The Death (and Rebirth) of Leadership Development

Yesterday, someone on LinkedIn posted a satirical obituary for Leadership Development.
It was funny, but it wasn’t wrong.

The old model of leadership development is changing. For decades, companies invested heavily in experiences that looked good on paper, but didn’t have a sustainability plan, and rarely changed how leaders actually showed up at work.

and… a pandemic that changed everything about how work, impacted this too.

The stats now say that only 11% of CEOs believe their leadership development efforts are having the desired impact (McKinsey). Deloitte found that while organizations spend billions annually on leadership training, over 70% of leaders don’t feel prepared for the challenges of the future.
The thing is, its critical.
Gallup reports that managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement , and they aren’t prepared to lead people.

In other words: leadership development, as we knew it, isn’t working.

What’s emerging instead…

What’s replacing the old model isn’t smaller. It’s bigger, bolder, and more human.

1. Connection

Belonging, psychological safety, and trust are no longer “soft skills.” They’re business imperatives.
Harvard research shows that teams with high trust outperform others by 50%. Google’s Project Aristotle found that psychological safety was the single biggest predictor of team success.

When people feel seen, heard, and connected, they don’t just show up, they thrive and succeed.

2. Human Fluency

In an AI-powered world, what will set leaders apart is not technical expertise alone. It’s their fluency with people.

• Empathy

• Adaptability

• Listening

• Navigating ambiguity

These aren’t buzzwords. They’re survival skills.
As the World Economic Forum predicts, by 2030, two-thirds of all jobs will require advanced “human” skills like communication, leadership, and collaboration.

Can we say this is going to be the beginning of something better???

Maybe “Leadership Development” as we knew it is gone.
(I mean really, of course its not)
But what’s emerging is more meaningful.

It’s about helping people be real with one another, building cultures of trust, and equipping leaders with the human fluency to lead in times of constant change and disruption.

This isn’t the end.
It’s the rebirth of leadership, grounded not in programs, but in people.

Check out the full article at my Substack.