The Link Between Leadership And Engagement

What if I told you that the biggest factor in your team’s success isn’t strategy, technology, or pay—but you?

The reality is, you can have a brilliant business strategy, but if your people feel disconnected, uninspired, or burnt out, everything slows down. And that’s exactly what we’ve been seeing in 2024— according to Gallup employee engagement in the U.S. has hit an 11-year low.

I recently conducted a 40-hour Listening Tour with a client organization, speaking with leaders and employees across three regions. What I found was both eye-opening and deeply human. We uncovered both challenges and opportunities in leadership engagement. This immersive experience confirmed what research tells us—engaged employees thrive under leaders who actively communicate, foster trust, and prioritize growth.

People don’t expect leadership to be perfect. They don’t need grand gestures or corporate buzzwords. What they do need? Clear communication, trust, recognition, and opportunities to grow.

One frontline manager put it bluntly, "I genuinely care about my team, but with everything moving so fast, I don’t always have time to check in the way I’d like."

Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone.

Why Leadership Matters for Engagement

Key Drivers of Engagement in 2024

Let’s talk about real, actionable ways leaders can create engagement—starting today.

Make Recognition a Daily Habit

Employees don’t just want feedback once a year during performance reviews—they need real-time appreciation for their contributions. Try starting meetings with a win-sharing moment. Acknowledge great work in the moment, not months later.

Create Opportunities for Growth & Development

Lack of career growth is a major driver of disengagement. Employees want to feel like they’re building skills, not just clocking in and out. Try offering cross-training or job-shadowing opportunities, mentorship or skill development to help employees see a future in your company.

Model Work-Life Balance & Burnout Prevention

Burnout is real. Employees in our Listening Tour admitted skipping vacations because they felt overwhelmed. Leaders who encourage healthy boundaries create teams that are more productive, not less. What if you created a culture where taking time off is celebrated, not guilted? And don’t just tell employees to take breaks—model it yourself.

New Leadership Practices for 2024

Let’s be real—being a great leader today isn’t just about managing projects and hitting KPIs. It’s about creating a work environment where people feel valued, safe, and motivated to do their best work. The days of top-down leadership are fading and being replaced by a more agile, people-centered. In 2024, the best leaders are the ones who foster trust, encourage collaboration, and champion inclusivity.

Here are three ways leaders can create more engagement right now:.

Building Psychological Safety in Hybrid Teams

Have you ever hesitated to speak up in a meeting because you weren’t sure how it would be received? If so, you’re not alone—and neither are your employees. Psychological safety is the foundation of engagement. When employees know they can share ideas, ask questions, and even make mistakes without fear of judgment, they’re more likely to take initiative.

What You Can Do:

• Instead of just having an “open-door policy,” try actively checking in with your team: “What’s working well for you? What’s frustrating? What support would help?”
• Admit when you don’t have all the answers. When leaders model vulnerability, it creates space for honest conversations.
• After big projects, run a "Lessons Learned" session—not to assign blame, but to create a culture where mistakes are learning opportunities, not punishable offences.

Facilitating Cross-Functional Collaboration

Silos— they slow things down, cause miscommunication, and make people feel disconnected from the bigger picture. But they’re also fixable. The best way to break down silos? Get people working together across departments in a way that feels natural and useful.

What You Can Do:

• Try cross-functional projects where people from different teams collaborate on a shared goal.
• Set up a shadowing program—let a marketing team member sit in on a sales call, or have an engineer spend a day with customer support. It builds empathy and smoother teamwork.
• Celebrate wins as an organization, not just within departments. When people see how their work connects to the bigger picture, engagement skyrockets.

Make DEI a Leadership Priority (Not Just an HR Initiative)

Let’s be clear, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) isn’t an HR responsibility—it’s a leadership responsibility. It’s about making sure everyone feels like they belong, has a voice, and has opportunities to grow.

What You Can Do:

• Move beyond one-time training—weave DEI into leadership development programs so it’s an ongoing conversation.
• Look at who gets to be in the room. Are the same voices always leading discussions? If so, be intentional about creating space for different perspectives.
• Practice mentorship AND sponsorship. Don’t just give advice—advocate for employees from underrepresented groups. Make sure they’re getting opportunities to lead, present, and advance.
• Reevaluate performance review processes—are there biases that disproportionately affect certain groups? If so, how can you redesign evaluations to be more equitable?

Companies with diverse leadership teams are 35% more likely to outperform their competitors. More importantly? Employees who feel included are twice as engaged—and when people feel heard, they stay. Simply put - when people feel heard, they stay.

The best leaders today aren’t the ones who “run the show”—they’re the ones who create the conditions for their teams to thrive.

These three leadership shifts—psychological safety, cross-functional collaboration, and inclusive leadership—aren’t just buzzwords. They are the difference between an engaged workforce and a disengaged one.

By prioritizing trust, communication, and inclusivity, leaders can future-proof their organizations and create workplaces where employees feel not only productive but also truly valued.

So, what’s one small step you can take today? Maybe it’s checking in with an employee who’s been quiet in meetings. Maybe it’s setting up a quick shadowing opportunity between departments. Whatever it is, start now—because the best workplaces aren’t built overnight.

Leadership Is The Solution

Great leaders have a huge impact on employee engagement. And the effects can be felt throughout an entire organization. It’s one of the reasons we’re so focused on Leadership Development here at Lead Bee as there's a clear link between leadership and engagement.

Recently, we reviewed two programs we were running within one organization. The company has a great culture and fantastic benefits. The results were startling. The turnover rate within the two teams that were participating in the program was just under 5%, while the rest of the organization was experiencing a resignation rate of more than 15%.

In addition, we found that groups with a manager who was actively engaged in the leadership development program also had a lower turnover rate in their specific groups as they were able to create additional engagement and retention. These results show clearly that leadership and engagement are entwined.

The Power Of Leadership Development Programs

One of our favorite ways to increase employee engagement is through a six to nine-month leadership development program. Our program combines learning about individual and team relational preferences and strengths. We also explore overdone strengths and ways to better navigate conflict. You could design your own leadership development program with a similar or different design and with the same or adjusted topics (more on that below).

Time and again, we hear from leaders who have completed our leadership development program or team acceleration program that they learned so much about how to better communicate with people at work and at home! The more focused time the team spends together, the healthier norms they develop, and the focus on relationships inspires and motivates leaders to work together and with their teams. Leaders learn to be less tactical and operational and much more strategic. 

If you’re considering launching your own program, we suggest you gather the team once every four to six weeks. Start with a self-assessment if you can (we prefer SDI 2.0 and DiSC, but MBTI and other tools can also work!). This way, folks are immediately engaged by learning more about themselves and curious to learn more about their peers. 

Each month you can meet for part or all of a day. Focus on connection, discussion about progress and obstacles, and encourage the team to explore what is and isn’t working. Then introduce one or two training topics (depending on the time allotted).

You can focus on areas such as:

• emotional intelligence
• work prioritization and delegation
• situational leadership
• managing conflict
• having difficult discussions
• leading authentically
• hiring and managing inclusively
• performance management.  

Ensure people make commitments as to what they will work on between sessions. And if possible, provide coaching time in between sessions, even if it’s peer or group coaching.

Leadership is the Ultimate Engagement Tool

The insights from the Listening Tour reaffirmed what we already knew: leadership engagement isn’t about grand gestures—it’s about consistently showing up for your people.

Three Actions You Can Take Right Now:

Conduct Your Own Listening Tour – Start small: schedule 1:1 check-ins with employees and ask about their engagement barriers.Enhance Communication Practices – Be transparent about company changes and decisions.Reduce Burnout by Modeling Healthy Work Habits – Encourage (and take) vacations, set meeting-free time blocks, and celebrate team wins.

We hope you’ll take and implement at least one of the suggestions above. If you do, drop us a line. We’d love to celebrate your success because developing leaders is one of the most effective ways to increase employee engagement and profitability.