With economic pressure, organisational change and workforce disruption reshaping workplaces in 2026, the ability to lead through uncertainty has become one of the most critical and most underdeveloped skills in people leadership.

Two experts who work with leaders daily say the answer is not to eliminate uncertainty, but to fundamentally change how leaders relate to it.

Andrew Horsfield, a leadership consultant and author of Better, said the instinct to project certainty is one of the most common and most costly mistakes leaders make.

"The most effective leaders don’t try and eliminate challenge, setback and struggle; they embrace and build tolerance for it in their teams," he said. "Leaders need to trade conviction for curiosity and create environments where uncertainty promotes insights, ideas and growth."

Leah Mether, a communication and soft skills specialist agreed, and added that clarity and transparency are the practical tools leaders too often overlook when things feel unstable.

"Leaders need to accept that navigating uncertainty is part of the job, not a problem to eliminate," Mether said. "The key is to create clarity where you can and be as transparent as possible, even if you don’t have all the answers. Share what you know, what you’re doing about it, and what you don’t know yet - and keep your message simple so people aren’t left filling in the gaps."

She also urged leaders to expect emotional responses from their teams and from themselves. "When leaders combine clarity, empathy and consistency, they steady the ship, even when the waters are rough. It’s about balancing warmth with strength and candour with compassion while guiding people through it."

What self-doubt is really telling you

Both Horsfield and Mether pushed back on the common leadership assumption that self-doubt is a sign of weakness. For Horsfield, it is a signal worth paying close attention to.

"Self-doubt is often a positive signal a leader is pushing at the edge of their competence," he said. "The task isn’t to eradicate it, but mobilise it. Seeing doubt (or any obstacle in front of you) as a teacher showing you the path to where you want to go. Making this mental shift creates a profound shift where doubt becomes a playground for potential."

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