When the Leadership Playbook No Longer Works

Today we take on leadership models—and ask whether we may be putting far too much faith in them.

Thirty years ago, leaders watched and emulated GE CEO Jack Welch, following his leadership formula chapter and verse. His approach was studied, taught, copied, and widely held up as a model for how great organizations should be led. Today, much of what seemed like enduring leadership wisdom from that era feels remarkably dated—and some of it downright absurd.

And Welch is hardly alone. Leadership history is littered with models, formulas, and “best practices” that once seemed unquestionably right, only to lose their relevance as the world around them changed.

Which brings us to AI. We are entering a period of extraordinary change where none of us really knows what organizations, work, or leadership will look like even a few years from now. If the world is changing faster than our leadership models can keep up, what sense does it make to keep creating them?

Maybe the answer isn’t another model at all.

In this episode, we push beyond the familiar leadership playbook and offer a few out-of-the-box ideas about what leadership might need to become in a world that refuses to stand still. Some may challenge what we’ve been teaching leaders for years.

And maybe that’s exactly the point.