This Episode: FutureX Leaders with Kate Fletcher
Lucinda speaks with Kate Fletcher, founder of FutureX Leaders, about the evolving landscape of leadership and the emotional challenges leaders face today.
They discuss the findings of recent research highlighting that a significant number of leaders feel pressured to perform rather than be their authentic selves, leading to emotional exhaustion, and highlight the importance of intentional leadership practices and the value of community in navigating the complexities of modern organisational life
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- A significant number of leaders (90%) feel pressured to perform rather than be their authentic selves, leading to emotional exhaustion for nearly 70% of them. This highlights the need for better support systems for leaders to manage their emotional well-being.
- There is a growing recognition that leadership must evolve to be more human-centric, focusing on adaptability, emotional fluency, and psychological safety. This shift is essential for leaders to navigate the complexities and uncertainties of today’s business environment.
- FutureX Leaders emphasises the value of peer support and connection. Regular interactions within peer cohorts foster trust, belonging, and accountability, allowing leaders to share experiences, solve problems collaboratively, and learn from one another.
- Traditional classroom-based leadership training is deemed ineffective. FutureX Leaders advocates for a more practical approach, where leaders engage in real-time learning and practice, enabling them to apply concepts directly to their work environments.
BEST MOMENTS
“90% of leaders feel the pressure to perform rather than actually show up as who they really are.”
“What we need is a real shift towards much more human leadership… about adaptability, emotional fluency, psychological safety.”
“Classroom-based leadership development just doesn’t work. People need something frequent, regular, that’s about the practice of leadership.”
“If you are exhausted at work, then that actually feeds over into your home life as well.”
Valuable Resources
The HR Uprising Podcast | Apple | Spotify | YouTube
The HR Uprising LinkedIn Group
Mastering Motivation with Rob Lion (The HR Uprising)
How To Be A Change Superhero – by Lucinda Carney
HR Uprising Mastermind – https://hruprising.com/mastermind/
If you liked this episode, try these
- Podcast Episode 191: Joyful Leadership with Carol Norbeck Hines
- Podcast Episode 262: Leadership and Management – HR High Performance
Find out more about Actus solutions:
Appraisal Info-book: Rethinking Performance Appraisals
Performance Management Software
About The Guest, Kate Fletcher
Kate Fletcher is a leadership strategist, author, and founder of FutureX Leaders, known for guiding senior executives through high-stake development. From board level roles in FTSE 250 companies to coaching hundreds of everyday leaders, Kate brings a deep understanding and emotional intelligence to the evolving leadership space. Her perspective on successful leadership goes beyond metrics and monetary outcomes, embracing how leaders feel, show up, and connect with themselves and their teams. Through FutureX Leaders, she’s building a global movement of bold, human-first leaders who lead with integrity and soul.
FutureX Leaders is a leadership movement grounded in community, belonging and shared purpose. Built for the pace and pressure of modern leadership, it’s a human-first ecosystem combining microlearning, peer cohorts, coaching and real-time challenge. Our research shows that belonging is the biggest unlock for performance, yet it’s what leaders experience the least. FutureX Leader creates high-trust spaces where leadership isn’t an act, it’s real, courageous and connected. More slides don’t make better leaders. Braver conversations do. If you believe leadership needs to evolve, share your voice in our Future of Leadership research here: https://vplkailz2h1.typeform.com/to/U4HcK4s2.
Special Offer: HR Uprising listeners can join FutureX Leaders for just £1000 + VAT for the year. To claim your spot, email kate@futurexleaders.com with your role and organisation, and reference the HR Uprising Podcast.
Connect with Kate…
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/katefletcher-ceo-mentor/
Substack – https://substack.com/@thekatefletcher
About The Host
Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles. Lucinda, for over 10 years as CEO of Actus Software has worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. Certainly, it was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community. In order to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.
“If you look up, you rise up”
How To Be A Change Superhero – by Lucinda Carney
Contact Method
- Join the HR Uprising LinkedIn community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13714397/
- Email: Lucinda@advancechange.co.uk
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucindacarney/
- X / Twitter: @lucindacarney
- Instagram: @hruprising
- Facebook: @hruprising
- YouTube: Channel
Actus Software
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