From Doers to Drivers: Upskilling the Next Generation of Transformational Leaders

70% of Employees Feel Unprepared for Leadership. Here’s How to Change That.

In today’s workplace, one truth is becoming painfully clear: the majority of employees don’t feel ready to lead. A startling 70% of workers report that they lack the confidence and skills to step into leadership roles. For organizations aiming to stay competitive, this isn’t just a problem—it’s putting businesses at significant reputation and financial risk globally.

Yet, with the right support, today’s “doers” can become tomorrow’s “drivers” of transformation. The question is: are you equipping your emerging leaders with the capabilities that tomorrow demands?

Thrivin’s Global Lens on Leadership Development

At Thrivin, we work with forward-thinking organizations across North America and the world to bridge leadership gaps, where the need is urgent and the potential is immense. Using our AI-powered skills pathing engine, we’ve helped thousands of professionals transition from operational contributors to influential changemakers, building leadership capacity that’s scalable, inclusive, and future-ready.

Our approach is grounded in data, driven by purpose, and proven across industries where agility and human-centered leadership are vital.

5 Future-Ready Leadership Capabilities

Through our global work, we’ve identified five essential capabilities that distinguish high-impact, modern leaders:

1. Purpose-Driven Thinking – Leaders who inspire through mission, not mandate.
2. Agility in Uncertainty – Rapid learners who pivot quickly and calmly.
3. Empathetic Coaching – Mentors who elevate others, not just manage them.
4. Execution Excellence – Relentless implementers who drive strategic outcomes.
5. Digital Fluency – Navigators of AI, automation, and analytics, not just consumers of them.

These traits don’t emerge by accident—they’re cultivated through targeted development paths that are personalized, adaptive, and ongoing.

The P.A.C.E. Leadership Model: Turning Potential into Performance

To build these capabilities, Thrivin developed the P.A.C.E. Leadership Model, an easy-to-implement framework designed to take individuals from hesitant managers to confident drivers of transformation:

• P – Purpose: Align personal and organizational vision to drive intrinsic motivation.
• A – Agility: Build responsiveness to change through micro-challenges and real-time feedback.
• C – Coaching: Embed mentorship mindsets through social learning and peer support.
• E – Execution: Reinforce accountability with outcome-driven sprints and project-based learning.

This model is embedded into Thrivin’s platform, making leadership development a scalable and data-informed process, not a one-off training.

Explore how our AI skills pathing engine works by contacting us today!

Actionable Insight: Identify the Leadership Barriers in Your WorkSystem™

Leadership performance is not determined by the strength of your talent pipeline alone. Even capable leaders struggle when roles are unclear, decision rights are fragmented, workflows create friction, or organizational systems reinforce outdated behaviors.

Instead of asking only who your future leaders are, ask:

• Does our WorkSystem™ enable leaders to make timely, effective decisions?
• Are leadership roles and accountabilities aligned with how work needs to get done?
• Do leaders have the capabilities to guide human–AI collaboration and continuous change?
• Are our processes, structures, and performance measures reinforcing the leadership behaviors we need?
• Where is organizational friction preventing leaders and teams from performing at their best?

Thrivin helps organizations answer these questions through a comprehensive WorkSystem™ assessment—revealing the gaps across people, processes, technology, structure, and strategy that limit leadership effectiveness and business performance.

Contact us to start the conversation.

Next Steps: Build a WorkSystem™ That Enables Better Leadership

1. Assess your current WorkSystem™ to uncover the structural, operational, and capability barriers affecting leadership performance, starting with the WorkSystem Pulse™.
2. Redesign roles, workflows, and decision rights around the outcomes your organization needs to achieve.
3. Equip leaders for new ways of working with the capabilities, tools, and support required to lead people and technology together.
4. Measure what matters by connecting leadership effectiveness to execution, adaptability, employee performance, and business results.

Explore Thrivin’s WorkSystem Optimization™ approach at getthrivin.com.

Thrivin helps organizations move beyond isolated leadership programs to create the conditions in which your entire organization can thrive. Your organization may already have capable leaders. The advantage comes from building a WorkSystem™ that enables them—and the people they lead—to perform at their best.