The words nurturing and leadership are not often used together. Nurturing is seen as synonymous with the feminine quality of caregiving. Leadership is seen as masculine, calling to mind images of men leading other men in battlefields and across boardrooms.

Yet, this brand of leadership has not worked very well, especially in the post-pandemic world. Recent research by Gallup showed that employee engagement across the world in 2024 was at a 10-year low. GenZs want more holistic growth, better work-life integration and leaders who are authentic, caring and inclusive.

We interviewed 117 CEOs for our book, The Nurturing Quotient. The stories were similar. Leaders faced an unprecedented number of challenges at all levels — macroeconomic, operational, people-related and personal. CEOs faced the additional pressure of maintaining a façade of control and equanimity in times of crises. They were expected to deliver on numbers quickly even as they battled stress, intense public scrutiny, personal crises and the danger of constant disruption.

The solution is not to do more of the same, but to do things differently. Leaders are not commanders of obedience but gardeners of potential. Nurturing leadership, measured by NQ or nurturing........

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