The Leadership pipeline crisis: When your best people don’t want to lead
South African companies are facing an unexpected plot twist: a generation of high performers who would rather stay exactly where they are than step into leadership. And honestly? They might be onto something.
The numbers tell an interesting story. 80% of HR professionals globally lack confidence in their leadership pipelines, according to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025. Meanwhile, 57% of Gen Z professionals are intentionally swerving management positions, with 67% viewing middle management as high-stress and low-reward. This isn’t about laziness or a lack of ambition. It’s about protecting what matters most.
The career paradox nobody saw coming
Here’s where things get intriguing. The same generation turning down promotions are also job hugging, holding onto roles that no longer light them up simply because economic uncertainty makes any shift feel risky. Studies show that 45% of professionals are currently staying put out of caution rather than genuine satisfaction. Among Gen Zs, that number climbs even higher.
In South Africa, this makes even more sense when you zoom out. Youth unemployment sits above 43%. Mass retrenchments and rising inflation have turned stability into something precious. An Old Mutual study found that 61% of employed South Africans would quit tomorrow if they could afford to, citing overwhelming stress, inadequate mental health support, and rigid work arrangements. Yet they stay. Now picture asking these already stretched employees to take on even more responsibility. Suddenly, the reluctance doesn’t seem so mysterious.
When self-preservation looks like strategy
Gen Z is 1.7 times more likely than other generations to step away from leadership roles to protect their wellbeing. This trend, now called “conscious unbossing,” reveals something important about how we’ve structured leadership itself.
Remote and hybrid work gave younger employees breathing room early in their careers. When return-to-office mandates brought back rigid structures, many started questioning why traditional hierarchical management was even necessary. Only 13% of Gen Z workers prefer traditional hierarchies. Meanwhile, 72% would happily choose an individual progression route over managing others.
The workplace worry has evolved. Once upon a time, employers fretted about job hopping, with Millennials changing roles roughly every 2.8 years on average. Now the concern centres on employees who won’t budge at all, either sideways or upwards. Both patterns point to the same truth: workplaces have become places people tolerate rather than spaces where they flourish.
Here’s the silver lining. When talented people reject leadership roles, they’re actually offering valuable feedback about what needs fixing. The answer isn’t talking them into accepting roles that will drain them. It’s making leadership genuinely sustainable.
Smart companies are already rethinking what leadership can look like. Some are flattening hierarchies so decision-making spreads more naturally throughout the workplace. Others are discovering that when people actively choose leadership rather than fall into it, they bring more energy, empathy and genuine commitment.
For South African employers specifically, addressing conscious unbossing means tackling what drives both trends at once. Financial stress and psychological uncertainty create presenteeism, where employees are physically present but mentally elsewhere. These same pressures make additional responsibility feel overwhelming rather than exciting.
Building something better
The way forward needs more than quick fixes. Employers can begin by:
Making growth energising, not exhausting. Offer upskilling and mentoring that makes staying feel like genuine progression. Leadership development should emphasize wellbeing and healthy boundaries alongside performance and results.
Creating space for real conversations. Regular check-ins about goals, capacity and energy levels can ease fear-based loyalty. Give employees room to be honest about their bandwidth without jeopardizing their security.
Connecting work to meaning. Link everyday tasks to the bigger picture. South African Gen Zs especially value purpose and community. Show them how their contributions matter without requiring management titles to feel significant.
Supporting the whole person. Worry often has practical sources. Addressing financial concerns through thoughtful benefits, comprehensive wellness programmes, and accessible mental health support can shift workplace dynamics entirely. When employees feel secure, possibilities open up again.
Conscious unbossing isn’t about rejecting ambition. It’s about rejecting systems that demand too much for too little return. In a country as dynamic as South Africa, where economic shifts amplify global workplace trends, employees are making thoughtful choices about what they can realistically handle. The leadership pipeline won’t fill by pushing reluctant people into management roles. It will fill when organizations make leadership genuinely appealing again. When moving upward doesn’t mean sacrificing peace of mind. When authority comes with real support rather than isolation. When progression actually means growth instead of grinding through overwhelm.
Gen Z lived through a pandemic, political turbulence, the rise of workplace AI and shifting employer loyalties. These experiences shaped their view of what leadership should be. They’re not asking for less responsibility. They’re asking for responsibility that’s actually manageable.
For employers ready to evolve, this moment is genuinely exciting. The generation consciously unbossing today could become tomorrow’s most thoughtful leaders. But only if we create workplaces where leadership serves the people doing it, not just the organization it benefits.
When employees feel genuinely cared for, secure and energized, everyone comes out ahead. The real question isn’t how to convince Gen Z to climb the corporate ladder. It’s whether we’re ready to reimagine what that ladder could become.
