Is Your Client's Leadership Operating System Outdated?

Severin Sorensen
May 9
3 min read

In tech, an outdated operating system isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a liability. It slows performance, limits compatibility, and makes the system vulnerable. The same is true for leadership.

Right now, U.S. employee engagement has dropped to just 31%—a 10-year low—while 17% of employees are actively disengaged (Dooley, 2025). Globally, this disengagement crisis is costing companies $438 billion in lost productivity, with leadership identified as the key variable—especially as managers themselves have seen the steepest declines (Gallup, 2023). Yet the potential upside is massive: if the global workforce were fully engaged, organizations could unlock an astonishing $9.6 trillion in productivity—equivalent to a 9% boost in global GDP (Gallup, 2023).

As executive coaches, we often support high-level leaders in navigating strategic challenges and team dynamics. But many of those issues stem from a deeper root cause: their leadership operating system no longer fits the reality they’re leading in. Outdated beliefs, behaviors, and control models are misaligned with today’s workplace demands. These aren’t personality flaws—they’re software issues.

It’s time we help clients upgrade.

The Legacy OS of Leadership

Many leaders are still running on what we might call Leadership OS 1.0—a command-and-control model optimized for compliance, stability, and linear growth. This operating system rewards decisiveness, authority, and a top-down flow of information. It worked in a world defined by:

Predictable markets
Hierarchical organizations
Homogeneous teams
Physical proximity

But that world is rapidly disappearing.

Why Leaders Need an Upgrade

Today’s environment demands something different. We coach executives who are navigating hybrid workforces, AI integration, generational value shifts, DEI expectations, and rising stress levels—often all at once.

Here are five common signs a client’s leadership OS may need an update:

They’re the bottleneck for decisions: The desire for control delays execution and limits team autonomy.
They revert to command when stress spikes: In environments of volatility, old instincts resurface—even when they no longer serve.
They’re burned out and running on fumes: Recent data shows that 77% of employees report burnout. Endurance is no longer the measure of resilience—restoration and adaptability are (Deloitte, 2022).
They see AI as a competitor, not a collaborator: With 72% of companies adopting AI in at least one function, leaders must evolve from resisting the shift to co-creating with it (McKinsey & Company, 2025).
They haven’t questioned their assumptions in years: Leadership stagnates when there’s no mechanism for reflection or feedback.

A Model for Leadership OS Evolution

Helping clients understand their leadership evolution can be a powerful framework in coaching sessions. Here’s one way to frame it:

OS Version	Core Belief	Leadership Mode	Limitation
1.0	"I lead by controlling."	Directive, hierarchical	Disengagement, rigidity
2.0	"I lead by enabling."	Collaborative, service-oriented	Slow consensus, unclear boundaries
3.0	"I lead by evolving."	Adaptive, inclusive, AI-integrated	Requires unlearning and experimentation

This model isn’t just diagnostic—it’s aspirational. It gives leaders permission to evolve, and it gives coaches language to guide that evolution.

Coaching Questions to Prompt an Upgrade

To help clients self-audit their leadership OS, consider the following questions that are especially useful when coaching around burnout, delegation challenges, change management, or team disengagement.

What beliefs about leadership are you operating from—and where did they come from?
Where do you feel friction in your team’s performance, and what behaviors are reinforcing it?
How are you integrating new tools, like AI, into your leadership approach?
What habits or mindsets may have served you once but no longer align with your goals?

The Coach’s Role in the Upgrade

Executive coaching is uniquely positioned to help leaders rewire—not just revise—how they operate. It's not about patching the system. It's about upgrading the architecture.

The future belongs to leaders who are willing to evolve. As coaches, we serve as both mirror and guide—helping clients see where they’re stuck and supporting the difficult but necessary work of transformation.

So the next time a client comes to you feeling stalled, overwhelmed, or misaligned, try asking them: "Is it possible your leadership operating system is due for an upgrade?"

It might be the most powerful question you ask all year.

References

Deloitte. (2022). Workplace Burnout Survey | Deloitte US. Deloitte United States. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/burnout-survey.html

Dooley, R. (2025, January 14). U.S. Employee Engagement Keeps Dropping, Hits 10-Year Low. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerdooley/2025/01/14/us-employee-engagement-keeps-dropping-hits-10-year-low/

Gallup. (2023). State of the Global Workplace Report. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx

McKinsey & Company. (2025, March 12). The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value. Www.mckinsey.com; McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai