Leadership often begins with good intentions. People step into leadership roles hoping to inspire, guide, and support their teams. Yet sometimes leadership takes a wrong turn, evolving into something less genuine and more performative. Faux leadership rarely starts maliciously. Instead, it may start as a survival strategy to fill gaps in competence, connection, or commitment or respond to an environment. Unfortunately, what may have started as a coping mechanism eventually

Leadership development should be an intentional activity, with growth and learning. Faux leaders simply collect information, failing to integrate it or go deeper.