Mike Pelfini — 08 January 2026

In the AI age, leaders are under more pressure than ever to make harder decisions faster. And, with the emergence and pervasiveness of AI, Mentorship for Leaders becomes more useful than ever. 

Leaders are under stress in this age of AI. Between 2015 and 2025, engagement among managers and leaders declined from 35% to 27%.

Yet 70% of team engagement results from leadership and management, according to Gallup’s 2025 workplace survey.  

While many are chasing the “shiny object” that is here to stay (AI), time-tested Mentorship for Leaders, as we previously discussed about 18 months ago, always plays an important role. 

Mentoring can improve engagement among leaders – and by extension to the team members they lead. As the 2025 Gallup survey states, “Manager [i.e., leader] engagement is the key to reversing declining productivity, improving employee wellbeing, and unlocking trillions in economic potential.”

Seventy-five percent of executives give credit to mentoring for their success, while 90% of employees with a career mentor are happy at work, as reported in the Harvard Business Review. In this article, we examine a variety of leadership challenges that come with the impact of AI, and how mentorship for leaders can improve individual and organizational performance in the coming year.

What is Mentorship for Leaders?

In an earlier article, we examined leadership mentoring and its benefits. Its  principles are useful when applied to address the challenges of the AI age. Again, these principles include:

Mentoring vs. training. Training involves learning a specific set of “hard skills,” usually in a short amount  of time. By contrast, mentoring is a longer process designed to build relationships and “soft skills” like professional judgment and people management.

Mentoring vs. coaching. Coaching and mentoring share certain goals but use different methods. Coaches are generally from outside the organization and guide clients to find their own solutions. Mentors most often come from within the organization. They offer experience and advice, as well as transmitting institutional knowledge and organizational culture.

Effective mentoring. Mentors can develop a more productive relationships with their mentees by:

(1) Setting overall goals at the beginning to meet specific needs,

(2) Being willing to share their own challenges and struggles, and

(3) Staying open to feedback to ensure the mentee’s needs are being met.

Mentoring benefits the mentors as well. Mentors report greater job satisfaction and can improve their own skills – including the opportunity to learn new skills and encounter new perspectives from young emerging leaders.

Leadership challenges in the AI age

The pressure on leaders increased significantly in 2025, according to Martin Gutman in his recent article, published in Forbes. Gutman assembled a panel of executive coaches from across the globe to discuss the biggest challenges facing leaders today.

“The headline finding is familiar: leaders are still overwhelmed,” Gutman writes. “But the nature of that overwhelm has changed.” In prior years, leaders were facing uncertainty and burnout while “trying to keep the ship afloat.” In the past year, “the ship is still taking on water but it’s also being remodeled mid-voyage.”

Gutman explains, “Put differently, the pressure isn’t just to endure disruption; it’s to make faster calls, implement new technologies (often AI related), and restructure organizations . . . while leaders themselves feel less centered than before.”

1.   The impact of AI. The main driver of leadership stress has been the transition to AI technologies. The panel’s blunt assessment: “There is over-investment in non-proven AI solutions, such as large language models, which often leads to reducing headcount too quickly.”
2.   Accelerating pace of change. Leaders are being asked to make hard decisions faster than ever, making them feel “trapped in a tempo that punishes reflection – right when reflection would prevent most avoidable mistakes.” (In our last blog post, we discussed reflective thinking as a means of gaining deeper insights.)
3.   Connection and purpose. “In a world obsessed with speed and results,” leaders struggle to stay connected “to their teams, their purpose, and often to themselves,” according to the panel.
4.   Role transitions. Finally, the panel reports a “dual tension” facing leaders who must drive transformation while their own roles are changing.

Three strategies for leaders – and how mentoring can help

The Forbes article identifies three “correctives” to help leaders cope with the demands of accelerating change. We will also discuss how an internal mentor (or an outside coach) can help leaders bridge the gap between demand and resources.

1.     Slowing down for reflection. The panel’s first and most urgent recommendation is to slow down for reflection. In the author’s words, “In high pressure environments, slowing down isn’t a luxury – it’s risk management.” 

In the last article, we found that leaders may spend only a few hours each week in deep thought or reflection. But without it, leaders run the risk of overwhelming their teams with shifting priorities and reactive thinking, while losing sight of organizational values and purpose.

The key to slowing down is to build a practice of setting aside a regular time for reflection. A mentor can encourage new leaders to develop the practice and help keep them accountable – for example, by discussing the results of reflection. Senior leaders may look to peer mentors or seek an executive coach for the same assistance.

2.     Navigating change. The panel’s second suggestion is to build skills for navigating change without neglecting its emotional and psychological aspects. In the rush toward AI transformation, “change fatigue” is a risk for everyone.

Leaders can use several strategies to mitigate the practical side of change fatigue. Among these are (1) building in periods of stability, (2) focusing on a few changes at a time, and (3) involving employees in decision making and implementation – also known as “open source” change.

To mitigate the “dual tension” facing leaders – driving organizational change while their individual roles change – mentors can provide valuable perspectives from their own leadership journeys. Sharing the challenges of growing into new and different roles can ease the transitions facing new leaders.

3.     EQ and human centered values. A third “corrective” for leaders is to move toward greater understanding and connection. “Needed now more than ever are leaders with the human skills that can’t be replicated or replaced by AI,” in the panel’s view.

The skills needed include emotional regulation, which helps leaders respond to challenges in positive ways. Also needed is emotional intelligence, which helps build self-awareness, empathy, and better relationships

Mentors can play a crucial role by helping new leaders to identify the “triggers” that can lead to emotional outbursts, and by helping to develop the self-awareness that underpins emotional intelligence. Sharing the mentor’s personal experience has the added benefit of making what might be mis-characterized as a “touchy-feely” subject both tangible and practical.

Only by addressing the inner aspects of change can leaders master the volatility of the AI age.  As Gutman writes, “Taken together, the message is straightforward: the remedy isn’t more speed, more certainty, or more output. It’s stronger inner leadership – so leaders can restore outer leadership.”

If you would like to learn more about Mentorship for Leaders and managing the challenges of the AI age, please contact us.  

About ForeMeta

ForeMeta prepares leaders for breakthrough transformation. Founded by executive coach and Vistage Chair Dr. Mike Pelfini, ForeMeta focuses on the people who make the decisions—helping CEOs and leaders of small to mid-sized companies and nonprofits deepen their self-leadership, clarify their why, and expand their capacity to lead. 

Through 1:1 executive coaching and thoughtfully facilitated peer groups, ForeMeta creates “greenhouse” environments where leaders explore mindset, heart set, and skill set so they can create new possibilities and more fulfilling results for themselves, their organizations, and their communities. 

©Mike Pelfini 2025,  all rights reserved.