Something executives and talent development leaders consistently comment is, “What’s next? How do we prepare our people?» And it’s understandable. Organizations are investing billions of dollars each year in training and leadership development, but many feel frustrated with what they’re seeing as outcomes. Is it effective? Why aren’t people changing?
Here’s what’s really happening: 23% of people worldwide report feeling lonely on a daily basis at work, according to Gallup. Meanwhile, nearly every organization now depends on technology that many leaders don’t use effectively or perhaps don’t even understand. We are trying to solve 21st-century problems with 20th-century solutions. No wonder it keeps missing the mark.
The era of annual leadership development retreats is over. No more week-long team-building sessions, connection games, and inspirational speakers. Not that these methods are ineffective, but they do not support the learning and growth necessary to prepare leaders for what’s coming next. The rules are being reshaped as technology, knowledge, AI, and information flow impact every aspect of our jobs.
What organizations need isn’t more training – it’s a fundamental shift in how we think about developing leaders. Instead of treating tech skills and people skills as separate boxes to check, we need leaders who can do both, simultaneously. When leaders actually understand how AI works, they can become better at explaining the “why” behind changes to their team and processes. Of course, through this understanding, these leaders do not need to become as adept as programmers, but they need to have enough curiosity to ask the right questions and provide context when everything feels chaotic.
But these dual capabilities can’t be built through traditional training methods. Leadership development must become embedded in the flow of work, in responding to challenges in the moments they arise. The days of wondering «how much time will I lose in training» end when learning becomes immediately applicable. Leaders facing a system challenge don’t need a full-day workshop. They need a 10-minute solution that they can apply while waiting in the car before school pickup. This just-in-time learning can help leaders scan, synthesize, and make sense of information from data, customers, and teams – which means they can get comfortable with dealing with uncertainty while directing others. These are the types of skills that will only compound with use over time, rather than fade after training events.
It is important to stress that this must occur in the environments where leaders actually work: hybrid teams that span contracts, locations, and time zones. We cannot expect leaders to take time out from their day-to-day of managing operational complexity – diverse employment arrangements, workflows, team effectiveness – to build skills and the authentic connections that combat isolation and drive performance. The goal isn’t just efficiency; it’s creating genuine community in an increasingly lonely world.
These shifts reinforce each other. Tech-savvy leaders with strong human skills learn more effectively through practical development, which enables them to create thriving hybrid communities. The question isn’t whether we need new leadership development – it’s whether organizations are ready to move beyond the annual retreat model to create leaders who can excel in whatever the future holds.
So what does this shift actually look like in practice?
Building Dual Capabilities
The need is clear: accelerating digital transformation, using AI, and enhancing data security and privacy. Nearly all organizational projects now depend on technology, yet it’s challenging to find leaders well-versed in tech. But we don’t actually need leaders with technology qualifications. We need leaders with tech curiosity, the willingness to learn how technology works, and how to use it effectively. We need “tech mentors” to guide those who find it more challenging (that’s where reverse mentoring comes into play). And more than AI knowledge, we need leaders to be context providers, so people have a clear understanding and vision of the “why” and “where.”
What organizations should look for are leaders who are tech-curious, future-focused, curious with a growth mindset, and comfortable with the uncomfortable. But here’s where most organizations get it wrong: they think tech fluency is enough. As technology takes center stage, leaders must remember to be human and prioritize their people. Many leaders are apprehensive about the rising expectations for authentic engagement and care for their teams’ personal lives and well-being, especially when we’re expecting more from people with smaller workforces. However, there’s a growing need to improve interpersonal skills to humanize leaders, helping them build connections and coach team members.
Even though conversations on this topic have been brewing for years, leaders remain uncomfortable with the expectations around expressing empathy, showing genuine interest in employees’ lives and wellness, or using AI to improve self-awareness, compassion, and wisdom. Yet, basic leadership competencies – like active listening, empathy, social and emotional intelligence, managing conflict, fostering inclusion beyond gender to include thought diversity – are more essential than ever. Leaders need to create high intellectual friction and low social friction, managing conflict and feedback exchange. The leaders who will thrive are those who can seamlessly blend tech curiosity with human connection, using technology to enhance their coaching conversations rather than replace them.
Learning that Sticks
Sadly, we are at a point where people default to wondering how much time they will lose when they hear about attending a training. Work speed has changed, we are asked to produce more with less time and fewer people.
People want something quick and to the point that they can apply immediately. We need to develop more digital content geared toward leaders’ specific challenges or hands-on learning that will bring change and growth on the job immediately. University-type lifelong learning is on the rise because it targets specific needs and provides experts from practice and academia, offering methodologies for problem-solving and a space for critical thinking. But organizations must listen to their leaders more carefully and understand the learning that meets business needs.
Too often, leaders find themselves waiting for permission or approval from others.
The danger of this approach is that we don’t allow space for reflection and group learning, which means organizations need to find different ways for people to connect and share learnings, not necessarily in a “training room.” The movement is toward quicker, more agile programs, on-the-job learning, involvement from top management, and time to actually implement the learnings and make them stick.
But this just-in-time learning must do more than solve the immediate problems. No matter whether we call it VUCA, BANI, TUNA, or any other trendy term, the ability to adapt to continuous change is crucial for all leaders, not just those in the C-suite. Leaders at every level need to navigate unpredictable landscapes with confidence, empowering their teams to tackle challenges head-on. They play a key role in creating value by gathering insights from data, customers, and their teams, which requires skills in scanning, synthesizing, and making sense of information. We genuinely need leaders who are both willing and capable of taking calculated risks. Too often, leaders find themselves waiting for permission or approval from others rather than embracing the authority they already have. They need to be comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. Most importantly, they need to provide confidence, clarity, and direction to their team, especially in dynamic situations. They don’t have to know every detail, but being able to share the reasoning and context behind decisions is key.
Creating Connection in a Distributed World
This trend existed even before the pandemic and will continue to evolve and impact organizational structures, teams, and how leaders manage their people. And as much as many CEOs ask people to come back to the office, you can’t avoid the truth: everybody wants and needs some flexibility. A comprehensive hybrid strategy for the long term involves more than just following a return-to-office policy. Leaders need to become adept facilitators of hybrid and remote work, considering the factors affecting where, when, how, and by whom work is performed.
The complex puzzle that leaders need to solve includes jobs and tasks across different contracts and locations, employee preferences, projects and workflows, team effectiveness, inclusion and fairness, and different ways of managing people and their performance. But here’s what makes this even more challenging: for many years, we have been leading increasingly lonely and isolated lives. As our social connections have diminished, so have our levels of happiness and mental well-being. And let’s be honest, that loneliness directly impacts performance, engagement, turnover, and even healthcare costs. In addition, digitizing our daily lives has made it a bit harder to enjoy those casual social interactions we all cherish.
Individualism has its merits; it fosters incentives, supports development, and encourages leadership, but it cannot thrive in isolation. Henry Mintzberg noted, “We are social animals who cannot effectively live without a social system that is larger than ourselves.» This was particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. The community serves as the adhesive that unites us for the common good – embodies a commitment to work, coworkers, and role, instilling inspiration.
Leaders must build genuine connections and relationships to foster authentic engagement and inclusion. They need to focus on purpose and explaining the why – it helps drive people in the same direction. This means building vulnerability-based trust, creating a culture that addresses real issues and strategic objectives, practicing human-centric leadership, and developing character-driven leadership based on humility, integrity, curiosity, courage, and humanity.
This isn’t just about fixing leadership development – it’s about creating leaders who can actually excel when everything keeps changing. That means blending tech curiosity with genuine human connection, learning on the job, and fostering real community.
© IE Insights.
