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Leadership and Management Inidicator > Top Card > 2026-QTR 3 [UPDATE]
Indicators

Leadership & Management

Key finding: Just 20% of U.S. employees strongly agree they trust the leadership of their organization; those who do are 3.7 times as likely to be engaged at work.

Gallup measures U.S. employees’ perceptions of their interactions with leaders and managers, as well as their experiences with performance management, to help leaders and managers more effectively lead their teams and organizations to greater success. Whether employees trust where the organization is headed and if they feel coached rather than managed are perceptions that shape day-to-day work far more than any org chart. When leaders and managers are trusted and inspirational, employees find meaning in their work, feel like part of the culture and perform better.

What We Measure

As of May 2026, 20% of U.S. employees said they trust the leadership of their organization.

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As of August 2025, 24% of U.S. employees strongly agreed they’re confident in their company’s financial future — down from 37% in 2018.

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As of August 2025, 16% of U.S. employees said the leadership of their company makes them enthusiastic about the future.

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Key Insight

Taking a closer look at inspiring enthusiasm for the future reveals a stark divide in engagement: 69% of employees who strongly agree their leaders make them enthusiastic about the future are engaged, but that figure drops to 1% engaged among those who disagree.

As of May 2026, 56% of managers were watching for or actively seeking a new job, 30% were engaged and 18% say they are very satisfied with their organization as a place to work.

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Key Takeaway

Managers are tasked with stabilizing teams through continued disruption, even as their own engagement and overall satisfaction have substantially declined and their intent to leave has increased. This is a critical vulnerability, as managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement.

According to the 2025 Gallup World Poll, 22% of managers are engaged at work.

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As of August 2025, 16% of U.S. employees think their organization’s leadership communicates effectively with the rest of the company.

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Key Insight

When employees strongly agree that the leadership of their organization communicates effectively with the rest of the organization, they are 61% less likely to feel burned out at work.

As of August 2025, 20% of U.S. employees strongly agreed that senior leaders set clear priorities for their organization.

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As of August 2025, one in five U.S. employees (20%) said their performance was managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work.

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As of May 2025, 23% of U.S. employees said they have a clear definition of what exceptional performance looks like in their role.

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As of August 2025, 22% of U.S. employees said they received meaningful feedback in the last week.

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Results for the Gallup poll of U.S. employees are based on self-administered web surveys of a random sample of adults who are aged 18 and older, working full time or part time for organizations in the United States, and members of the Gallup Panel. Gallup uses probability-based, random sampling methods to recruit its Panel members. Gallup weighted the obtained samples to correct for nonresponse. Nonresponse adjustments were made by adjusting the sample to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education and region. Demographic weighting targets were based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

In line charts on this webpage, Gallup labels data points with a year and month. Years that have only one data point labeled with the year and "Jan" (abbreviated for "January") reflect annual survey results. Years that have one data point labeled with a specific month besides January or that have multiple data points labeled with specific months reflect results obtained during the noted month(s). When Gallup’s survey field dates for one data point occur in more than one month, Gallup labels the data point with the ending month.

Manager employee engagement, overall satisfaction and intent to leave details on this page are based on the following:

  • Employee engagement:
    • The percentage of engaged managers is determined by Gallup’s Employee Engagement Index, based on Gallup Q12® survey items.
  • Overall satisfaction:
    • Survey item: How satisfied are you with your company as a place to work?
    • Response options: Scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being “extremely satisfied.”
  • Intent to leave:
    • Survey item: To what extent are you currently looking for a different job than the one you have now?
    • Response options, with Gallup using combined “actively looking” and “watching for opportunities” responses as “% Watching for or actively seeking new job” data:
      • I am actively looking for another job.
      • I am watching for opportunities, but not actively looking.
      • I am not looking for another job.
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Next Steps

How Does Your Workplace Compare?

Global and regional data tell a story — but the story of your organization is different. Check out the resources below for your next steps:

Develop leaders and managers at all levels. Explore Gallup's leadership development framework and learn more about how we can help build your company's leadership strength.

Learn More about building leadership strength

Lead like the best managers in the world. Discover the principles, tools and techniques taught in the Gallup Manager Program and learn how to coach employees to grow, thrive and win.

Find Out More about Leading like the Best Managers

Shift your focus to performance development. Learn more about our research on the power of embracing performance development over traditional performance management.

Reach Out to Us about performance management

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