I see you - you are NOT alone - and you deserve better.
Author’s note - for the purposes of this article, I’m using “managers” to include anyone at any level who is responsible for leading direct reports.
Managers - you are freakin’ heroes. It’s always been true that you are expected to engage your team, deliver results, navigate change, and make sense of what’s happening. Most of you have taken that mantle of responsibility by choice by the way, navigating your career to arrive here. I wonder how many of you are now looking around going - is THIS it? Is THIS what I signed up for?
Because not only are you doing all those heroics above, you’re also expected to lead the adoption of a game-changing technology and tool in the age of AI. Which no one in most workplaces understands yet, but are being mandated to figure out.
(While you’re at it - can you also make sure everyone’s using it, but not too much because it turns out it’s really expensive. Oh - and can you also please give us data on the impact? And oh yeah - we don’t want to violate any ethics or laws or anything, so keep that in mind as you go. Great thanks).
So now you have a team reeling in the aftermath of an AI-justified RIF, mandated to use a tool that is also creating a mild existential crisis in and outside of work, doing more with less in the day-to-day, and you are navigating all of that in your own experience, too. You’re a learner, but your team looks to you for answers and direction and tone. You’re asking yourself the same questions your team is: What does this mean for my job? My value? My future? Plus a bonus burden - how can I lead others credibly through something I’m still figuring out for myself?
No wonder manager engagement is at the lowest point since the global pandemic. Here are some staggering statistics that make all of the ranting above real:
Only 22% of managers globally were engaged in 2025, down nine percentage points from 2022.*
The average number of people reporting to a manager in the U.S. grew from 10.9 in 2024 to 12.1 in 2025. The median is still around five to six, which means a smaller number of very large teams are pulling up the average.**
What this means for you - if you work at a large company, you are pulling that average up. Congrats.
Meanwhile, AI use is moving faster than the support around it: while over half of surveyed workers regularly use AI, only 33% had taken employer-provided AI training in the previous six months. Fewer than half felt their organization gave them enough time, tools, access, and resources to build AI skills.***
In summary: least engaged managers since the pandemic, asked to lead more people, mandated to adopt tools they aren’t trained for, while justifying the very thing that reduced their team in the first place. And don’t let results slip or you might be next.
Support must be practical AND meaningful.
So what is your life raft? At the very least, managers deserve practical support: the time to learn, clearer expectations, and room to experiment with colleagues and teams. But leadership isn’t only about acquiring a new skill or learning the right answer.
It’s also about getting grounded enough to lead while you’re still learning. To notice what’s yours to control. To be honest about what you don’t know. To create the conditions for your team to ask questions, share ideas, and try things without pretending the path is already clear. This model of leading is rarely role-modeled let alone taught. So meaningful support addresses this inner work, too.
If you’re looking for a place to start, here are four prompts for self-guided action:
Define your intent. What impact do you want to have as a leader, in general and with respect to AI? How do you want your team to feel? How do you want to feel in your role? Put language around your intent to get and stay grounded.
Share what you’re working on. Tell your manager, trusted collaborators, and/or team what you’re trying to practice and why it matters to you. Invite feedback—not only on the intent, but on how it’s showing up over time.
Create community. Find other managers who are trying to learn and apply similar things. Use the group to compare notes, share what you’re learning, ask for support, and remind each other that figuring it out is part of the work.
Create space to play in the tool. For yourself and your team. I know this one is hard when you’re already spread thin - but it is probably the lowest barrier place to begin, and will serve you both at work and at home.
NOTE : There are lots of reasons why the above might be difficult to do on your own or in your workplace culture. Maybe a culture of feedback and asking for help is not safe. Maybe you aren’t ready to lead this vulnerably with your team yet.
If this is you, consider finding support outside your organization. My approach to “Lead on Purpose coaching” is designed for this moment. Having an objective partner can help you step outside the grind, put down the weight you carry for a moment, reconnect with what matters to you, and move from ideas to action to improve the experience you create for yourself and your team.
If you’re ready to book a call to talk about the weight you carry and get support - you can book a free discovery call with me here.
And finally - the faintly glimmering silver lining? Managers - AI will never replace your ability to lead people on purpose, with intention, with honesty & integrity, and with genuine connection. So even while you admit you are learning, you are uncertain, you are figuring it out along with them - the courage that admission requires and what it means for you and your teams is a leap worth taking.
Daly Dose of real talk: Managers: you don’t have to go this alone, AND we need you to go there more than ever. Your team may be looking to you to make sense of its experience, but that doesn’t mean you have to carry every answer—or every worry—by yourself.
Sources
Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026. (gallup.com)
Jim Harter, Gallup, “Span of Control: What’s the Optimal Team Size for Managers?” (gallup.com)
The Conference Board, “Report: Most Organizations Are Preparing Workers for Today’s AI, Not Tomorrow’s Jobs.” (conference-board.org)
Uber caps employee AI spending after blowing through budget in 4 months. https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/02/uber-caps-employee-ai-spending-after-blowing-through-budget-in-four-months/?_thumbnail_id=3100056
Research and context was compiled with the help of ChatGTP and verified by a human.
