In The Connected Generation, a recent Barna study conducted in partnership with World Vision, data show that young adults face some unique headwinds on their road to becoming effective leaders. When we take time to listen—an essential practice for connecting with 18–35-year-olds—we hear a sense of unease about the future and uncertainty about the kind of leaders that could make a difference.

Part of it is the underlying sense of anxiety that permeates many societies today. For good reason, the connected generation perceives deep, wide, systemic problems facing the world’s future. Four out of five affirm—and nearly half strongly affirm—that “society is facing a crisis of leadership because there are not enough good leaders right now” (82%). This is one of the most widely endorsed statements in the entire global survey, which suggests its significance to this generation. In addition, one-third believes that “what it takes to be an effective leader seems to be changing.”

Spheres of Leadership Barna asked young adults in what areas of their life they exercise some level of leadership. Nearly half say they are a leader in their family, and one-third feels like a leader in their workplace or elsewhere, such as a church or government. We group the latter into a category called “leaders outside the home,” who are half of all respondents (51%); one in five is a “family-only leader” (19%), meaning they select family as their only sphere of leadership.

Three in 10 young adults do not now (8%) or have never (22%) considered themselves to be a leader; we call them “non-leaders,” since that’s what they call themselves. Given that male leadership has been the rule of thumb for most of human history, more young women (35%) than young men (26%) are non-leaders. (Relatedly, 57 percent of family-only leaders are women, and women are more likely than men to see gender inequality as a challenge to leadership, 35% vs. 24%.)