Nearly Half of European Employees Don’t Want to Be Leaders. So, How Do You Raise Interest?

By Eleanor Hecks, a business and leadership writer who currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of design and business publication Designerly Magazine. Her work, which focuses on preparing today’s leaders for modern workplace challenges, has been featured on sites including Fast Company and HubSpot.

For employees who want to grow in their careers, climbing the ladder might once have seemed the obvious route. Yet that ambition can take a different shape when the next step involves leading a team. For European businesses hoping to encourage such a move, the challenge is to make leading others feel like an opportunity employees can see themselves choosing.

Why Leadership Looks Unappealing Across European Markets

According to Ipsos, 46% of employees across Europe find becoming a people manager unattractive or very unattractive, rising to 63% in Sweden. Faced with that reluctance across European markets, employers have reason to consider what their current approach signals to potential candidates.

Encouragingly, the same report finds management’s appeal is 2.6 times higher among employees who feel supported in their careers. Its researchers suggest that difficulties in attracting candidates may reflect whether people can see a worthwhile future in those roles, giving employers a practical reason to examine the experience those positions offer.

Practical Ways to Build Interest in Leadership Roles

Leadership can feel more appealing when employees understand what it involves and how the organisation will support them. Building that interest can take several forms, from clearer career paths to opportunities to learn from experienced colleagues.

Show Employees a Clear Path to Leadership

When someone hopes to progress in their career, explain how you select candidates and what they need to demonstrate. A small project with guidance from an experienced colleague can give them a manageable first step toward greater responsibility.

At an organisational level, people-centred management is associated with more successful business outcomes across countries and sectors. That connection gives employers a wider reason to consider how everyday working practices bring out their teams’ strengths.

Recognition programmes can provide another reference point for the qualities your organisation values. The European Business Awards, for example, include employee engagement and business innovation among its core values, providing useful themes for conversations about the contribution future leaders could make.

Pair Rising Talent with Leaders Who’ve Been There

Once employees understand the route ahead, a mentor can help them explore what taking that step would involve day-to-day. European business Hilti incorporates this personal insight into its Emerging Leaders programme, where senior colleagues share career lessons and mistakes. Such exchanges form part of its wider development approach, through which around 80% of its current leaders have progressed internally.

You could bring that same approach into your organisation by letting aspiring leaders’ questions shape mentoring discussions. If someone worries about constant availability, for instance, an experienced colleague could explain how they manage competing demands while protecting their time, offering a realistic account rather than a polished success story.

Offer Structured Leadership Training for Future Leaders

Structured training can give aspiring leaders opportunities to develop the capabilities they’ll need when handling everyday team challenges. According to leadership training experts at The Center for Leadership Studies, effective training for future leaders should focus on the following skills:

• Adaptability: Practise adjusting to new circumstances and learning from setbacks rather than relying on familiar approaches.
• Change leadership: Help participants explain transitions and address concerns while keeping their teams motivated.
• Emotional intelligence: Build awareness of personal reactions and others’ feelings to handle tense conversations thoughtfully.
• Communication: Practise setting clear expectations and listening carefully, with opportunities to check understanding.
• Critical thinking: Use realistic decisions to examine evidence, consider different perspectives and separate facts from assumptions.
• Accountability: Encourage leaders to acknowledge mistakes and take corrective action while making room for others to speak openly.

Recognise That Leadership Potential Isn’t Tied to Tenure

As you offer those learning opportunities, look beyond the colleagues who have served the longest. Invite expressions of interest from candidates at different career stages and assess them against relevant criteria, rather than treating years of service as the deciding factor.

For example, the German business Klüh has built its leadership pipeline around the idea that readiness comes down to experience and attitude, not age or seniority. Its two-stage development programme puts that principle into practice through separate tracks for employees entering leadership and those preparing to take on greater responsibility.

Build a Culture of Sustainable, Supportive Leadership

Companies need to continue supporting colleagues as they settle into new leadership positions. At sustainable enterprise Billerud in Sweden, one leader describes feeling responsible for fostering talent and remaining available for guidance. The company reinforces its approach through an internal leadership academy and tracks progress through employee survey feedback.

To make that ongoing support tangible in your organisation, schedule check-ins that address both workload and performance. During those discussions, agree on adjustments when demands become unsustainable, rather than leaving new leaders to work through every problem alone.

Turning Leadership Into Roles Employees Actually Want

Making leadership more appealing starts with an experience employees can trust, from the first career conversation to the responsibilities that follow promotion. With thoughtful preparation and continued guidance, however, leading a team can become a path more people feel ready to choose.