The Purpose Trap

Leadership became more human for good reasons. Purpose, empathy, self-awareness, authenticity, and other soft skills corrected an older model that too often confused authority with leadership.

But the correction may have travelled too far.

Leadership development has become increasingly sophisticated about how leaders understand themselves and relate to others while becoming less explicit about the institutional responsibility to govern. A leader can be purposeful, empathetic, self-aware, and highly skilled at communication—and still struggle to set standards, make consequential decisions, confront poor performance, and determine what the organization will tolerate.

The Purpose Trap examines what happened when the soft skills of leadership began to receive more attention than the hard responsibility of governing.