One of the (many) paradoxes of leadership is that, yes, a lot of people value certainty of direction in uncertain times and it’s a leader’s job to harness the collective will to a particular direction – core purpose, prime directive, whatever you want to call it. But (you saw that ‘but’ coming, didn’t you)…
Too many people in leadership positions think they therefore have to show certainty all the time – be a rock in uncertain, turbulent times. Sorry, wrong. Be uncertain. Openly uncertain. Often.
“Of all the qualities in a leader conducive to innovation and initiative, a degree of uncertainty may be the most powerful.”
That’s from a new clip in Hub TV from Jack Hayhow. The most creative organizations, he says, citing Ellen J Langer’s research, have leaders who are confident that the job will be done, but without any certainty about how it will get done.
You can view the 1 minute and 45 second clip on the Home Page here: www.theleadershiphub.com
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