Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future

S11 Ep30: The End of Control - The Leadership Trends of 2026

14 snips

Dec 30, 2025

Christopher Washington, Provost Emeritus and strategic leader, teams up with Maureen Metcalf to discuss the evolving landscape of leadership as we approach 2026. They emphasize that AI fluency is crucial for decision-making and group cohesion. Human energy is identified as the new scarcest resource. Agility is redefined as disciplined adaptability. The conversation highlights the importance of leaders unifying their teams while managing complex human dynamics. Ultimately, it's about leading with care and purpose in an increasingly fragmented world.

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INSIGHT

AI Can Amplify Or Atrophy Expertise

Experienced leaders can be amplified by AI but risk offloading their judgment if they rely on it blindly.
Use AI to handle revisiting work so you can spend more time on higher-order thinking.

ADVICE

Experiment Publicly And Be Precise

Experiment publicly with AI and involve your team so curiosity and learning spread through the group.
Be precise in prompts and feedback because AI returns exactly what you ask for, improving clarity with people too.

INSIGHT

Human-Centered Leadership Is The New Edge

Human-centered leadership is the competitive advantage as people face rapid change and exhaustion.
Leaders must focus on resilience, empathy, and helping people recalibrate instead of only pushing productivity.

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Guest: Christopher Washington, Provost Emeritus

As we look ahead to 2026, one truth is becoming impossible to ignore: the leadership models that built today’s organizations are no longer sufficient for the world we’re entering.

In this annual trends conversation, Maureen Metcalf, our usual host, is interviewed by Christopher Washington, Provost Emeritus of Franklin University, to explore the deeper forces reshaping leadership in the coming year…from AI fluency and human-centered leadership to agility, sustainability, and organizational cohesion.

What emerges is a unifying insight: power is no longer the primary currency of effective leadership. Together, they examine:

Why AI is forcing leaders to rethink how they make decisions
How human energy, not time or talent, has become the scarcest resource
Why agility is about disciplined adaptation, not speed, and
Why leaders must act as unifiers in an increasingly fragmented world.

This episode is not about trends as tactics. It’s about the evolution of leadership itself, and what it takes to lead without breaking people, organizations, or yourself. If you’re a senior leader sensing that “business as usual” no longer works (but unsure what replaces it), this conversation offers the clarity, language, and direction you need now.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Leading When We’ve Stopped Thinking: AI’s Red Flag with Srini Koushik

- When Women Lead: Courage, Change, & Representation with Congressperson Joyce Beatty

- To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Followers with Ira Chaleff

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:

You can read Christopher’s columns for Forbes’ Nonprofit Council at https://bit.ly/ChrisOnForbes. To learn more about what Christopher and the rest of ILI’s special Executive Solutions team offer, check https://bit.ly/ExecutiveSolutions.

Maureen’s article detailing the trends discussed in this episode is available through the Forbes Coaches Council at https://bit.ly/ForbesSixTrends. The free leadership mindsets assessment she offers is at https://bit.ly/Leadership-7.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US:

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating!

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About Our Guest:

Dr. Christopher Washington is a strategic leader, systems thinker, and seasoned academic executive with over three decades of experience strengthening nonprofit and educational organizations. Before joining ILI’s new Innovative Executive Solutions team, he was Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Franklin University. He’s also a long-standing contributor to the Forbes Nonprofit Council. He previously served as CEO of Urbana University and has held leadership roles on numerous national and international nonprofit boards.

Christopher has dedicated his career to helping mission-driven institutions build adaptive, high-performing systems. His work integrates resilience, organizational systems design, innovative leadership practice, and human performance and work process transformation to help leaders navigate complexity and build thriving cultures.