Gallup identified four key expectations followers have of their leaders. They need leaders to provide hope, trust, compassion, and stability.
By Aaron Earls
Pastors and other leaders often feel responsible for providing countless benefits to those under their care. But what is it people actually need from those leading them?
Gallup released the “Global Leadership Report: What Followers Want” report after conducting a worldwide study to discover the types of leaders with the most positive influence on people’s daily lives and the most dominant need among followers.
Most people (57%) point to a family leader as contributing the most positive influence on their lives each day. Fewer point to a manager (11%), political leader (7%), religious leader (7%), organizational leader (5%), or friends (5%). Even fewer say the leader with the most positive influence for them is a colleague (2%), mentor (2%), educator (2%), or celebrity (2%). Less than one percent point to a medical professional or a customer.
Gallup asked respondents to list three words that best describe what their most positive leader contributes to their life. Using this open-ended question in multiple leadership studies in the U.S. and additional countries, Gallup identified four key expectations followers have of their leaders. They need leaders to provide hope, trust, compassion, and stability.
Of those four, followers most need hope. Of all the attributes individuals list about their most impactful positive leader, 56% are tied to hope, particularly attributes of inspiration, vision, and personal integrity.
Of all the attributes individuals list about their most impactful positive leader, 56% are tied to hope, particularly attributes of inspiration, vision, and personal integrity, according to Gallup. Share on X“Hope is a powerful motivator; it gives something better to look forward to, enabling them to navigate challenges and work toward a brighter future,” according to Gallup’s report. “Without hope, people can disengage, lose confidence, and become less resilient.”
Following hope, the attributes individuals most identify in a positive leader are trust (33%), compassion (7%), and stability (4%). In the U.S. specifically, the percentages are very similar to the global needs: hope (57%), trust (32%), compassion (8%), and stability (3%).
Every age group is more likely to say they need hope than trust, but the gap narrows the older a person gets. Among 18-29-year-olds, 57% point first to hope and 32% to trust. Among those 75 and older, 52% look to leaders most for hope and 36% for trust.
While the general order of the four needs remains the same regardless of the leader, followers look to different types of leaders differently. The further removed the leader is from the person’s life, the more an individual looks to them for hope and not trust.
From celebrity leaders, people want hope (75%), not compassion (17%). But for family and friends, those percentages are much closer. Followers still mostly look for hope from a family (54%) or friend (54%) leader, but many also want trust from family (35%) and friends (37%).
Religious leaders rank near the middle in terms of the percentage looking to them for hope (59%). Around a quarter (24%) most value trust from religious leaders. People say they look to religious leaders for compassion (15%) more than to any other type of leader. Just 2% say religious leaders give them stability, the lowest of any leader type.
People most look to religious leaders for hope (59%), followed by trust (24%) and compassion (15%). Just 2% say religious leaders give them stability, the lowest of any leader type, according to Gallup. Share on XBenefits to the followers
Gallup also asked individuals to rate their current life satisfaction and where they expect to land in five years on a scale of 0-10. Those who say they are at least a 7 now and expect to be at least an 8 in the future are categorized as thriving. Those who say they are currently at a 4 or lower and expect to remain in the range are classified as suffering. And those who qualify as neither are considered to be struggling.
Among those who don’t associate their leader with hope, 33% are thriving, and 9% are suffering. When people feel their leaders meet the need for hope, thriving increases to 38% and suffering falls to 6%. “The high prevalence of the need for hope suggests a link with a reduction in suffering,” according to the report.
Meeting every need leads to the highest likelihood of a thriving follower. If a leader cannot provide all four needs, however, the combination that leads to the best results for followers is hope, trust, and stability. When people feel a leader provides those, 43% are thriving, 53% are struggling, and 4% are suffering.
“When leaders can meet these needs, they are more likely to be considered a positive influence in people’s lives, strengthening the follower-leader relationship,” according to the report. “The more of the needs a leader can meet, the more likely they are to have a positive effect on their followers.”
Pastors, more than most any other leader, are uniquely positioned to demonstrate these attributes. As they lead their congregations, they can point to the hope, trust, compassion, and stability the Christian has in Christ and then demonstrate how those characteristics work themselves out within the church.
Additionally, however, pastors should be inspiring people with a positive vision for the future of the church, overcoming obstacles to trust, displaying compassion for the needs of their people, and serving as an example of stability in times of chaos.
Pastors cannot generate these feelings in and of themselves, but as they lean on Christ, He can ensure the congregation has their leadership needs fully met.
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