Federal officials announced Friday that they had arrested another woman tied to protests outside Columbia University and revoked the visa of a Columbia University doctoral student, who then left the country.
Khalil’s wife, Abdalla, described his arrest as “the most terrifying moment of my life” in a statement accompanying the video. She said the arrest happened as the couple were returning home from an Iftar celebration.
“They threatened to take me too,” she said.
The arrests have triggered fear among international students at Columbia and been condemned by free speech groups, which accuse the Trump administration of seeking to criminalize political dissent.
Khalil’s lawyers have challenged his detention in court.
In court documents, they described how he was rushed from New York to Louisiana last weekend after his arrest.
The experience reminded Khalil of when he left Syria, where he was born, shortly after the forced disappearance of his friends there during a period of arbitrary detention in 2013, the lawyers wrote.
According to the lawsuit, federal agents denied Khalil’s request to speak to a lawyer. When he was taken to a federal office building in lower Manhattan, Khalil saw an agent approach another agent and say, “the White House is requesting an update,” the lawyers wrote.
At some point early Sunday, Khalil was taken, handcuffed and shackled, to a detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he spent the night in a cold waiting room. His request for a blanket was denied, the lawsuit said.
Then he was sent back to New York by van.
At 2:45 p.m. Sunday, he was put on an American Airlines flight from to Dallas, where he was placed on a second flight to Alexandria, Louisiana, arriving at 1 a.m. Monday.
Khalil is now being held in an isolated, low-slung ICE detention complex ringed by two rows of tall, barbed wire fences and surrounded by the endless pine forests. The complex, with a capacity of 1,160, is outside the small town of Jena, roughly 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baton Rouge.
He now worries about his pregnant wife and is “also very concerned about missing the birth of his first child,” the lawsuit said.
In April, Khalil was to begin a job and receive health benefits that the couple was counting on, it added.
“It is very important to Mr. Khalil to be able to continue his protected political speech, advocating and protesting for the rights of Palestinians — both domestically and abroad,” the lawsuit said.

 


EU to sanction nine over Congo violence

The M23 armed group has waged a lightning offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent months.
The M23 armed group has waged a lightning offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent months.
Updated 15 March 2025
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EU to sanction nine over Congo violence

The M23 armed group has waged a lightning offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent months.
  • The EU summoned the ambassador of Rwanda last month, calling on the country to “immediately withdraw” troops from Congolese territory and to “stop supporting the M23 and any other armed group”

BRUSSLES: The EU is expected to sanction nine individuals in connection with violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, two EU diplomats said on Friday.
They did not identify the people set to be listed, in keeping with the practice of not revealing such details before the sanctions are officially approved.
EU foreign ministers are expected to approve the sanctions in Brussels next Monday.
Rebels of the M23 group have seized east Congo’s two biggest cities since January in an escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover into Congo of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of Congo’s vast mineral resources.

FASTFACT

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has said at least 7,000 people had died in the fighting since January.

Congo is considering sending representatives to peace talks with the M23 group that Angola plans to host next week, government sources said on Thursday.
Rwanda is accused of backing the Tutsi-led M23 rebels, a charge it denies.
The EU summoned the ambassador of Rwanda last month, calling on the country to “immediately withdraw” troops from Congolese territory and to “stop supporting the M23 and any other armed group.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has also said that the 27-nation bloc will review its agreement with Rwanda over critical raw materials due to the country’s links with the M23 rebels.
Rwanda denies providing arms and troops to M23 rebels.
Congo’s government has said at least 7,000 people have died in the fighting since January.
According to the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office, at least 600,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since November.
With Congo’s army and allied forces putting up weak resistance to the rebel advance, regional powers appear in agreement that dialogue is the only way forward, diplomats and analysts said.
“I haven’t talked to a single African country that says Kinshasa shouldn’t talk to M23,” one senior diplomat said.
“The line of everyone is, ‘How do you stop the fighting if you don’t engage with them?’“
One source said on Friday that government participation was a sure thing but that it was still too early to say who would represent Kinshasa in Luanda.
Other sources said the debate was still ongoing and a final decision would not likely be made until next week.
M23, for its part, said on Thursday it was demanding an unequivocal commitment from DRC President Felix Tshisekedi to engage in talks.
Both sides said they had questions about the framework and how the Angola-hosted talks would comply with decisions from regional bodies attempting to resolve the conflict.
Southern and East African foreign and defense ministers are due to meet in Harare on Monday to discuss the push for a cessation of hostilities and political dialogue.
Sitting down with M23 would likely be deeply unpopular in Kinshasa, especially after Tshisekedi’s repeated vows never to do so.
But it would amount to an acknowledgment that Tshisekedi’s pursuit of a military solution has “failed,” said Congolese analyst Bob Kabamba of the University of Liege in Belgium.
“Kinshasa’s position of dialogue is understandable because it finds itself stuck, thinking that the (rebel alliance) must not reach a critical threshold,” he said.
Stephanie Wolters, a Congo analyst with South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies, said Angola had “clearly decided that it is necessary to intervene to prevent the advance of the M23 toward the west of the DRC.”
The lack of faith in Tshisekedi’s ability to turn the tide militarily was also seen this week in Southern African leaders’ approval of the “phased withdrawal” of a regional deployment known as SAMIDRC that had a mandate to fight rebels.
Although the deployment was too weak to mean much in the fight against M23, its presence was an essential sign of regional support for Congo, Wolters said, making its departure a “significant blow.”

 


Global displacement ‘to rise by 6.7m people by end of 2026’

Charlotte Slente, Secretary-general of Danish Refugee Council. (Supplied)
Charlotte Slente, Secretary-general of Danish Refugee Council. (Supplied)
Updated 15 March 2025
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Global displacement ‘to rise by 6.7m people by end of 2026’

Charlotte Slente, Secretary-general of Danish Refugee Council. (Supplied)
  • Danish Refugee Council’s projection is based on an AI-driven model

GENEVA: Some 6.7 million additional people are expected to be newly displaced worldwide by the end of next year, the Danish Refugee Council said on Friday, just as aid cuts from key donors take effect.

The UN refugee agency said last year that the number of forcibly displaced people around the globe stood at over 117 million people and warned that number could rise.
“These are not cold statistics. These are families forced to flee their homes, carrying next to nothing, and searching for water, food, and shelter,” said Charlotte Slente, secretary-general of the Danish Refugee Council in a statement.

These are not cold statistics. These are families forced to flee their homes, carrying next to nothing, and searching for water, food, and shelter.

Charlotte Slente, Secretary-general of Danish Refugee Council

Twenty-seven countries account for nearly a third of all global displacements.
The projection is based on an AI-driven model that predicts displacement trends by analyzing over 100 indicators, including security, politics, and economics in those countries.
It forecasts that nearly a third of new displacements will be from Sudan, which is already the world’s worst refugee crisis after almost two years of war.
“Starvation has been used as a weapon of war, pushing Sudan from one catastrophic famine to another,” the report said.
Another 1.4 million people are expected to be forcibly displaced from Myanmar, the report said.
The US is cutting billions of dollars in foreign aid programs globally as part of a significant spending overhaul by the world’s biggest aid donor.
The Danish Refugee Council is one of the aid groups hit and has had more than 20 contract terminations.
Cuts from Washington and other key donors are already impacting refugees.
The UN refugee agency said that funding shortages had shuttered programs to protect adolescent girls from child marriage in South Sudan and a safe house for displaced women in danger of being killed in Ethiopia.
“Millions are facing starvation and displacement, and just as they need us most, wealthy nations are slashing aid. It’s a betrayal of the most vulnerable,” said Slente.
She blasted the decision to cancel 83 percent of USAID’s humanitarian aid programs around the world.
Slente said: “We’re in the middle of a global ‘perfect storm’: record displacement, surging needs, and devastating funding cuts.”
She said major donors “are abandoning their duty, leaving millions to suffer. This is more than a crisis. It is a moral failure.”


African Union expresses ‘deep concern’ over crisis in Tigray

African Union expresses ‘deep concern’ over crisis in Tigray
Updated 15 March 2025
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African Union expresses ‘deep concern’ over crisis in Tigray

African Union expresses ‘deep concern’ over crisis in Tigray
  • “The AU emphasizes that adherence to the 2022 peace agreement is crucial for maintaining the hard-won peace and fostering an environment conducive to sustainable peacebuilding, reconciliation and development,” the statement said

ADDIS ABABA: The African Union said on Friday it was following events in the Ethiopian region of Tigray with “deep concern” as tensions between rival factions threaten a fragile peace agreement.
“The African Union has been closely monitoring the evolving situation within the Tigray People’s Liberation Front with deep concern,” it said in a statement.
A peace agreement in 2022 ended a brutal two-year war between Tigrayan rebels and the federal government that claimed up to 600,000 lives, according to some estimates.
However, a failure to fully implement the terms has fueled divisions within the Tigrayan political elite and, combined with deteriorating ties between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea, raised fears of a new conflict.
“The AU emphasizes that adherence to the 2022 peace agreement is crucial for maintaining the hard-won peace and fostering an environment conducive to sustainable peacebuilding, reconciliation and development,” the statement said.
Also on Friday, Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, warned that at least 31 people had died from more than 1,500 cholera cases in Ethiopia’s Gambella region over the past month, adding that the outbreak is “rapidly spreading.”
The international NGO said the situation has worsened with the arrival of people fleeing violence in neighboring South Sudan.
“Cholera is rapidly spreading across western Ethiopia and in parallel, the outbreak in South Sudan is ongoing, endangering thousands of lives,” MSF said in a statement.
Several regions of Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation with around 120 million people, are battling cholera outbreaks, with Amhara — its second-largest region — among the hardest hit.
In South Sudan’s Akobo County, located in the Upper Nile region, 1,300 cholera cases have been reported in the past four weeks, according to MSF.
It said recent violence in Upper Nile between the South Sudanese government and armed groups is “worsening the outbreak.”
“Thousands are being displaced, losing access to health care, safe water, and sanitation,” MSF said.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation and still hit by chronic instability and poverty, declared a cholera epidemic in October.
The World Health Organization says some 4,000 people died from the “preventable and easily treatable disease” in 2023, up 71 percent on the previous year, mostly in Africa.+

 


Benin’s President Talon rules out third term

Benin’s President Talon rules out third term
Updated 59 min 45 sec ago
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Benin’s President Talon rules out third term

Benin’s President Talon rules out third term
  • “The next president of Benin will be my president, from my country, my family, my community and everything that is dear to me,” he added

COTONOU: Benin President Patrice Talon on Friday said he would not stand for an unconstitutional third term in office but would be watching the choice of his successor closely.
The former businessman has been in charge of the nation since 2016, and his second office term ends next year.
“I’m telling you again for the umpteenth time, no, I will not be a candidate,” he said in an interview with Jeune Afrique.
“This question troubles me. I have strengthened the constitution myself to stipulate that no one can serve more than two terms in their life.”
The question over his succession was revived in September last year when one of his close friends, Olivier Boko, was arrested on suspicion of attempting a coup with the former sports minister Oswald Homeky.
The two men were sentenced to 20 years in prison in January for “plotting against the authority of the state.”
“I experienced the Olivier Boko episode like a drama and personal tragedy,” Talon was quoted as saying in the interview.
He said he would also be “careful” about the choice of his successor and intended to ensure that whoever took over did not want to reverse what he said was a decade of reforms.
“The next president of Benin will be my president, from my country, my family, my community and everything that is dear to me,” he added. Talon went on to criticize “deteriorating” relations with Benin’s Sahelien neighbors Niger and Burkina Faso and the lack of security cooperation.
“We contact them regularly,” he said. “We don’t get a response.”
“Our army is facing terrorist groups that operate freely in sanctuaries deserted by the defense and security forces” of Niger and Burkina Faso, “which allows them to regroup and attack en masse,” he added.
Niger and Burkina Faso, with which Benin shares a northern border, are governed by military juntas which have turned their back on Western support.
Extremist violence has spilled over Benin’s border, but the authorities in Niamey and Ouagadougou accuse Benin of hosting foreign military bases to destabilize them.
“There is obviously nothing like this on Beninese soil,” he added.