08/13/2025

Why Your Companies Fail at Building the Next Generation of Leaders

By flattening their organizations, companies create a leadership vacuum

In a relentless pursuit of agility and efficiency, many organizations are aggressively flattening their hierarchies, effectively eliminating layers of middle management. This move to a flattened organizational structure is often inspired by the success of tech giants like Amazon and Google, with the goal of accelerating decision-making and streamlining operations.

However, while automation can replace tasks, it cannot replicate the nuanced skills of strategy, vision and decision-making that define true leadership. Even artificial intelligence (AI) cannot replace the human element of leadership that drives innovation, inspires teams and navigates complex strategic challenges.

Our collective challenge, therefore, is to understand the unintended consequences of this organizational flattening and implement actionable strategies to ensure that we are not sacrificing our long-term leadership capacity for short-term gains. The good news is that with intentional effort and a rethinking of how experience is gained, you can still build a formidable bench of executive talent.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.