Is Your Leadership Bold Enough to be Responsibly Daring?
Resilience built today is a gift to your future self
“The [leader] who has anticipated the coming of troubles takes away their power when they arrive.”
As someone who serves on multiple audit and risk committees, I approach every conversation with a forward-looking lens —one that balances risk, strategy, and governance.
My focus is not just on what’s happening now, but on how well prepared teams are for what might happen next. I’m often asking: how well prepared are we—not just for what is happening, but for what might?
The goal isn’t to predict the future. It’s to equip ourselves to meet it with strength, flexibility and a calm centre.
One of the most powerful traits any leader can develop is adaptive stability—the ability to stay steady in your direction while flexing your approach when needed.
I often describe it like walking a tightrope. You're not frozen in fear, and you’re not charging ahead blindly. You’re alert, purposeful, and ready to adjust with each subtle shift. That balance comes from core strength, deliberate practice, and having the right safety nets in place.
EY calls this kind of leadership responsibly daring—confident enough to step into uncertainty, believing anything is possible, yet grounded enough to prepare for missteps. It’s bold, but it’s also anchored in care, clarity and foresight.
When the Unexpected Happens
During the early days of the pandemic, Airbnb lost 80% of its revenue in just a few weeks. But because they’d embedded adaptability and trust into their culture, they moved quickly—doubling down on their core, pausing risky ventures, and even launching Online Experiences to create new revenue streams. They not only recovered—they went public in what became one of the most remarkable initial public offering comebacks in tech history.
In 2017, shipping giant Maersk was paralysed by the NotPetya cyberattack. In just hours global port operations ground to a halt. But because Maersk had planned for operational disruptions, with decentralised data back ups, the ability to pivot to manual workarounds, and rapid decision-making structures in place, they bounced back—restoring systems within 10 days.
These weren’t flukes. They were the result of deliberate preparation—cultures of readiness designed to flex, not freeze.
How to Build Future-Ready Leadership
You don’t need to be a tech firm or a shipping conglomerate to plan for disruption. The same principles apply whether you’re leading a project team, serving on a board, or steering an organisation through complexity.
Here are three practical places to start:
1. Strengthen your team’s core routines Regular rituals—like weekly debriefs, reflection time, and honest conversations about what’s working—build the muscle of adaptability. These habits help teams stay connected, focused and flexible when pressure hits.
2. Make scenario planning a rhythm, not a one-off Ask “what if?” regularly—not just in annual strategy days. Even short conversations about upcoming projects can surface risks and options early. The more we practice mental agility, the faster we can respond when the stakes rise.
3. Define your red lines ahead of time When you’re clear on what you won’t compromise—your values, your decision-making thresholds—you reduce the noise in a crisis. Boundaries give you both clarity and courage when things feel foggy.
Pause and Reflect: Questions for Today
As you think about how ready you are to lead through change, ask yourself:
What routines help me stay centred when things shift suddenly?
Where might fear—not fact—be holding me back from stepping forward?
If things went off-course tomorrow, what strengths would I and my team draw on?
Lead today with Tomorrow in Mind
It’s easy to keep moving fast and hope things don’t go wrong. But sustainable leadership isn’t built on hope—it’s built on habits. When you invest today in clarity, resilience and flexibility, you’re giving your future self the best possible advantage.
No matter your role—leader, board member, internal change agent—adaptive stability is what allows you to move forward with assurance, even when the path is unclear.
What will your future self thank you for putting in place today?
