Leadership is Dead – So Why Do We Keep Talking About It?

Scroll through LinkedIn, and you’ll see endless posts about leadership—what makes a great leader, what to do, what to avoid. And yet… where are all these great leaders?

If leadership is such a hot topic, why do we still see terrible leadership everywhere? If companies truly valued good leadership, wouldn’t we see real change? Instead, we see organizations filled with uninspiring, ineffective, and sometimes outright toxic leaders. So what’s going wrong?

The Leadership Paradox

Despite all the talk, leadership in many organizations remains a title, not a responsibility:

1. Promotions Reward the Wrong Skills
   Most leadership roles go to those who play the corporate game well, not those who can actually lead. A great salesperson becomes a sales manager, even if they lack the ability to develop people. A technical expert gets put in charge of a team, even though they struggle with communication. Leadership is treated as a reward, not a skill.

2. Companies Value Compliance Over Competence
   Real leaders challenge outdated processes, push for innovation, and advocate for their teams—but many organizations prefer managers who simply enforce policies, hit short-term targets, and avoid making waves. The result? Stagnation, low morale, and high turnover.

3. Leadership Advice is Mostly Performance
   The worst leaders often post the most about leadership. They talk about emotional intelligence, mentorship, and empowerment—while their teams suffer under micromanagement, poor decision-making, and toxic cultures. If leadership advice worked, why don’t we see more actual leaders?

4. No Real Consequences for Bad Leadership
   How often do toxic managers get removed? Almost never. If they hit their KPIs (even by burning out employees and creating a miserable work environment), they stay. Employees leave, but the system keeps rewarding the same ineffective behaviors.

So, What’s the Real Issue?

If leadership is so important, why hasn’t the quality of leadership improved?

👉 Is leadership just corporate theater—good for LinkedIn but ignored in practice?
👉 Are companies too comfortable with bad leadership because it keeps the machine running?
👉 Is the leadership industry (books, courses, seminars) just another self-feeding cycle of advice that rarely translates into action?

Now Over to You

• Have you ever had a terrible leader? What do you think allowed them to rise and stay in power?

• If you’re in leadership, what are you actively doing to challenge this problem and be different?

• What’s the real reason companies keep failing at leadership?

Let’s have an honest conversation. Drop your thoughts in the comments. And if you were about to post another generic leadership quote… maybe sit this one out. 😉

AI Fear-Mongering: A Tool for Control or a Genuine Threat?

Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more videos, articles, and so-called "expert opinions" warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence. The message is almost always the same: AI is a ticking time bomb, a threat to humanity, and if we don’t regulate it strictly, it will either take over or be used in destructive ways.

At first glance, these warnings might seem reasonable—after all, any powerful technology can be dangerous in the wrong hands. But as someone who has been actively using AI models like ChatGPT and others, my own experience tells a different story. AI is not an uncontrollable monster lurking in the shadows, waiting to destroy us. In fact, it is a tool—one that has the potential to empower individuals, decentralize knowledge, and weaken the grip of those who thrive on controlling information and power.

So why are we being bombarded with AI fear-mongering?

Throughout history, fear has been one of the most effective tools to control the masses. When people are afraid, they are more willing to accept restrictions, surveillance, and loss of freedoms, all under the guise of "protection."

Think about the narratives we've seen before:

• Terrorism justified mass surveillance and wars.
• Pandemics justified lockdowns, movement restrictions, and emergency laws.
• Climate change is being used to push centralized global policies.
• Now, AI is the next fear campaign.

We are constantly told AI is too dangerous, too unpredictable, and too risky to be left in the hands of ordinary people. But who benefits from this message? The same governments, corporations, and elite institutions that don’t want AI to be freely accessible.

They don’t want you to use AI to automate your work, challenge mainstream narratives, or educate yourself beyond their controlled systems. They want you to fear it—so they can justify regulating it, restricting it, and keeping its power for themselves.

What they don’t tell you is that AI is already leveling the playing field in ways that threaten the existing power structures.

It allows individuals to automate tasks, generate content, and create businesses at a fraction of the cost.
It enables people to bypass traditional gatekeepers in media, education, and politics.
It gives access to knowledge that was once restricted to a privileged few.

If AI were truly as dangerous as they claim, why are corporations and governments investing billions in it while simultaneously telling the public it needs to be controlled? The hypocrisy is obvious:

• Elon Musk warns about AI risks but is building his own AI empire (xAI).
• Governments push for AI regulations while secretly using AI for cyberwarfare, surveillance, and propaganda.
• Mainstream media claims AI is untrustworthy, yet they are integrating it into their own workflows.

The message is clear: AI is dangerous for you, but perfectly fine for them.

AI itself is not the problem. The real problem is who gets to control it. If only governments, intelligence agencies, and billion-dollar corporations have unrestricted access, then AI truly does become a tool for oppression.

Imagine:

• AI-powered surveillance systems that track every move you make.
• Automated censorship that wipes out dissenting opinions before they even reach the public.
• AI-driven social credit systems that reward compliance and punish free thought.

These are not science fiction concepts—they are already happening in places like China, where AI is used to enforce government control. And if people don’t engage with AI now, they risk waking up one day to a world where it’s too late to push back.

The only way to ensure AI remains a tool for freedom rather than oppression is for as many people as possible to learn how to use it.

• Learn to integrate AI into your daily life.
• Use AI to create, educate, and innovate.
• Question the narratives that seek to demonize AI.

If the masses refuse to engage with AI out of fear, they leave it in the hands of the very entities that want to control them. Instead of fearing AI, we need to become AI-literate and shape its development in a way that benefits humanity, not just a powerful few.

This is not a time to sit back and hope for the best. It’s a time to act, to learn, and to ensure AI remains a tool of empowerment, not control.

We are at a crossroads. Either we allow governments and corporations to monopolize AI under the pretext of "safety," or we take ownership of this technology and use it to break free from outdated systems of control.

The first step is to stop fearing AI and start using it. Because the more people who embrace AI, the harder it will be for those in power to manipulate it for their own benefit.

The real danger is not AI itself. The real danger is letting fear keep us from using it.