The Leadership Crisis No One Wants to Admit
December 2025 Blog
Let me be blunt: your organization is probably being held hostage by mediocre leaders right now. And the cost? It's not just money—it's human potential, innovation, and the mental health of your workforce.
I've lived this pain. I've watched talented people wither under incompetent leadership. I've seen entire teams demoralized by bosses who mistake control for competence. This isn't theoretical—it's the daily reality for millions of workers who dread Monday mornings.
The Uncomfortable Math of Leadership Failure
Here's my estimate based on three decades of working with organizations: 10% of leaders are excellent, 50% are good, 30% are poor, and 10% are terrible. That means 40% of your workforce reports to someone who ranges from inadequate to actively harmful.
Think about that. Four out of ten employees wake up every day and report to a leader who diminishes rather than develops them.
The Two Faces of Leadership Failure
Bad leaders come in two flavors:
The willfully ignorant — They have no interest in improving. Their "style is their style," and you need to "deal with it." These leaders often possess what the ancient Greeks called hubris—excessive pride that blinds them to their own deficiencies.
The well-intentioned incompetent — They want to be better but lack the skills, feedback, or support to transform.
Here's what makes this so insidious: bad leaders often still get results. They wield positional power like a cudgel. They manipulate with carrots and sticks. In the short term, fear and control can drive performance metrics. But Zenger Folkman's research of 125,000 leaders reveals the truth: leaders in the bottom percentile consistently produce the poorest long-term results.
The Awareness Gap
The question that haunts me: Do they know?
Do terrible leaders understand the wake of damage they leave behind? The anxiety they create. The talent they drive away. The innovation they suffocate.
My experience suggests most don't. At least not fully. Not until they receive unflinching feedback—perhaps through a 360-degree assessment that strips away their delusions.
If you know a leader drowning in their own incompetence, do something about it. Send me their name. I'll reach out confidentially. The only thing worse than working for a poor leader is enabling their dysfunction by staying silent.
Why This Matters More Now Than Ever
The post-pandemic world has fundamentally altered the leadership equation. The old playbook is obsolete.
Consider what's changed:
Psychological safety is paramount — Employees' mental and emotional needs aren't perks; they're prerequisites
Flexibility has become non-negotiable — Work/life balance now trumps almost everything else
Engagement requires sophistication — You can't command it; you must cultivate it
Retention is existential — Replacing talent has become monumentally expensive and difficult
Effort is redefined — Work ethic is less about hours logged and more about outcomes delivered
Good leadership is no longer good enough. You need extraordinary leadership, and you need it throughout your organization.
The 2X Difference
Zenger Folkman's research reveals something remarkable: extraordinary leaders and their teams create 2X the profit compared to average leaders. They achieve this through measurably higher levels of employee effort, customer satisfaction, sales revenue, and employee engagement.
Two times. Double. Not 10% better. Not 25% better. Twice the results.
Yet most "good" leaders remain satisfied with being merely good. Why? Because meaningful improvement demands months of focused energy. Most managers convince themselves they don't have time to develop leadership skills.
I understand the excuse. I reject it entirely.
The Complexity Trap
Leadership has never been more demanding. Great leaders must now flex their style for each team member, peer, and executive. You can't "wing it" anymore. Leadership requires the kind of focused concentration that elite athletes bring to their craft.
But here's the paradox: every great leader has a unique style. The extraordinary ones blend their authentic personality with refined leadership skills. They become so proficient in their strengths that people choose to follow them—not because they have to, but because they want to.
Extraordinary leaders aren't perfect. They have weaknesses—sometimes glaring ones. But their strengths are so remarkable that their teams extend them enormous grace. These leaders bring such evident value every day that their imperfections become irrelevant.
People don't leave great leaders. When employees find a "Best Boss Ever," they rarely consider other opportunities. In today's talent wars, that's worth its weight in gold.
The Competitive Advantage Hiding in Plain Sight
In today's hyper-competitive environment, product and service differentiation is brutally difficult. Sustainable competitive advantages are rare.
But imagine this: What if the majority of your managers possessed extraordinary leadership ability?
The culture would be magnetic. Employee engagement and retention would soar. Innovation would accelerate. Customer satisfaction would climb. Your organization would become the place people desperately want to work.
As leadership experts Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman assert, "There is no reason why half the leaders in an organization could not be great if they were developed properly. Better still, why not all? Great leadership is not a competitive activity in which one person's success detracts from another's success."
The Urgent Imperative
A Deloitte survey identified leadership development as the top talent issue facing organizations worldwide. Eighty-six percent of respondents ranked developing leaders as urgent and essential.
Yet only 5% of businesses claim excellence at developing millennial leaders—the generation now entering senior leadership positions.
The workplace has transformed. The workforce has evolved. We possess the tools to assess and dramatically improve leadership skills.
The only question is: Will your organization lead this revolution, or will you wait for competitors to leave you behind?
The choice is yours. But make no mistake, the organizations that crack the leadership code will dominate the next decade. Everyone else will be fighting for scraps.
What will you choose?
If you would like to talk about your situation, please don’t put off making a call if you are struggling. You can see my availability and schedule here: calendar.
Want to Go Deeper?
The New Extraordinary Leader, 3rd Edition by Zenger Folkman - Based on 360-degree feedback from 120,000 leaders, this is the definitive data-driven guide to transforming good managers into great leaders
The Allure of Toxic Leaders by Jean Lipman-Blumen - Explores why followers remain loyal to destructive leaders and how to recognize toxic leadership before it's too late
Dare to Lead by Brené Brown - Research-backed guide showing that daring leadership consists of four teachable skill sets, emphasizing vulnerability, values, trust, and courage
Academic Research
Research by Milosevic, Maric, and Loncar on "Defeating the Toxic Boss" shows how followers actively work to neutralize toxic leaders