The No. 1 Thing Followers Want From Their Leaders

The number one thing followers want from their leaders is not trust, stability, or even compassion. It is hope. In Gallup research, more than half of all positive leadership traits people named pointed back to hope as the defining quality they look for in a leader.

That finding matters because the workplace is in a fragile state. Employees are stressed, turnover is high and engagement levels are low. Gallup has reported that only about 23% of employees worldwide describe themselves as engaged at work. In other words, most people are either checked out or actively disengaged. And earlier research indicated that managers account for up to 70% of this kind of variance.

So, the question isn’t whether hope is important. The question is whether leaders are actually providing it.

Too often, leaders confuse hope with hype. They think it means blind optimism or constant cheerleading. But real hope is different. Real hope steadies people in the present and points them toward a better future. It creates resilience. It inspires discretionary effort. It makes people want to stay instead of walking away.

And the good news? You don’t have to be a celebrity CEO or a motivational speaker to deliver it. Hope shows up in how you lead every day. Here are four practical ways leaders can instill hope in the workplace.

1. Cast a Clear Vision

Hope thrives on direction. When people don’t know where they’re headed, discouragement sets in quickly. Even if they don’t know every step, they need to know the journey is worth taking. That’s why leaders who cast vision build hope.

Vision isn’t about handing out a complete blueprint. It’s about pointing people toward a better future and reminding them that what they’re doing matters.

I’ve seen this firsthand. During a season of corporate transition, my team felt stuck in the chaos of the moment. People were asking, “Does what we’re doing even matter anymore?” My role wasn’t to solve every problem or guarantee every outcome. It was simply to lift their eyes, paint a picture of where we were headed and say, “Yes, this is worth it. Let’s keep moving.”

Hope begins with a picture of a better future. People don’t follow perfection. They follow direction.

2. Be Consistently Trustworthy

Hope doesn’t survive in unpredictability. When people don’t know what to expect from you, they stop looking forward. They stop trusting. And when trust disappears, hope goes with it.

Gallup’s research confirms that consistency fosters stability, and stability in turn fuels hope. People don’t need larger-than-life leaders. They need leaders who are steady, faithful and reliable.

I worked with a leader at Coca-Cola who modeled this beautifully. His name was Michael. He didn’t command attention with charisma or big speeches. Instead, he built trust the old-fashioned way: He kept his word. He checked in. He followed up. He invested in people’s development plans and ensured they made progress.

It wasn’t loud. But it was powerful. His consistency created stability, and that stability gave us room to hope.

Hope isn’t hype. It’s follow-through. People don’t need perfection. They just need to know you’ll be there tomorrow.

3. Encourage in the Middle

Everyone loves to celebrate at the beginning of a journey. Everyone shows up at the end when the results are visible. But in the messy middle, when progress is slow, obstacles are mounting and people are tired, that’s when hope is tested.

And that’s when hopeful leaders speak.

Encouragement doesn’t mean pretending everything’s fine. It means saying, “I see you. I know this is hard. Keep going.”

Too often, we wait for results to affirm people. But encouragement is most powerful when it’s given in the middle, before the outcome is clear.

Sometimes the most hopeful thing you can say isn’t a motivational speech. It’s a simple, steady presence: “I’m still here. I still believe in you. And I still believe in what we’re doing.”

That kind of encouragement helps people keep moving when they might otherwise give up.

4. Invest in Growth

Hope is always forward-looking. When you help someone grow, you’re not just assigning tasks; you’re giving them a future. People thrive when they know they’re being developed, stretched and prepared for what’s next.

Gallup’s research ties hope directly to development and well-being. When people feel like they’re growing, they start to believe tomorrow is worth showing up for. When they don’t, they disengage. They plateau. They start looking for the exit.

Leadership isn’t just about getting work done. It’s about growing the people who do the work. And it doesn’t require a complicated plan. Sometimes it starts with a single, intentional step:

• An honest career conversation

• A stretch assignment that builds confidence

• A check-in that shows you care about more than results

When leaders invest in people’s growth, hope takes root.

Why Hopeful Leadership Matters

If these four practices sound simple, that’s because they are. But simple doesn’t mean easy. Many leaders get so caught up in the pressures of performance that they forget the people who deliver those results. They focus only on the “what”—the metrics, the outputs, the bottom line—and neglect the “how.”

And that’s the real test of leadership. People rarely remember what you accomplished. They will never forget how you made them feel along the way. Did you build trust? Did you show up when things got tough? Did you encourage them to keep going? Did you invest in their growth?

This is the essence of the How > What philosophy. Results matter, but the way you lead matters more. How you cast vision, how you build trust, how you encourage and how you invest in people determines whether they bring their best or hold back, whether they stay or leave, whether they hope or despair.

Gallup’s data makes the case clear. Employees crave hope more than anything else from their leaders. And the choice is yours.

Will you give them hype, or will you give them hope?

Featured image provided by PeopleImages / Shutterstock.com