Most senior leaders are exceptionally capable. They are decisive, experienced, and highly skilled at solving problems. That is precisely why many leadership challenges persist far longer than they should.
The issue is not that leaders lack insight, commitment, or effort. It is that many of the most pressing challenges cannot be resolved without weakening something else that also matters.
Consider some familiar tensions:
Most leadership development implicitly teaches us to choose: to weigh options, define trade-offs, and commit. This works well when the challenge is a problem with a right answer.
But many of today’s most persistent leadership challenges are not problems at all. They are polarities: interdependent pairs of values that both matter, over time.
When leaders treat these tensions as problems to be fixed, one side inevitably dominates. Performance may rise, but engagement drops. Control strengthens, but adaptability erodes. Innovation accelerates, but execution frays. Organisations oscillate, often painfully, between extremes.
The question quietly shifts from “What is the right answer?” to something far more demanding:
In complex environments, leaders do not merely make decisions. They shape how the system understands itself.
This makes mindset a strategic force.
When leaders approach tension with an Either-or mindset, the system follows. Conversations narrow. Positions harden. Trade-offs dominate. When leaders hold a Both-and mindset, something different becomes possible. Curiosity replaces defensiveness. Options expand rather than contract.
This is not about being indecisive, or attempting to satisfy everyone. It is about recognising that some challenges require ongoing stewardship rather
than resolution.
The most difficult shift is not learning a new framework. It is learning to remain present with tension without rushing to close it down.
Yet the forces shaping long term success usually lie deeper:
Without stepping back, even highly experienced leaders can unintentionally optimise one side of a polarity while eroding the conditions needed for sustained success.
Leadership, in this sense, becomes less about control and more about perspective:
the capacity to see the system while remaining inside it.
Many senior leaders have reached their roles by being effective problem solvers. This expertise remains valuable. In complex systems, however, it can also narrow what becomes possible.
When uncertainty is high and values are in tension, progress rarely comes from having the right answer upfront. It comes from learning deliberately, paying close attention, and adjusting over time, while staying anchored to purpose rather than certainty.
This requires a subtle but consequential shift:
Many leadership challenges persist not because of poor judgement, but because they involve values that matter equally and pull in different directions.
The invitation is not always to resolve the tension, but to notice it, stay with it, and
lead within it.
Which tension in your context might be asking not for a solution, but for more conscious leadership over time?
Often, the question itself is where adaptive leadership begins.
Written by:
Jessica Choo, Founder & Chief Strategist of ILS
With over 30 years of consulting and operational experience, Jessica is a highly esteemed strategist in performance, talent, and organisational development. Her expertise spans change management and strategic leadership development, where she has successfully guided over 15,000 executives across more than 200 projects in 20 countries. Jessica employs a behavioural science approach to foster culture and people development, achieving remarkable outcomes in organisational performance and culture change initiatives. As a professional coach, she empowers senior leaders to think clearly, lead confidently, and commit to impactful actions. Furthermore, her collaboration with the Growth Mindset Institute in crafting innovative solutions has positioned her as a trailblazer in the field of sustainable organisational change.