Leading When You Don’t Have All the Answers

There are times in leadership when the path ahead feels clear.
And there are times when it doesn’t.

You might be in one of those moments right now, when clarity feels hard to come by.
The future of your role, your team, or your organisation may be shifting.
Perhaps you’re in the middle of a transition, or navigating decisions that feel beyond your control.
And yet, you’re still showing up.
Doing the work. Offering support to others.
Trying to hold steady when everything around you is anything but.

I’ve been there.
And I want to share something that helped me through those moments.
Not because I had all the answers,
But because I chose to stay present.

Clarity Doesn’t Mean Certainty

During a significant period of restructuring, I was part of an organisation facing rapid, complex change.
I was working alongside brilliant people who continued to give their best, even as they felt tired, stretched, and uncertain about what the future would hold.
They were navigating shifting priorities and growing workloads, quietly carrying their own worries about what might come next.

What I came to understand was this:
Clarity doesn’t always come from certainty.
It often comes from something much simpler.
Clarity can be offering what’s true right now.
It can be choosing to show up with steadiness, even when the next step isn’t fully known.
It can be being honest about what you do and don’t know, while staying connected to what matters.

And here’s something I noticed.
Whether you’re leading a team, part of a team, working with people in a project, or figuring out your own next step, how you show up makes a difference.

Presence Is Leadership

Leadership isn’t always about a role or a title.
It’s about presence.
It’s about how you hold yourself in moments of uncertainty.
How you offer care.
How you stay grounded in your values, even when things feel unclear.

It might be the way you support a colleague through a difficult conversation.
It might be how you advocate for clarity in a messy situation.
Not only that, but it might be how you take care of yourself, making space to pause and reflect, rather than rushing toward the next task.

When I focused less on having answers and more on connection, something shifted.
Trust deepened.
Collaboration became steadier.
And even in complexity, people found clarity, not in the outcomes we couldn’t predict, but in how we chose to show up for each other and how we would take control of our own lives.

If You’re There Now

You might be in a role that feels uncertain.
Or perhaps you're witnessing change around you and wondering how to navigate it.
Even if you’re not leading a team, you’re likely showing up every day and leading in how you care for yourself, your work, and the people around you.

Here’s what I want you to know:
You don’t need all the answers.
You don’t need a title to lead.
Leadership starts with clarity about who you are and how you show up.

🌿 A Reflection for You

If you’re navigating uncertainty right now, pause and ask:
✨ What matters most to me at this moment?
✨ How is this guiding the way I show up, for myself and those around me?
✨ What’s one small choice I can make today that reflects who I am, even when things feel unclear?

🌿 An Invitation to Reflect More Deeply

I’ve created a Leadership Reflection Journal Page to help you explore these questions and others more fully. It’s a simple space to pause, reflect, and lead with clarity and connection, even when certainty isn’t available.

Click here for your FREE DOWNLOADABLE.

You can use this page to start your own practice of leadership reflection. You can even save or print these out each week and build your own book of leadership reflections—a personal guide to see how you’re growing and leading in complex times.

If that resonates, I invite you to join Within Reach Wednesday, my weekly newsletter. Every edition includes a reflection, a story, and a question to guide your leadership, something small you can return to throughout the week. Over time, you’ll build a collection of your own insights and leadership wisdom.

🌿 What’s Within Reach for You Today?

What’s closer than you think… if you stop to notice?

Until next time,
Linda
Touching Distance | Within Reach