Gallup study, in tieup with WGS 2025, says what followers need most are leaders who inspire hope

Gallup, the global management consulting firm, launched its latest study under the title “Global Leadership Report: What Followers Want” at the World Governments Summit 2025. The study affirms that followers around the world require trust, compassion and stability from their leaders. The quality they seek above all else, however, is hope.

The findings of the report were presented during the World Governments Summit (WGS) 2025, held under the theme ‘Shaping Future Governments’. The Summit is being held in Dubai from 11th to 13th January 2025, hosting over 30 heads of state and government, more than 80 international organisations, 140 government delegations, and more than 6,000 attendees.

Hope, an essential quality in leadership

Gallup’s study, conducted in partnership with the World Governments Summit, concluded that if leaders were to meet certain needs by harbouring crucial qualities, they have the ability to significantly improve and positively impact the wellbeing of others.

To date, no other research study has examined the needs of followers across such a comprehensively large and global sample of people.

Gallup posed two questions to participants across 52 countries, representing 76% of the world’s adult population and 86% of the global gross domestic product.

Participants were asked to mention leaders who have had the most positive influence on their lives, and to also list three qualities that best describe why their chosen leaders positively impact their lives.

The report found that hope was listed as the primary quality found amongst influential leaders worldwide, as it accounted for more than half of all the answers listed by respondents.

It ranked significantly higher than trust, which was ranked as the second most important quality.

The study illustrated that family members and managers were the most frequently cited leaders, and that the core qualities deemed crucial in leaders across the board were relatively consistent.

The study also portrayed that, although the need for hope is evidently universal, it is especially pronounced among people aged 18 to 29 years old, in the Asia-Pacific region, and in relation to organisational leaders.

The study also illustrated that suffering is reduced when leaders portray such qualities. Among the respondents who did not cite hope as an essential quality among leaders, 33% are said to be thriving, while 9% of them are considered to be suffering.

On the other hand, the percentage of respondents who affirmed that hope was crucial in leadership and also considered thriving is 38%, with those suffering amounting to 6%.

The potential to improve lives

Workplace leaders hold tremendous potential to improve lives. The report stated that 34% of employed individuals cited someone from their work environment, whether it was a manager, co-worker, or organisational leader, as most influential on their lives, in comparison to 44% who named family members.

Approximately 18% of people mention a leader from their work environment, those include managers (11%), organisational leaders (5%) and other colleagues (2%).

The study illustrated that employees are more likely to name a work-related leader as influential, compared with just 6% of those not working for an employer.