INTHEBLACK December 2025 / January 2026 - Magazine - Page 13
The concept of leadership is
evolving along with employee
expectations and emerging
technologies.
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to this story
Successful leaders are
expected to combine data,
technology and human capital
to drive long-term value.
Modern leadership requires
sound ethical judgement,
strategic agility, purpose
and vision.
Today’s leaders are tech-savvy, inclusive, emotionally
intelligent and arguably under more pressure than ever
before. How can modern leaders navigate the complexity
of the job and prepare for the challenges ahead?
WORDS SUSAN MULDOWNEY
A
sk any business leader about the view
from the top and they’re sure to offer
a mixed outlook. Geopolitical and financial
headwinds continue to batter the global
economy. Talent attraction and retention remain
a source of pressure. Capital investment in
technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) continues
to grow, but the payoff remains unclear. And while
stakeholder expectations around sustainability
are sharpening the focus on environmental,
social and governance (ESG) performance,
regulatory change is turning up the heat on
non-financial disclosures.
Welcome to the world of modern leadership.
Though high performance earned many leaders
their senior position, the skills that helped them
climb the ladder do not guarantee success in
the current paradigm. Adaptive challenges demand
a fresh approach.
Beyond sharp business acumen and financial
stewardship, leaders of today are required to employ
emotional intelligence, be inclusive and innovative,
lead with purpose, care for the mental health of
employees and manage remote teams. They need
to possess visionary qualities, embrace sustainability
and grasp the potential of emerging technologies
while balancing ethical judgement and strategic agility.
Demands on modern leaders have arguably never
been higher. Aspiring leaders must prepare for the
complexities of the task and those in the top job
must find ways to maintain their resilience.
side-by-side for the first time. The shift to remote
and hybrid work models has also created new
challenges around workplace culture and collaboration.
“In a world of growing technology, people feel
more and more disconnected,” says Melinda
McCormack, founder and director of leadership
consultancy MYM&Co. “People in organisations
want to feel seen, heard and valued. That traditional
top-down control approach doesn’t work anymore.”
Megumi Miki, leadership and culture consultant
and author of Quietly Powerful, says the current
economic climate has increased the focus on
productivity, which creates additional challenges
for leaders.
“They face internal pressure from shareholders
and the board to be more productive and to
do more with less,” she says. “At the same time,
employees expect care, connection, authenticity
and psychological safety.”
Attracting and retaining talent also remains
a struggle in industries like accounting. Data from
recruitment firm people2people suggests a persistent
talent gap, with more than half of accounting teams
in Australia and New Zealand reporting that they are
under-resourced.
Chuang-Li Khoo FCPA, senior finance director
and Penang site lead at multinational technology
company AMD, names talent retention as a primary
challenge for modern leaders.
“Of course, money is important, and people also
want career progression, but culture and a sense
of purpose really matter,” she says.
DOING MORE WITH LESS
A confluence of trends is shaping the expectations
of modern leadership. Workplaces today are more
diverse than ever, with five generations working
A MEASURED APPROACH
Technology like AI has experienced explosive
growth in recent years, presenting leaders with both
THE ART OF MODERN LEADERSHIP intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 13
