We Don't Need More Answers

The leadership question nobody expected

Leaders I'm coaching currently feel inundated with "good" advice and pulled in many directions.

When it all feels too much they find me to help them answer:

• "I don't know how to lead like that."
• "Why does this feel so different?"

I've led large and small organisations over the last 40 years, and honestly, this is the most challenging, uncertain and changeable time to be a leader that I've seen.

What good leadership looks like now

The good leadership needed today is not built on expertise, titles or knowledge.

It's built on capability under pressure, decisiveness and your ability to take people with you on what could be a difficult journey.

Leaders are no longer here to have all the answers, because there's an emerging partner in every room, office and boardroom who knows more information than the humans.

Often leaders are too busy "doing" and have forgotten how to create the conditions that humans need to excel at life, work and in their communities.

Back to basics

As a coaching-led generalist leader throughout my career, "doing" was not an option for me. A very good thing, and that's what we need more of now from leaders.

I call it Brave New Leader® and it's taking us back to basics of strong leadership, because that's where new thinking, positive cultures and better questions and answers emerge.

So what my clients are experiencing is not a skills shift. It's a leadership identity shift.

And the best place to start is by asking yourself not "what do I need to learn?" but:

Who do I need to be?