James Bond vs. Harry Potter: Two visions of leadership are colliding in today’s workplace.
For many CEOs, leadership was defined by heroes like James Bond—the powerful, resourceful figure who faced challenges with control, confidence, and all the right tools to succeed.
But today’s workforce is inspired by Harry Potter—a generation that sees courage in loyalty, collaboration, and standing together.
The divide between these leadership worlds couldn’t be clearer.
For decades, heroes—on screen and in life—embodied solitary strength. They charged into battle alone, made the hard calls, and wore their stoicism like armor. Think of James Bond’s unshakable resolve, John Wayne’s grit, or the early superheroes, defined by their power more than their humanity. Leadership was about control, invincibility, and results at all costs.
Today’s heroes look different. They lead with vulnerability, empathy, and connection. They collaborate, they listen, and they build others up. Captain America in Avengers: Endgame gives up his shield, choosing connection over titles. Harry Potter leads not through brute force, but with courage, loyalty, and the strength of his friendships—inspiring others to stand together. And Encanto’s Mirabel saves her family not with power, but through empathy, listening, and understanding.
This shift in storytelling reflects something deeper: the evolution of leadership itself. As we navigate a world shaped by technology, distributed teams, and changing employee expectations, leadership is being redefined. What were once dismissed as “soft skills”—empathy, authenticity, and kindness—are now recognized as “power skills,” essential for building trust, driving results, and creating workplaces where people thrive.
Power Skills: The Leadership Superpowers We Need
The rebranding of soft skills to power skills, highlighted in Udemy’s 2022 Workplace Learning Trends Report, marks an important turning point where human-centric skills are emerging as the real differentiators. The reasons are clear. Technology can automate tasks, but it can’t replace connection. Hybrid and remote work models demand leaders who can foster trust and belonging across distances. And employees, particularly younger generations, are demanding more from their leaders: authenticity, values-driven decision-making, and a commitment to shared purpose.
Leadership is being redefined—not by titles, but by the expectations of those being led. It’s no longer about the lone hero; it’s about building human-centered cultures where people feel seen, valued, and inspired. Leadership, at its best, is kind.
We don’t often think of kind and leadership in the same sentence. But Ian Sandler, co-founder of Riley’s Way and the managing director and chief operating officer of Insight Partners, reminds us of an old truth: people join organizations but leave managers. People and relationships are at the heart of successful leadership. Sandler’s dual perspective makes his insight compelling. As co-founder of Riley’s Way Foundation, he envisions a future where kind leaders build a better world. As the managing director and chief operating officer of Insight Partners, he applies those same principles in the high-stakes world of private equity.
Sandler shares that today’s young workforce seeks authenticity and community. They want to work for organizations that make them proud, contribute to their communities, and give them space to align purpose with profession. They want to go to a place that actually has ideas on how they’re going to make their community better. They want to know how they’ll have time to do the things that provide them with purpose, how they’re going to be able to marry that with their vocation.
Sandler emphasizes that leaders must create cultural ties that make organizations a place where talented young people want to build their careers and their identities. The goal isn’t just to attract them—it’s to give them space to grow and thrive. Because ultimately, when you hire great people, it’s much easier and much better for your organization to give them room to run and to develop than it is to lose them after two or three or four years and have to replace them.
The Future of Leadership: From Heroes to Humans
The shift from soft to power skills isn’t just semantic. For too long, kindness and empathy were seen as incompatible with decisive, tough leadership. Sandler explains that kind leadership is not about avoiding hard decisions; it’s about handling them with empathy and integrity. It means being transparent, ensuring people feel respected, and showing care even in difficult moments—like letting someone go.
This approach aligns with research from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), which identifies empathy as a critical leadership trait. Leaders with high levels of empathy excel at understanding others’ perspectives and responding with compassion—skills essential for navigating today’s diverse, interconnected workplaces. Whether managing across teams, departments, or cultures, empathy fosters collaboration and trust. CCL’s findings reveal that managers rated as empathetic by their teams were also recognized as high performers by their own leaders. These leaders don’t just retain talent; they strengthen relationships and cultivate workplaces where employees thrive.
The stories we tell reflect the leaders we need. From Sandler’s kind leadership to research-backed insights on empathy, one truth emerges: humanity is the new leadership superpower. In a world shaped by technology and distributed work, leaders must balance efficiency with authenticity and care. Employees no longer work because they have to, because you tell them to, or because you measure them on it. They work because they want to. Because working for you is their way of achieving their purpose in life.
The leadership heroes they grew up on were not those who act alone, but those who empower others. They lead with power skills—kindness, empathy, and authenticity—that create cultures of trust and belonging. And so they expect the same of you.