I don’t know many who leaders who readily admit to having a controlling leadership style but I am hearing a lot of it’s not my usual style but right now, with the team I’ve got, and where things are at, it’s the only way for the next six months by way of explanation from senior leaders across all sectors
It’s understandable, leaders are hard-wired to jump in and take the reins in times of uncertainty and pressure. It’s a deeply held pattern of thinking and behaving that can serve leaders well. The impacts in the short term deliver the desired results - what you want to see happen, actually happens. In the longer term this pattern keeps senior leaders busy in execution, puts noise into the system and negatively impacts the very thing businesses need right now; an uplift in capability.
Complexity and inflection points
59% of CEOs surveyed for the KPMG Global CEO Outlook 2025 believe expectations and complexity have evolved significantly in the last five years and acknowledge they must rethink their organizations’ roles and capabilities as well as adapting their growth strategies.
Right now, in this period of significant change we’re navigating not just one, but multiple big shifts or inflection points at once: AI disruption, workforce transformation, geopolitical volatility, economic pressure, changing customer demographics are affecting almost every aspect of work and life. While it might be tempting to try to address each of them sequentially, the reality is that is simply not possible. Nor is it possible for one leader to hold it all.
The level of complexity and uncertainty this next decade is bringing is like nothing we have experienced to date and the old ways of leading, the systems and structures that have been so carefully constructed to support that leadership approach, are no longer fit for purpose. The complexity leaders are navigating today cannot be managed by one person at the top. It requires distributed thinking, judgment at every level and teams that can move without waiting for permission. Controlling leadership diminishes this capability at every turn.
Role refocus
It is time for leaders to refocus their role and determine what is truly required of them as a leader if the business is to thrive. It is about strengthening their own leadership capability in order to build capability in their team. For some this will mean seeking structured feedback on their leadership and being intentional about the kind of leader they need to be, NOT what their personal preference is.
They will undoubtedly need support to develop these skills and my guess is it is not in a traditional leadership development program. Their technical excellence is not what is required of them, presumably they have a team for that. What is required is to build a strong, aligned, capable team.
Sitting with the discomfort
Most leaders agree intellectually with the need to shift out of controlling and to develop the capability of the team. The hard part is what it takes personally to put it into practice. There is inevitably discomfort and that’s hard for many leaders to sit with. The discomfort comes with sitting back and watching the team take a different path, possibly initially a less effective one, maybe one that will fail. It might be hard to watch individual team members struggle to develop their critical thinking capacity when they can see the way forward clearly.
The shift from control to capability is not about stepping back from leadership or adopting a passive style that leaves teams without direction. It’s about where the leader's energy is directed. The focus shifts from execution to fostering the environment in which others can solve rather than providing the solutions. The shift to strengthening the team’s capability lies in the leader’s ability to coach and mentor rather than direct, to communicate what success looks like and then hold individuals to account for delivering it. Calling out behaviours that undermine the team's ability to perform, rather than absorbing the consequences and ignoring it is something many leaders find the hardest shift of all.
Capability building as a core leadership competency
The design of leadership development programs, how performance conversations, succession and recruitment are handled, the behaviours that are recognised and rewarded, these will all either inadvertently reinforce the old model or drive leaders to shift their approach.
The organisations best able to navigate the multiple inflection points and maximise the opportunities that emerge, will be those who prioritise building capability in others as a core leadership expectation, not a quality to be developed when things settle down. The leaders who understand what is truly required of them in this moment and focus their energy accordingly, are the ones who will build the teams and the businesses that are genuinely ready for the next wave of complexity and change. That is the shift that this decade demands and it starts with the decisions being made right now.
Chris Power is a leadership coach, consultant and facilitator
