Rethinking Leadership – Why Top-Down Leadership No Longer Works
by Lorraine Connell founder of Peers not Fears, Teen Leadership Coach
When I decided to write this post, my focus wasn’t on politics or specific presidential candidates, but on leadership. The leadership qualities we see on display from prominent figures offer important lessons, and one thing that has consistently stood out to me is how leadership can either lift us all or stifle progress.
I want to focus on the idea of top-down leadership, something I see in the model that former President Donald Trump advocates for. His leadership style follows the old-school idea of a triangle hierarchy, with him at the very top, making all the decisions. While this isn’t unique to Trump, it highlights a leadership philosophy that feels outdated to me—one that operates through centralized power, fear, and a lack of collaboration.
As someone who believes deeply in collaborative leadership—where everyone is empowered to lead in their own right—this traditional model feels fundamentally at odds with what I aim to teach young leaders.
The Issue with Top-Down Leadership
In a top-down leadership model, all the decision-making power rests with one individual at the top, and everyone else must fall in line. This type of leadership leaves little room for innovation, creativity, or shared responsibility. Worse, it can create a culture of fear where employees or team members are afraid to make decisions without approval. I’ve personally worked in environments where I had to wait endlessly for a leader’s decision before I could move forward. The paralysis this causes prevents both individual growth and overall progress.
Think about it: Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t move forward because one person held all the power to make a decision? Maybe you were waiting for their approval, or worse, you felt too afraid to act without it. This type of leadership can cause teams to freeze, preventing them from taking the initiative or growing.
The truth is that when all decision-making is concentrated at the top, it stifles those below. Decisions are made slower, often missing opportunities for innovation. Even if the person at the top makes a wrong decision, the entire organization has to follow because no one else has the authority or autonomy to step in.
Collaborative Leadership: Flipping the Triangle
What if we flipped the triangle?
Instead of a narrow pinnacle at the top with one person holding all the decision-making power, we could empower everyone to lead from within. In a flipped triangle, the base is wide and includes everyone, while the point moves downward, symbolizing shared responsibility and the collective drive toward growth and improvement.
In this model, leadership isn’t about holding all the power; it’s about empowering others to lead, make decisions, and contribute their ideas. It’s about connection, collaboration, and growth. In contrast to top-down leadership, this approach fosters a sense of belonging and shared purpose. Everyone is invited to lead, which also means that the organization, business, or country is more agile and able to adapt.
This idea of flipped leadership isn’t just theoretical. Modern companies like Google, for example, have thrived by embracing a more decentralized leadership model. In these environments, teams are encouraged to lead, share ideas, and make decisions. The result? More innovation, more collaboration, and better results for everyone.
Top-Down Leadership Limits Potential
Let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture. When you’re at the top and in control of all the decisions, what happens when you’re too busy to make a call? Everything grinds to a halt. As a leader, this can prevent your organization from moving forward, and as someone who wants to foster leadership in others, this stifles growth.
What concerns me most about top-down leadership is that it limits the number of people who can rise into leadership roles. If one person is always in charge, that means there’s no room for anyone else to step up. For young people, this is especially problematic because they may not see themselves as future leaders if they feel like there’s no space for them to lead.
If leadership is reserved only for those at the top, then the vast majority of people are left behind. In a collaborative leadership model, however, everyone has the opportunity to lead, regardless of their title or position. This is what I aim to teach young leaders—leadership is not about power or authority, but about being willing to take responsibility, work with others, and contribute your unique strengths.
Top-Down Leadership in Business: A Recipe for Stagnation
The idea of top-down leadership doesn’t just apply to politics. It’s also prevalent in many businesses, and it often leads to stagnation. If one person is responsible for making all the decisions, it prevents others from stepping up with innovative ideas or solutions. In a fast-paced business environment, this is a recipe for failure.
Leaders like Trump who embrace a top-down model may enjoy the control it provides, but it’s not sustainable. It creates bottlenecks, limits potential, and eventually leads to frustration among team members who feel disempowered.
Empowering Young Leaders
In my work with young leaders, I encourage them to see themselves as potential leaders from the very start. Leadership isn’t about waiting for someone to give you permission or a title; it’s about recognizing your own power to make a difference. You are your own leader, and that is something no one can take away from you.
What I want for young people—and really, for everyone—is to embrace leadership as a journey of growth, not a position of authority. Leadership should be shared, collaborative, and empowering, not something that isolates you at the top of a triangle.
I’m not making this about politics. I’m making this about the type of leadership that I believe in and that I see as most effective. In the flipped triangle, we all have a place, we all have a voice, and we all contribute to making things better. We are stronger when we work together, and that’s the world I want to live in—a world where leadership is shared, not hoarded.
Final Thoughts: What Type of Leader Do You Want to Be?
The choice of leadership style is not just a personal one—it affects everyone around you. Whether you're leading a country, a company, or a community, you must decide: Do you want to be the leader who holds all the power and leaves others waiting for your decisions? Or do you want to be the leader who empowers others, fosters collaboration, and builds something greater together?
As we rethink leadership today, let’s flip the triangle. Let’s create spaces where everyone has a chance to lead and contribute because that’s where true innovation and progress happen.
What type of leader do you want to be?
This blogpost was originally posted here!
Learn more about and how to work with Lorraine Connell here!
Please note that the blogpost above does not represent the thoughts or opinions of Fresh Start Registry and solely represents the original author’s perspective.