Sydney—According to a new global DDI report, Leadership Forecast 2005, Australia's top leadership talent have higher expectations placed upon them and are forced to do more with fewer resources. The report reveals that nearly half of all leaders (45 per cent) and more than a third of HR professionals (38 per cent) believe that people expect too much of senior leaders.

According to Dr. Bruce Watt, Managing Director, DDI Australia, today's leaders are under intense public scrutiny. "Against a backdrop of high profile ethical and accounting blunders and unmet performance expectations, senior leaders in Australia and overseas now find themselves firmly under the public microscope. With this scrutiny comes greater pressure that often leads to executive turnover and/or drop out."

"The message to Australian organisations is clear. If we don't do more to support our existing leaders and nurture our future leaders, we are likely to face a significant shortfall in leadership talent in the future", Dr. Watt said.

The DDI Leadership Forecast 2005 is the fourth benchmark study DDI has conducted. Leadership Forecast 2005 considered the attitudes of 4,559 leaders and 944 HR representatives from 42 countries around the world, including around 630 leaders and 110 HR representatives from more than 130 Australian organisations. This latest research provides further insight into current demands on all levels of leadership in Australia.

Other key findings include:

1. The impact of pressure on leaders: Almost one in four leaders (24 per cent) have considered giving up their leadership positions. The most common reasons for wanting to "drop out" of leadership positions include a desire to redirect efforts toward other personal goals (30 per cent); a desire to redirect efforts toward other career goals (24 per cent); and a feeling that they are expected to do and accomplish too much (20 per cent).

2. Organisational support and the changing role of leaders: Talent management has become a priority for leaders with about 66 per cent of leaders rating this issue a key business priority. This compares with just 44 per cent in 2001. Despite this shift in focus, Australian organisations are still providing little support or structured preparation for their leadership talent. Only 40 per cent of Australian leaders believe their organisation provides them with the things they need to develop while almost half (47 per cent) of all leaders surveyed are dissatisfied with current leadership development offerings. Lastly, on a scale of 1-10 Australian HR managers rated their organisation's succession management practices as 4.4.

3. The impact of work-life balance: One in four (25 per cent) Australian leaders do not have an acceptable level of work-life balance. Of those within this group, only 15 per cent feel they have control of work-life balance. While Australian leaders are shown to have a better work-life balance when compared to leaders overseas, the average Australian leader works 51 hours per week.

"While the results indicate aspirations for leadership are relatively strong, there is undoubtedly a substantial subset that wonders if it is all worth it. In today's high-pressure work environment, it is imperative that organisations put in place a range of practices to better support their leaders. This may include better work-life balance initiatives, improved support structures and most importantly effective leadership development initiatives that prepare nurture and retain leadership talent. In the end this will benefit both individuals and the organisations involved," Dr. Bruce Watt added.