Leadership Isn’t Failing, It’s Running Outdated Software
By Audrey Valdez
We keep asking why employees are disengaged.
Why stress is rising.
Why leaders are burning out.
But maybe the better question is:
What if the problem isn’t the people?
What if the problem is the program we’re still using to lead them?
Outdated computer
Let’s start with a few stats that hit hard:
📉 Only 23% of employees globally are engaged at work
📉 Just 21% trust their leadership
📉 76% of U.S. workers report at least one symptom of a mental health condition
📉 Burnout remains a top driver of resignation—especially for women, BIPOC employees, and caregivers
📉 Loneliness is now a public health crisis (comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day!!)
(Sources: Gallup, Mind Share Partners, U.S. Surgeon General, McKinsey)
These aren’t just numbers.
They’re stories.
They’re snapshots of people (our people) navigating systems that weren’t built for them.
And here’s the kicker:
We keep trying to shape the leaders of tomorrow using playbooks that barely worked yesterday.
Command-and-control
Obey-before-you-speak
Conform-to-belong
Most leadership structures still operate like a military drill or a factory floor. That might’ve made sense in the Gilded Age, or maybe the Industrial Revolution… But we’re leading in an era shaped by trauma, tech, and collective fatigue.
Let’s be real: We’re handing people leadership roles with half a script, no safety net, and a roadmap written for a world that no longer exists.
And the result?
Disconnection
Micromanagement
Good people quitting quietly, or loudly.
I’ve worked inside organizations across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. And I’ve watched brilliant, hard-working humans break under the weight of systems that never taught them how to lead, only how to comply.
I don’t believe leadership needs a rebrand. I believe leadership needs a rebuild.
That’s why I’m here.
Not to sell you a quick fix.
Not to hand you a list of “5 things great leaders do before breakfast.”
But to ask the deeper questions that might actually move us forward.
Because if we change nothing and expect different results…well, you’ve heard how that story ends.
So let’s start with this:
What’s a leadership trait you’ve seen used to de-escalate conflict and build real trust?
And what’s a leadership trait that evaporated the trust out of the room faster than a vacuum chamber in space?
Let’s stop recycling legacy leadership models and start building something worthy of the people we lead.