Leadership

Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash

Five and a half years ago I sat in Vienna listening to thought leaders in the business world talk about managing in the digital age. The fear was palpable. The basic upshot was: technology will continue to drive economic growth and transformation (it has), and despite these changes, humanity will require leadership now more than ever (it does).

I’ve thought about that conference many times since, especially the source of the fear that I saw. I originally thought it was fear of technology. That perhaps all the change was the biggest challenge.

It turns out being a leader into the unknown is both really hard and possible career suicide. Over the years since I’ve worked with folks that have grappled with leadership in this space. The ones that have found success have embraced the methods that demonstrate and deliver iterative value. They have experienced how to lead through uncertainty and change, which is ultimately the key to success.

For every successful leader, there are many that don’t quite get there… there are many that cannot get past the fear.