⚠️ Leadership Self-Assessment
10 Signs Your Leadership Style Is Stuck in the Past
The workplace has fundamentally changed. If your leadership approach hasn’t evolved with it, you’re not just falling behind — you’re actively pushing your best people out the door.
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A note from Nelson
“I’ve managed teams for years, and I’ve had to unlearn more than I’ve learned. The leadership style that worked five years ago doesn’t work today. AI, remote work, and changing expectations have rewritten the rules. The managers who thrive now are the ones willing to evolve.”
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: what made you successful as a leader in the past might be making you ineffective today.
According to Gartner’s 2025 research, 85% of HR leaders believe their leadership development programs are outdated. Traditional authoritative and hierarchical styles are no longer valid in a world where collaboration, AI fluency, and employee wellbeing have become competitive advantages.
The good news? Recognising outdated patterns is the first step to evolving. This guide will help you identify 10 warning signs that your leadership style needs an upgrade — and show you exactly how modern leaders operate differently.
The Leadership Evolution: 2025-2026 Data
The evidence is clear: leadership is undergoing a fundamental transformation. McKinsey’s research shows that the most effective leaders in 2025 lead from the centre, not the top — embracing humility, shared ownership, and collaborative transformation. Forbes identifies AI fluency as one of the top five leadership skills of 2025. Meanwhile, SHRM’s 2026 State of the Workplace report reveals that 46% of CHROs cite leadership development as their #1 priority — for the second consecutive year. The message is consistent: adapt your leadership style or watch your best people leave.
Sources: Gartner 2025, McKinsey 2025, Forbes 2025, SHRM 2026 State of the Workplace
Not sure where you stand?
Take our leadership style quiz to discover your natural approach — and where you might need to adapt.
Take the Free Quiz →⚠️ The 10 Warning Signs
1
You Still Believe “Knowledge Is Power”
Hoarding information to maintain control
Old-school managers kept information close to their chest. They believed that being the gatekeeper of knowledge made them indispensable. But in 2026, this approach backfires spectacularly. When you hoard information, you create bottlenecks, slow down decisions, and breed distrust.
❌ Stuck in the Past
“They don’t need to know the why, just the what. I’ll share information on a need-to-know basis.”
✓ Modern Approach
“Transparency builds trust. I share context freely so my team can make better decisions without me.”
2
You Measure Presence, Not Output
Equating hours in the office with productivity
If you still judge performance by who arrives first and leaves last, you’re using a metric that died with the fax machine. Gartner’s research shows 68% of employees report a lack of leadership visibility in remote environments — but the solution isn’t forcing everyone back to the office. It’s learning to manage outcomes, not attendance.
❌ Stuck in the Past
“I need to see them working to know they’re working. If you’re not at your desk, how do I know you’re productive?”
✓ Modern Approach
“I set clear deliverables and deadlines. I don’t care when or where the work happens — I care that it gets done well.”
🤖 Try this AI prompt
“Help me create an outcome-based performance framework for my team. I want to measure results rather than hours worked. Include 5 key metrics that focus on quality and impact, not just activity. My team’s main responsibilities are [describe responsibilities].”
“The best leaders don’t create followers. They create more leaders.”
3
You Think AI Is “Not My Job”
Delegating technology to IT
Forbes identifies AI fluency as one of the top five leadership skills of 2025. Yet many managers still think of AI as something the tech team handles. This is a critical blind spot. IMD research shows that in 2026, the most successful organisations will treat AI not as a technology race but as a management revolution. Leaders who can’t leverage AI will be left behind.
❌ Stuck in the Past
“AI is a tech thing. IT handles that. I focus on managing people.”
✓ Modern Approach
“I actively explore how AI can help my team work smarter. I test tools myself before asking my team to adopt them.”
4
You Wait for Annual Reviews to Give Feedback
Saving up praise and criticism for scheduled meetings
Gen Z are most likely to quit over poor communication. Millennials are most likely to quit due to lack of recognition. Both generations expect ongoing feedback, not once-a-year performance theatre. BambooHR’s 2025 research shows 72% of employees say their boss’s feedback directly helped them progress — but only when it’s timely and consistent.
❌ Stuck in the Past
“We’ll discuss your performance at your annual review. I keep notes throughout the year.”
✓ Modern Approach
“Feedback happens in real-time. I give specific recognition within 24 hours and address issues before they become patterns.”
🤖 Try this AI prompt
“Create a weekly feedback template I can use for each team member. Include prompts for: one thing they did well this week, one area for growth, and one question to understand their challenges. Keep it conversational, not formal.”
5
You Think Vulnerability Is Weakness
Hiding struggles to appear strong
Korn Ferry’s 2025 survey found that 43% of senior executives struggle with imposter syndrome. The old playbook said leaders should never show uncertainty. The new reality? Teams trust leaders who are honest about what they don’t know. Vulnerability creates psychological safety — and psychological safety drives innovation.
❌ Stuck in the Past
“Leaders need to project confidence at all times. If I show doubt, I’ll lose their respect.”
✓ Modern Approach
“I’m honest when I don’t have the answers. I say ‘I don’t know, but let’s figure it out together.’ It builds trust.”
“Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.”
6
You Resist “That’s Not How We Do Things”
Shutting down new ideas by default
Nothing kills innovation faster than “we’ve always done it this way.” In a world where 40% of enterprise applications will integrate AI agents by 2026 (Gartner), clinging to old processes isn’t just inefficient — it’s career-limiting. Modern leaders embrace change fitness as a core capability.
❌ Stuck in the Past
“This process has worked for years. Why fix what isn’t broken?”
✓ Modern Approach
“Let’s test it. I’d rather fail fast on a small experiment than miss a major opportunity.”
7
You See Delegation as “Losing Control”
Keeping important work close to your chest
Micromanagement is the most annoying trait employees report about their managers (GoodHire 2025). But many managers don’t realise they’re doing it. If you’re the bottleneck for every decision, if your team can’t function when you’re on holiday, you haven’t delegated — you’ve just assigned tasks while keeping all the authority.
❌ Stuck in the Past
“I’ll handle the important stuff. They can do the routine work.”
✓ Modern Approach
“I delegate ownership, not just tasks. My goal is to make myself less essential, not more.”
🤖 Try this AI prompt
“Audit my calendar and task list for the past month. Help me identify which activities only I should be doing (strategic decisions, external relationships) versus which could be delegated to develop my team. My direct reports have these skill levels: [describe team].”
Leadership Skills for New Managers
The 7 essential skills and a 90-day plan for your first leadership role
8
You Ignore Employee Wellbeing
Treating burnout as a personal problem
DDI’s research shows 72% of leaders feel “used up” at the end of the day — a 12% increase from 2020. If managers themselves are burning out, imagine what their teams are experiencing. Modern leadership requires treating wellbeing as a business metric, not a “nice to have.”
❌ Stuck in the Past
“Work-life balance is their responsibility. I expect them to manage their own stress.”
✓ Modern Approach
“I actively monitor workload, model sustainable habits, and normalise conversations about capacity and boundaries.”
“The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas can happen.”
9
You Lead from the Top, Not the Centre
Command-and-control hierarchy
McKinsey’s 2025 research is clear: the most effective leaders in 2025 lead from the centre, not the top. This means embracing humility, shared ownership, and becoming a connector rather than a commander. Servant leadership isn’t soft — it’s the approach that drives the highest engagement and retention.
❌ Stuck in the Past
“I make the decisions. That’s what I’m paid for. The team executes.”
✓ Modern Approach
“I facilitate decisions, remove blockers, and ask ‘what do you need from me?’ more than ‘what have you done?'”
10
You Stopped Learning
Coasting on past experience
Harvard Business School’s 2026 research calls it “change fitness” — the ability to continuously adapt and learn. In Brazil, 92% of workers say learning opportunities are a key reason they stay with their organisation (Korn Ferry). If you’ve stopped actively developing your own skills, you’re signalling to your team that growth doesn’t matter.
❌ Stuck in the Past
“I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I know what works.”
✓ Modern Approach
“I block time weekly for learning. I share what I’m reading and experimenting with openly.”
🤖 Try this AI prompt
“Create a personalised 30-day leadership development plan for me. Focus on skills that matter in 2026: AI fluency, adaptive leadership, and emotional intelligence. I can dedicate 30 minutes per day. Suggest specific articles, exercises, or experiments for each week.”
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
📋 Quick Self-Assessment
- Do you share context and reasoning, not just instructions?
- Can your team function effectively when you’re on holiday?
- Have you personally used AI tools in your workflow this month?
- Do you give feedback within 24 hours of observing behaviour?
- When did you last admit “I don’t know” to your team?
- Do you measure output and impact, not hours worked?
- Have you tested a new process or tool in the past quarter?
- Do you actively discuss workload and capacity with your team?
- Do you ask “what do you need?” more than “what have you done?”
- What’s the last thing you learned that changed how you lead?
💡 The Evolution Mindset
Recognising these patterns in yourself isn’t failure — it’s growth. Every leader has blind spots. The best ones actively hunt for theirs and work to address them. Start with one area. Make one change. Then build from there.
Discover Your Leadership Style
Take our free quiz to understand your natural approach — and how to evolve it for the modern workplace.
Take the Quiz →How to Improve Leadership Skills
17 research-backed strategies to develop as a leader
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