In today’s volatile business environment, certainty is a luxury few leaders can afford. The pace of technological disruption, shifting customer expectations, and global economic pressures mean that organisations must adapt faster than ever before. Success no longer comes from rigid strategies but from the ability to embrace ambiguity, learn continuously, and remain open to change.
We talked* to Lenka Pincot, Chief of Staff to the CEO of the Project Management Institute, who highlighted that mindset is the cornerstone of adaptive leadership.
Lenka Pincot has extensive experience of helping organisations to execute strategic change initiatives and foster a culture of innovation and excellence. At a time when business leaders are facing constant change, she believes the key to thriving in uncertain conditions lies in how leaders think, not just in what they do. She’s clear that if leaders are to become comfortable with ambiguity, they need to focus on their mindset; “It’s about being able to embrace ambiguity and change, and deal with uncertainty,” she explains. “Instead of over-indexing on detailed planning for strategy execution, it’s more important to have a vision and a purpose to follow—and to be fully comfortable with the fact that you don’t know exactly how you will get there.”
This approach, she argues, enables leaders to ‘discover the path as you are walking along it’ rather than rigidly adhering to plans that quickly become obsolete in a fast-changing world. With the right mindset, she argues, decision-making becomes forward-looking; “Focus on opportunities that accelerate progress towards your vision, instead of protecting the status quo or sticking to past decisions.” This willingness to let go of certainty and embrace the unknown can enable leaders to navigate complex and evolving situations more effectively.
A shift in mindset at the top only matters if it is reinforced throughout the organisation. Clear communication is essential, particularly with middle management. Although those in C-Suite roles may have the right mindset and make a clear decision, it’s how they translate that decision to their middle management that’s crucial. Lenka says; “Without clear communication, it might happen that middle management don’t understand the reason for the decision and that slows things down. It either leads to watering down the decision or even implementing something totally different.”
To avoid this, she advocates for transparency and greater involvement of managers in strategic discussions. When leaders communicate openly, they help create the clarity needed to adapt quickly and effectively. She says, “It all starts with enterprise-wide transparency, because if you want to make a change efficiently, you need to understand and foresee the impact rather sooner than later. Otherwise, it’s very difficult to implement anything quickly, because you’re just hitting one roadblock or hidden iceberg after another.”
Lenka stresses that complex external challenges demand integrated solutions, and this requires enterprise-wide teamwork and collaboration. She says “I don’t mean it as a cliché; I mean it very deeply. The changes happening outside are often multi-dimensional and affect multiple functions at once. As a leader, I need to stay open and collaborate with others so we can address these changes in an integrated way.” This openness to new ideas and willingness to collaborate across boundaries enables leaders to turn challenges into opportunities and drive sustainable growth.
To succeed in the face of change, organisations need a skilled and resilient workforce. When it comes to talent development, Lenka believes that the classic approach of 10% formal training, 20% peer to peer exchange and 70% learning on the job is still valid. But she warns that it must be applied with intention. For Lenka, this means creating environments that foster peer-to-peer learning and for leaders to ‘allow employees to reflect and learn from their mistakes.’ By allowing employees to experiment without fear of failure, organisations strengthen resilience and build the adaptability they need to thrive in times of change.
When certainty is elusive, Lenka is clear that leadership becomes less about holding firm plans and more about cultivating the confidence to navigate the unknown. By shifting their mindset, leaders can learn to not resist change, but rather step into it with vision and openness, so they can empower the same resilience in those around them.
* This article is based on an interview conducted in preparation of the TCS / Peter Drucker Society Europe – report on ‘New Leadership for the Perpetually Adaptive Enterprise’