AI Isn't Creating a New Leadership Problem. It's Holding Up a Mirror.

AI isn't creating a new leadership problem. It's holding a mirror up to the one that was already there.

Maria Ross' piece in Forbes is worth your time. But here's what I see sitting underneath it, working with leaders every day: the behaviours AI is now exposing-low trust, weak collaboration, a reluctance to admit what you don't know-were always quietly limiting teams. The machine just made them impossible to ignore.

The Gap Was Already There

My take on top of her article: these aren't new skills to develop. Empathy, self-awareness, trust, collaboration-these were always advanced practice. AI is accelerating how urgently leaders need them. It didn't invent the gap. It revealed it.

The Two Camps I See in Coaching

In my coaching work, I see two camps right now.

Some leaders don't yet realize this shift is already happening to them. Awareness is the first and most important step.

Others feel it-that quiet sense the old playbook is failing but the new one is still blank.

What Both Camps Need

Both need the same thing: an honest look at where the real gaps are, and a concrete development plan to close them.

If that describes where you are, or someone you lead, this is exactly the work I do.

Reference: [Maria Ross, Forbes - Your Leadership Playbook Won't Work In The Age Of AI](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mariaross/2026/06/01/your-leadership-playbook-wont-work-in-the-age-of-ai/)