Your Leadership Is on Autopilot—And It’s Hurting People

Most leaders don’t realize they’re asleep.

They show up. They answer emails. They sit in meetings. They make decisions.

But they aren’t really leading. They’re operating on autopilot—moving through the motions, detached from the people they serve, too distracted or too afraid to disrupt the status quo. And whether they know it or not, their inaction is causing harm.

Sometimes, it appears to be that leaders make decisions based on outdated assumptions, how we were raised within our college programs, and from our sole perspectives. We need to talk about sleepwalking in leadership and find ways to wake up like Spike Lee had his characters yell at the end of one of my favorite movies, School Daze. (Shoutout to Mr. Fishburn!)

The Cost of Sleepwalking Leadership

We see it every day. Leaders who take up space but refuse to take a stand. Leaders who talk about "mission" and "values" but have no idea what’s actually happening on the ground.

A leader who is sleepwalking:

• Stays silent when their voice is needed most.
• Prioritizes “optics” over integrity.
• Ignores the realities of the communities they claim to serve.
• Clings to outdated models of authority instead of adapting to change.
• Leads from a distance—comfortable, detached, unbothered.

And the consequences? People suffer. Trust erodes. Organizations stagnate. Communities are left behind.

I see it happening everywhere. Companies that built entire DEI departments a few years ago are now quietly dismantling them. Leaders who once spoke out about injustice are now too afraid to say anything at all. And all around us, we’re watching the most vulnerable members of society become targets—villainized, erased, pushed further into the margins—while the people in power stay conveniently quiet.

Wakeful Leadership Looks Different

This past week, I attended an open house at CRI-Help, Inc , a treatment center that has been one of our strongest partners in supporting students entering the substance use recovery field. And what I witnessed was awake leadership in action.

I saw leaders who weren’t just filling a role—they were fully engaged. They were asking questions, listening deeply, and making decisions that were in direct alignment with their mission. There was no performance. No empty words. Just real, committed work.

I saw my friends and colleagues marvel at the stories of people healed and now working at the company, in what some might see as a posh rehab. I whispered to the CEO that we need more healthcare leaders like him.

Because leadership isn’t about the title. It’s about the people.

That’s the kind of leadership the world needs more of.

How to Snap Out of Autopilot

This Thursday, we will be talking with Dr. Nicole D. Vick, MPH, CHES on the Goldenlite Academy Talk Series about the needed changes for leaders in Public Health. This would be a great place to hear about ways to wake up in our role capacities.

But for now, if you’re a leader and you’re reading this wanting to know how to wake from slumber, ask yourself:

• When was the last time I had a real conversation with someone outside my inner circle?
• Do my actions align with the values I claim to uphold?
• Am I actively learning, questioning, and evolving—or am I relying on outdated perspectives?
• Have I built a culture where people feel safe to tell me the truth?
• If my leadership disappeared tomorrow, would anyone in the community notice?

If you can’t answer these questions with confidence, you have work to do. I still have work to do. We all always have work to do.

Being a leader means taking responsibility—not just for your organization but for the impact you have on the world around you. It means aligning your actions with your values, even when it’s uncomfortable. It means refusing to be a bystander.

Leadership isn’t just about making decisions. It’s about impact. It’s about making sure that your presence in a room makes things better, not worse. It’s about showing up—not just in the boardroom, but in the community, in the conversations, in the moments that actually matter.

Because the world doesn’t need more sleepwalkers.

It needs leaders who are wide awake.

Be Courageous. Be Present. Be Unafraid.

Be Healed.

Dr. Golden