Key Leadership Skill for 2026: Navigating Uncertainty with Teams

𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 ❌
❌ Every problem has an 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (predict & control)
❌ Leaders must 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 everything
❌ Every problem has a direct 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲
❌ Never bring up an issue without already having a 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 in mind
❌ If there is a problem, 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲

𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 ✅
✅ Complex problems allow 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 (sense & respond)
✅ Leaders create 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀
✅ Explore 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 and build 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀
✅ Surface tensions early and engage in 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲-𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 before deciding
✅ Respond assertively when someone undermines the team’s 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀

Last month in Amsterdam, at a Cparity Event, Danielle IJkema and I offered participants a short experiential flavour of 𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞’𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺:
“𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.”

Together with three groups of 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, we simulated a 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 involving seasonal promotional demand, late product changes during launch, capacity constraints and long material lead times — resulting in 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 on one side and 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲-𝗢𝗳𝗳 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 on the other.

First, the teams followed a ① ❌ 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵.
Later, we applied ② ✅ 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺-𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲-𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.

① ❌ 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵
Functional representatives advocated for their own interests and agreed on an action plan. The dynamic was familiar: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲.
② ✅ 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺-𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲-𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴
The groups explored the 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝘀 — customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders — their needs and the 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 of the situation.

The difference was immediately visible.
In ① ❌, energy went into 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 and defending points.
In ② ✅, people 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱, built on each other’s thinking, and engaged in 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲. Body language changed. The room calmed down.

Participants described ① ❌ as 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 and 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.
They experienced ② ✅ as 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘅𝗲𝗱, 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 — and far more 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 in creating a 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁.

This way of working can be a real game-changer in cross-functional collaboration and was just one element of our 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 in 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 2026, in 𝗭𝘂𝗴 (𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱). https://lnkd.in/dMrG89ZE

🚁 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁, we offer 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 to selected 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 who are interested in an 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆.

I am happy to share more in a direct exchange.

 

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