Leadership is often misunderstood as certainty. We admire the person who walks into the room with answers, speaks decisively, and appears unshaken by complexity. Over time, this has shaped an unspoken expectation: if you are in a leadership role, you should already know.
But that expectation no longer fits the world leaders operate in.
Markets shift faster than plans. Teams are more diverse, problems more layered, and decisions more visible than ever before. The higher the stakes, the less likely it is that anyone has a complete map. Yet we still treat leadership as a performance of knowing rather than a practice of navigating.
The truth is quieter and more honest: much of leadership is figuring it out in real time.
The False Comfort of Having All the Answers
There is a deep cultural comfort in believing leaders are all-knowing. It reassures teams. It simplifies accountability. It gives structure to uncertainty.
But leadership doesn’t work that way anymore. Experience helps, yes. Judgment matters deeply. Still, no amount of seniority prepares you for every situation. New technologies, changing social expectations, and unpredictable human dynamics ensure that yesterday’s answers don’t always apply to today’s problems.
Clinging to certainty in uncertain situations doesn’t make leadership stronger. It makes it brittle.
Why “Figuring It Out” Gets Misread
Here’s where things get complicated.
When leaders openly navigate uncertainty, it is often interpreted through a biased lens. For some, saying “Let me think this through” is seen as thoughtful. For others, especially women and underrepresented leaders, the same words can be mistaken for doubt.
This isn’t about capability. It’s about perception.
We still equate confidence with immediacy and authority with certainty. But real leadership often shows up as curiosity, listening, and asking better questions. These traits don’t always look impressive in the moment, but they lead to better outcomes over time.
Leadership Is a Process, Not a Performance
One of the most grounded leadership truths comes from Shirley Fodor, VP General Counsel EMEA of Tronox, in one of her interviews with IMPAAKT: “You cannot be expected to know every law and procedure. You can be expected to figure it out.”
Strip away the context, and the message holds universally. Leadership is not about knowing everything. It’s about knowing how to move forward when you don’t.
Figuring it out is not guesswork. It’s structured thinking. It’s understanding what matters, who to involve, and when to slow down. It’s being comfortable saying, “I don’t have the answer yet,” while having the confidence to find it.
This kind of leadership doesn’t announce itself. It reveals itself through consistency, clarity, and trust.
The Gendered Cost of Not Knowing
The ability to figure things out is unevenly rewarded.
Men are often given room to grow into roles. Women are expected to arrive fully formed. When uncertainty is framed as potential in one leader and weakness in another, it creates invisible barriers that slow progress and exhaust talent.
The pressure to be flawless discourages experimentation and learning. It pushes leaders toward safer choices and smaller risks. Ironically, this is the opposite of what complex environments demand.
Rethinking What Confidence Looks Like
Confidence is not the absence of doubt. It is the willingness to act responsibly despite it.
The strongest leaders are not the loudest voices in the room. They are the ones who create space for thinking, invite diverse perspectives, and resist the urge to rush clarity before it exists.
They understand that leadership is less about being right and more about being rigorous.
Why This Conversation Matters Now
We are entering a period where adaptability matters more than expertise. Leaders are expected to guide teams through ambiguity, not shield them from it.
If we continue to reward certainty over sense-making, we will miss out on the kind of leadership the future actually requires.
Figuring it out is not a temporary phase on the way to leadership.
It is leadership.
