The Leadership Communication Gap

Survey Findings — Q1 & Q2

The State of Leadership Development

Most organizations haven't built the infrastructure to develop their rising leaders, and those that have are far from confident it's working.

Question 1

Does your organization currently have a formal leadership development program?

Question 2

How effective is your organization at supporting and developing rising leaders?

Survey Findings — Q3

The Executive Communication Training Gap

When asked whether their organizations provide meaningful training on executive communication, presentation skills, or executive presence, the answer was largely no.

Question 3

Does your organization provide meaningful training on executive communication, presentation skills, or executive presence?

47%

say their organization provides no training in executive communication or executive presence

35%

report training exists but is limited or surface-level

14%

say executive communication is a meaningful part of their organization's development efforts

Survey Findings — Q4

Where Rising Leaders Struggle Most

Respondents selected up to 3 areas where rising leaders fall short when communicating with senior executives. Clarity topped the list by a wide margin.

Question 4 — Select up to 3

Where do rising leaders most often struggle when presenting or communicating with senior executives?

Getting to the point quickly / being clear & concise

63%

61 of 97

Avoiding too much detail

40%

39 of 97

Handling tough questions or pushback

39%

38 of 97

Making a clear recommendation

36%

35 of 97

Speaking with confidence or executive presence

33%

32 of 97

Creating executive-ready slides

30%

29 of 97

Turning data into insights

25%

24 of 97

Percentages reflect the share of 97 respondents who selected each option. Multi-select; totals exceed 100%.

In Their Own Words — Q5

Six Themes. One Clear Message.

When asked what rising leaders most need to become stronger executive communicators, 97 respondents said it with clarity and conviction. Their answers cluster into six themes, each pointing to the same gap.

"

Focus, focus, focus. What's the point of the communication? If it's to get buy-in, does it make a compelling case? Or did you just write a book report? Everything is selling at some point of your career. You need to be honest about that with yourself so you can improve.

Survey respondent

"

Lead with the ask. Be clear on what actually needs to be known, and be prepared to answer questions on the details only if asked. The presentation should act as a "pull" from leadership, asking for a decision or approval, not a "push" where you're just giving an update.

K.H.

"

Be brief, be brilliant, and be gone. Make the presentation easy for them to read, understand, and leave them with the main takeaway. Avoid confusion as much as possible.

C.S.

"

Transitioning from being the one responsible for handling all the details to summarizing information at an executive summary level. That's the shift most people haven't made.

Survey respondent

"

Executives want to know the issue at hand, how it impacts the business, and what the solution is. Presentations get stuck in the issues section.

B.J.

"

Concise, BLUF-level information. Tailoring points and recommendations to be relevant to leadership, not just accurate to the data.

Survey respondent

"

Confidence above all is what is most needed. It feeds a leader's ability to effectively communicate, handle pushback, and tell a coherent story. Pick a recommendation and learn how to defend it, because the execs will push back for clarification.

Survey respondent

"

As a 23-year-old starting a career, I feel that confidence is critical when it comes to presenting to existing executives. The gap is in delivery, not knowledge.

K.B.

"

Confidence is key. It is hard for some rising leaders to present to people they think will know more, but understanding that their unique perspective should give them more confidence.

L.F.

"

Be confident in your work and stand by your decisions. If you need help or don't understand, say something. Confidence and clarity go hand in hand.

Survey respondent

"

Executive presence along with confidence are what leaders need most. You can have the right content and still lose the room without them.

M.M.

"

Storytelling. Being able to communicate clearly and engage the audience to create buy-in. A lot of people feel the need to provide all the detail rather than think and present from a first-principles point of view.

S.S.

"

I tell people to write out a "once upon a time" story. Incorporate data and details, and have a short version and a long version. Offer the short version, then ask: "Did I provide enough detail, or would you like me to expand?"

A.K.

"

Confidence and telling a story instead of clearing a slide. Those are two very different things, and most rising leaders are doing the second one.

R.S.

"

Storytelling is a really good skill to have in order to keep people's attention. It also helps to understand all of the different teams so you're able to lead effectively.

H.H.

"

People have lower attention spans than ever, and executives are no exception. Creating a story that clearly depicts the problem and solution, with data to back the resolution, is the whole challenge.

Z.M.

"

What rising leaders needed most was knowing how to move from an analytical mindset, analyzing data, to a strategic one: giving recommendations and being efficient in summarizing high-level takeaways. Make recommendations vs. presenting analysis.

C.C. (tech industry)

"

Understanding the company's strategic plan is key to being able to communicate and connect to it. In some organizations this is not always clear, and rising leaders don't always have the inside scoop. Seems so basic, but I don't think they know this well enough.

Survey respondent

"

The end goal is strategic thinking and staying concise. Those route from experience and development, which then builds confidence. You can't shortcut the sequence.

A.P.

"

Decision-making. What separates good leaders from great leaders is the ability to make tough decisions, communicate them clearly, and articulate the rationale with confidence. Strong leaders earn trust by explaining their choices, not by avoiding them.

T.W.

"

Enterprise-level thinking, cross-functional awareness, and storytelling. Rising leaders need to connect their work to what's happening at the top of the organization.

S.I.

"

They need to learn to "speak" the language of leaders. Exposure to this audience can be seldom and rare, which makes it such a hard skill set to cultivate. You can be experienced and still never have learned this.

T.G.

"

Empathy for the leaders. They are incredibly busy and typically juggling a billion things. You are "curating" the data and the decision for them. A bad mechanic has to take apart the whole car to find the problem. Don't be the bad mechanic.

C.W.

"

Different executives like different levels of detail. You may know your own VP, but when they pull you in to talk with the CEO, you need to revisit and ensure you're still telling the story the right way for the different audience. Too many good leaders fumble this opportunity.

S.Q.

"

Tailoring communication style based on leader preferences and understanding how to craft messages. One approach does not fit all, and treating it that way is the mistake.

J.K.

"

Connecting daily operations to the larger picture, and how both viewpoints are required. Getting buy-in quickly and keeping support moving in terms of strategic efforts.

T.H.

"

Handling pushback would be one of the main things. Senior leadership might push back on ideas presented, and knowing how to effectively handle that can be difficult. You have to hold your ground without losing the room.

Survey respondent

"

Knowing how to handle what they don't know or don't have data to back up immediately at hand is critical. That moment of uncertainty, and how you handle it, defines your credibility.

A.B.

"

Power and influence, strategic thinking, first principles, handling pushback, executive presence. You need all of them working together, not just one or two.

Survey respondent

"

Responding to pushback concisely. Not defensively, not over-explaining. Just clearly and confidently. That's a skill almost no one teaches explicitly.

R.S.

Research Insights

What the Research Confirms

This survey reflects one set of voices, but the findings align closely with the latest published research on leadership development. The pattern is consistent and points to the same solvable problem.

🎯

One-Off Training Events Consistently Underperform

Meta-analytic research across 335 independent samples found positive outcomes only when programs include needs analysis, multiple delivery methods, deliberate practice, and spaced sessions. Surface-level training produces surface-level results.

Lacerenza et al. Meta-Analysis · CIPD 2023

🗣️

Communication Is a Top Gap, Even Where Programs Exist

Communication, goal setting, and teamwork are the most common topics in leadership programs, yet the gap persists. Survey respondents confirm it: training exists on paper, but rarely builds the specific skills needed in the room with senior leadership.

ATD 2025 · DDI Global Leadership Forecast

🧠

Confidence and Presence Are Trainable

Respondents overwhelmingly named confidence as foundational, and research confirms it is developable. Peer-group mentoring showed particular effectiveness for building emotional intelligence. Coaching with sustained practice produces measurable behavior change in self-awareness and presence.

Frontiers in Education, 2024 · HBP Global Study

📊

The Shift from Analyst to Strategist Is Real, and Hard

Multiple respondents, especially from tech and finance, described the same transition: rising leaders must stop presenting data and start making recommendations. DDI confirms it: setting strategy is the single largest skill gap identified by leaders across industries.

DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2025

📍

A Program on Paper Does Not Equal Readiness

57% of this survey's respondents work in organizations without a formal program, but even those with programs described mixed results. Research confirms the pattern: availability is not the same as effectiveness.

HBP 2024 · ATD State of the Industry

🔁

Sustainment Matters More Than Seat Time

Scalability and post-program sustainment have overtaken customization as the most-wanted attributes in leadership programs. Cost per learning hour rose from $103 in 2021 to $165 in 2024, while formal learning hours fell by more than half. Organizations want less, but better.

HBP 2024 · ATD State of the Industry

The State of Leadership Development

The Executive Communication Training Gap

Where Rising Leaders Struggle Most

Six Themes. One Clear Message.

What the Research Confirms

The gap is the training, not the talent.