Rethinking Leadership for the Reality of Work

By Angela Kegler, PhD

The workplace has changed faster than many leadership systems have. Teams are more cross-functional. Priorities shift more quickly. Technology is reshaping how decisions are made. Employees expect more clarity and support. And leaders are being asked to hold all of it together, all at once.

The newest AMA Quarterly makes one thing clear: The modern leadership challenge is about whether organizations, not just individuals, have built the systems and support leaders need to succeed.

According to AMA’s latest leadership research, 71% of leaders reported performing work outside their formal role, while 59% said that this work limits their ability to focus on strategic priorities. At the same time, only 44% of leaders reported feeling fully prepared to meet future role expectations. Even when goals are still being met, organizations are relying too heavily on individual endurance and not enough on sustainable leadership capacity.

Across the issue, three themes emerge: Leadership roles are evolving, alignment has become harder to create, and AI is raising the stakes for judgment and execution.

The Leadership Role Is Expanding

For years, leadership development focused on helping individuals perform better within established structures. Those structures are no longer stable.

Today’s leaders must guide teams through ambiguity, influence people who do not report to them, and keep work moving across functions and priorities. Formal authority still matters, but it is no longer enough. Influence and self-awareness have become essential leadership currency.

That shift is especially challenging for managers who were promoted because they were strong individual contributors. As one article in the issue notes, the habits that make someone a high performer can become blind spots when that person becomes responsible for the performance of others.

The most effective leaders are not simply the people who can solve every problem themselves. They are the people who create the conditions for others to contribute and grow.

Alignment Is Now a Leadership Discipline

As organizations become more complex, alignment no longer happens automatically. Work moves across departments and reporting lines. Leaders must connect people to a shared outcome, clarify decision rights, and reduce the friction that slows execution.

That is why influence without authority appears repeatedly throughout the issue. In flatter, more interconnected organizations, leaders often need to shape outcomes without owning every resource or team involved. That requires credibility, business understanding, intentional communication, and trust.

The issue also makes clear that measurement alone is not enough to understand what is happening inside teams. Engagement surveys may show part of the picture, but they can miss the human dynamics that determine whether people feel supported and committed. Leaders need to tell the truth, hear the truth, and act on what they learn.

In this environment, clarity becomes a performance tool. Leaders who connect work to purpose and create space for honest feedback help teams move faster with less confusion.

AI Is Raising the Stakes for Human Leadership

AI is changing how work gets done, but the leadership challenge is still human. Technology can accelerate execution, generate polished communication, and support better decision making. But without clear governance, it can also create misalignment at speed.

The issue’s AI-focused articles reinforce a familiar lesson: Successful innovation depends less on experimentation alone and more on organizational readiness. Leaders must understand where AI fits and what business value it is expected to create.

The more technology accelerates work, the more organizations need leaders who can build trust and make sound decisions in real time.

The Real Work: Building Leadership Capacity

The central message of the issue is that leadership evolution is structural. Organizations cannot keep adding expectations without also strengthening the systems that support leaders.

AMA’s research points to five practical ways organizations can close the leadership capacity gap: Strengthen employee-centric clarity, establish shared leadership standards, build influence without authority, redefine delegation as development, and enable leadership through organizational design.

Together, these actions move leadership development beyond individual improvement. They help organizations clarify how decisions get made, how responsibility is shared, how people are developed, and how leaders can focus on strategic work instead of constantly filling operational gaps.

The work ahead is not getting simpler. The organizations that succeed will be those that stop treating leadership capacity as an individual burden and start treating it as an organizational priority.

Download the full AMA Quarterly business journal and the latest AMA leadership research paper to learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main message of the newest Leadership AMA Quarterly?

The main message is that leadership expectations have expanded faster than the systems designed to support leaders. Organizations are asking leaders to navigate complexity, influence across functions, develop people, manage disruption, and respond to new technologies, but many have not updated roles or development systems accordingly.

What is the biggest leadership challenge organizations face now?

The biggest challenge is the gap between expectations and support. Leaders are often stepping into work outside their formal roles simply to keep things moving. That may solve short-term problems, but it can reduce long-term organizational capability.

Why is influence without authority so important?

Work increasingly happens across teams, departments and reporting lines. Leaders often need to align people who do not report directly to them. That makes influence, credibility, communication, and stakeholder alignment essential leadership skills.

What does “role spillover” mean?

Role spillover happens when leaders take on responsibilities outside their formal role, such as operational problem solving or project management. AMA’s research found that 71% of leaders reported performing work outside their formal role, and 59% said it limits their ability to focus on strategic priorities.

Are leaders prepared for the future of work?

Many are not fully prepared. AMA’s research found that only 44% of leaders reported feeling fully prepared to meet future role expectations. This suggests organizations need to strengthen leadership development and support systems.

How is AI changing leadership?

AI is accelerating work and changing how decisions happen. But it also increases the need for human judgment and strategic clarity. Leaders do not need to master every technical detail, but they do need to guide people through AI’s impact on workflows.

What skills matter most for leaders now?

The issue points to skills such as communication, strategic thinking, decision making, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, adaptability, delegation, and influence. These human capabilities become more important as work becomes more complex and technology moves faster.

What should organizations do differently?

Organizations should stop relying on individual leaders to absorb every gap. They should clarify decision rights, establish shared leadership standards, develop influence skills, treat delegation as a development tool, and design systems that support leaders rather than forcing them to compensate for structural weaknesseses.

What is the takeaway for executives?

Leadership capacity is now a business issue. Organizations that invest in leadership development, role clarity, alignment, and support systems will be better positioned to execute strategy and adapt to change while retaining top talent.