Present State
Today’s organizations face many challenges. From the constant change needed by organizations due to the growing skills shortage, growing multicultural and aging workforce, the debate on working remote or on site, and the growth of AI in the workplace. With these challenges comes the need for effective leadership, not just management.
Today many workers are longing for meaning, purpose, happiness, autonomy, and mastery. They expect leaders to care for them as humans in a workplace, not just as another worker that can be downsized, rightsized, outsourced, or marginalized. People work in order to provide for themselves and their families. Many pursue careers to make this a reality. Ultimately, while there are those who love their job, most are working to live and not the other way around.
Leader’s Dilemma
Those who are in a leadership role have much responsibility. However, let’s not forget they too are humans trying to do the right thing in a managerial role. There has been much written about those in management experiencing the imposter syndrome. As many as 43% of senior executives and 71% of CEOs have been found to experience this. They may get that feeling when they feel they do not have the answer or are not sure if or how their strategy will work for the viability of the organization.
These are the same leaders that are responsible for creating a healthy organizational culture. One where the workforce feels heard, that their managers do care for them and are empathetic and compassionate. Where having a multi-cultural and multi-generational workforce is seen as a value add and not some “woke” mentality. The culture is one where psychological safety is felt so they can be innovative and creative in a time where this is needed so that the organization can gain a competitive advantage.
These human dynamics integrating in organizations across the globe will advance some and slow down others as they look to address them. These concepts and issues are still referred to as soft skills or “touchy-feely” stuff. I believe these are really the hard skills that continue to impact organizational effectiveness and productivity. Last year, employee engagement fell, costing the world economy $438 billion in lost productivity due to management engagement (Gallup, State of Global Workplace, 2025).
State of Management
Today 71% of leaders report stress and 40% have considered stepping down (DDI Global Forecast, 2025). This is probably why it has been found that 72% of Gen Z is saying no to management or as it has become known as “Conscious Un-bossing”.
Yet it is estimated that $60 billion is invested in leadership development. When 86% of those in leadership consider themselves an inspiration and good example yet 82% of employees disagreed. When executives gave worker well-being a lower ranking than the workers themselves.
We know when managers are engaged, employees are more engaged (Gallup, State of Global Workplace, 2024). When they create a psychologically safe environment, the workforce is more engaged. That happy employees are less sick, more loyal, and more productive. That inclusive workplaces lead to increased engagement, retention, and reduced burnout. The bottom line these good practices lead to organizational effectiveness, increased customer satisfaction, and positive financial returns.
With so much research and findings in Great Place to Work organizations, why the disconnect? The 100 Best Workplaces experience 8.5x greater revenue per employee (Fortune 100 Best Place to Work, 2025). What is missing or not being purposely enabled in organizations with those in management in order to address these continual issues that have plagued the human workforce for decades?
Focus on Leaders & Managers
I believe it starts with those in management. As the saying goes when one is receiving instructions on a plane before take-off. Put your mask on first before you help someone else. Organizations need to focus their development investment of their managerial team in a better way. While I have seen and been part of many leadership development efforts, I believe it has been incomplete.
First, there needs to be focused help, guidance, and coaching for those in management, from the CEO to the front-line supervisor to better understand their role as one in a leadership capacity. Most were tapped for this managerial capacity because of what they did in their previous role in achieving the department objectives, whether as an individual contributor or in a lower management role.
What they don’t realize, or no one has pointed out to them is the multi-role that they will play. That when they step into their role, they step into a celebrity role. I say this because the spotlight is on them. Everyone is watching to see if what they say coincides with their actions and if their actions are effective leadership behaviors.
They play a quasi-psychologist because just like they may be dealing with their own imposter syndrome, insecurities, personal/family issues, the stress of the day, and interaction with others, those on their team are too, especially when they are interacting with them.
They play a quasi-sociologist role due to the team dynamics they create and support. Are they sure they are not favoring some over others and not capitalizing on the strength of their diverse team and ensuring they are creating an inclusive environment?
Last, they play a quasi-anthropologist. Because they create an organizational or department environment and in turn culture. As they say, organizational/department culture is a reflection of leadership.
Car-wash Syndrome
While it has been estimated that over $60 billion is invested in leadership development, I believe it might be short-sighted at times. What I have seen is the need to ensure all in a managerial capacity are trained to be better leaders. Once this is done, then the organization is on to the next big project. I call this the “car-wash syndrome”. If you take a car through a car wash while it is raining, when it comes out it will be dirty again.
The same can happen with a manager trained in new expected leadership behaviors. If the system does not support the change, it is a wasted effort. What I believe needs to happen is once managers are trained on the new leadership behaviors, they need to be held accountable, rewarded, and coached for what they learned and what is expected from them.
Taking a Systemic and Holistic Approach
In other words, a systemic approach needs to be taken. This can include Executive Coaching for those needing help with the new leadership expectations. Leaders should also be trained on how to coach their teams, vs just ordering and telling others what to do. There should be a 360 feedback mechanism in place for leaders so they can continue to receive feedback and coaching as to the new leader’s behaviors. As part of their reward system, part of the Executive and Management Compensation should be aligned with the new leader’s behaviors. As they say, what gets measured gets done.
Put your mask on First
Last, there should be education for them to take care of themselves. Whether this be mindfulness training, a reduction in the number of meetings, or a better focus on their health. This can lead them to role model for their teams. In essence, those in a leadership role are human first before and after their title. Let’s help them, take care of themselves.
From a neuroscience and NeuroLeadership perspective, we’ve learned that our brains need a leader who creates a safe environment. A leader who communicates well facilitates understanding and enables clarity to minimize misunderstanding. Those in a leadership role also need their leader to model these behaviors.
Taking a holistic and systemic approach for leaders can lead to creating better human experiences in the workplace. Which has turned out to positively impact revenue and outperform even S&P 500 companies (IBM White Paper on Human-Centered Organizations).
In summary, in an effort to create an engaging workplace organizations should consider taking a systemic and holistic approach, particularly for those in a leadership role.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edwin Mourin᷁o – Ruiz, Ph.D.
Dr. Edwin Mouriño is an Air Force veteran, author, Human Capital, and DEI practitioner and speaker. As a human capital practitioner, Dr. Mouriño’s focus has been on helping leaders and organizations help themselves. He is an experienced professional with many years of leading and/or supporting key elements of organizational change projects. Dr. Mouriño is an Air Force veteran who began his career in Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as a graduate of the DOD-Defense Equal Opportunity & Management Institute (DEOMI) and has also been a speaker.
He brings broad industry experience that includes Fortune 100 companies. He is the founder and president of Human Intelligent (HI) Workplace, an organization focused on helping leaders help themselves through leadership, team development, and executive coaching. He has been and continues to serve as a college professor. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Conference Board on the DEI and Leadership Steering Committees.
He has extensive experience and thought leadership on Human Capital issues and supported organizational change efforts through Leadership Development, DEI, Executive Coaching, Team Development, Executive Retreats, Personality Assessments, and Organizational Change. He has spoken at numerous professional venues and written numerous articles on human capital trends impacting organizations, specifically addressing DE, and is the author and co-editor of several books.
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