What Drives Organisational Performance: Data from 10,000 Leaders

When McKinsey surveyed more than 10,000 leaders across 15 countries for its State of Organizations 2026, the data kept pointing to the same place. What drives organisational performance isn't another restructure — it's people, leadership, and the quality of everyday conversations.

Reflective leaders perform

Leaders who regularly examine how they think and decide are nearly twice as confident their organisations can adapt quickly to change (30% versus 17%). And leadership development doesn't just help — McKinsey found it doubles the success rate of organisational transformations. This is what coaching builds: the self-awareness and clarity that change how a leader shows up in every room.

Structure won't save you — how people work together will

Two-thirds of leaders say their organisations are too complex, yet restructures and cost-cuts deliver diminishing returns. What shifts performance is how work flows across teams: clarity, accountability, trust, and honest conversations instead of polite ones. Organisations that invest equally in people and performance are 4.3 times more likely to sustain top-tier results.

The conversation gap is a performance gap

77% of employees who have regular development conversations feel motivated — against just 21% who don't. When leaders at every level know how to coach, the impact compounds across thousands of better conversations every week.

That's the work we do at Gram — coaching leaders, building high-performing teams, and developing coaching capability — not because it's trending, but because the evidence keeps showing it's what works.

Frequently asked questions

What does McKinsey say drives organisational performance?

Its State of Organizations 2026 (10,000+ leaders) points to people and leadership — reflective leaders, trust and accountability between teams, and the quality of everyday conversations — over restructures.

Does leadership development actually improve results?

McKinsey found leadership development doubles the success rate of organisational transformations, and reflective leaders are nearly twice as confident in adapting to change.

Why do development conversations matter so much?

77% of employees who have regular development conversations feel motivated, versus 21% who don't — so building coaching capability lifts performance at scale.