There’s two ingredients needed for unlearning - EEK and AWE
In a world where change is the only constant, leadership teams are having to rethink and overhaul their strategies. Gone are the days of ego-led decision making and people pleasing practices – in 2026, we’re living through the days of ‘unlearning’.
Unlearning is the art of reframing outdated knowledge to make room for new and more effective ways of thinking - and it’s something Katrina Symons, CEO of Out of Bounds - a sponsor at HRD’s upcoming Leadership Summit, is something of an expert in.
“Leadership used to be built on expertise,” Symons told HRD. “The more you knew, the more valuable you were - and that knowledge was the currency that moved you up. But the environment has shifted. Even what was true a year ago may no longer hold. We're in the era of leading beyond knowledge, where the complexity and pace of change means no single leader can hold all the answers. The organisations that are navigating this well aren't looking to leaders to be the experts anymore - they need leaders who can lead through uncertainty itself.”
Control, delegation and being overwhelmed
That's why, according to Symons, unlearning has become so important. It's the ability to let go of the approaches, assumptions and identities that have defined your leadership - not because they were wrong, but because they may no longer be enough.
“The three things we most consistently see leaders struggling to let go of are: the need to control (taking on too much themselves, struggling to delegate, becoming overwhelmed by the belief that it has to go through them); conservatism and people-pleasing (risk aversion, avoiding challenge, defaulting to what's worked before); and ego-led expertise (needing to have the answers, to be the most knowledgeable person in the room),” added Symons.
According to her, these aren't character flaws - they're deeply human tendencies, often shaped by personality and reinforced by years of being rewarded for them. And that’s what makes unlearning so difficult.
“These patterns are core to how many leaders see themselves and how they've built their success. But when those same patterns become the default response to every situation, the cost starts to compound - and in today's environment, there isn't much time before that cost becomes visible.”
According to Symons, many leaders are stuck in a cycle of being rewarded for certain habits - notably certainty, expertise and control. And while these strengths are useful in certain situations, more often than not they can turn into limitations.
"What the research actually shows is that certainty, expertise and control - in excess - are derailers, not strengths,” added Symons. “And they're negatively correlated to both leadership effectiveness and business outcomes.
“The challenge is that most leaders don't recognise them as such, because those same behaviours drove their early success. The first and most critical step of unlearning is developing the self-awareness to see where a pattern is helping you lead - and where it's holding you back. That insight is often the turning point.
“Moving beyond autopilot starts there, with awareness - because autopilot is subconscious. Leaders aren't consciously choosing to shut down ideas or assert control; they're simply defaulting to what's worked before. Once a leader can notice when they're in that mode, they can introduce a deliberate circuit breaker.
“Curiosity is one of the most effective ones we use. Rather than defaulting to certainty or taking control of a situation, a leader can ask: "How could we experiment with this?" It's a simple reframe, but it opens up possibilities, invites the team's thinking, and creates genuine choices. That's what we mean by leading with intention - consciously choosing your response, rather than being driven by a habitual one.”
EEK and AWE
At Out of Bounds, Symons and her team are passionate about two vital ingredients that actually make unlearning easy - EEK and AWE.
“EEK is the discomfort of stepping outside the comfort zone,” added Symons. “Unlearning is hard - and if it doesn't feel that way, it's probably not happening at the depth needed. Real unlearning requires a leader to examine their own behaviours, their autopilots, their blind spots. That work can't happen in a classroom or through a slide presentation. It requires looking honestly inward, which means confronting some uncomfortable truths.”
AWE is the second ingredient, and it might be less expected. AWE - the experience of feeling small yet still significant - has been shown through research to expand perspective, create genuine humility, and open people up to new possibilities. In our programs, we create this through nature-based experiences: standing on the escarpment in the Blue Mountains overlooking waterfalls, stargazing, working with a magician to create that moment of genuine disbelief. These aren't novelty - they're carefully curated experiences grounded in positive psychology, designed to shift how leaders see themselves in relation to the bigger picture.
“EEK and AWE need each other,” added Symons. “Discomfort alone leaves people in the difficulty without a way forward. AWE alone produces insight without the depth of change. Together, they create the conditions where real unlearning can take hold.
“Creating psychological safety is equally important, particularly in a team context. That means being explicit about confidentiality before any deep work begins, and honestly assessing where trust sits within the group. If psychological safety is low, the work needs to start there - whether that's trust-building as a team, or starting individually through 360s and coaching before moving to the group level.
“The environment matters too: physically removing people from their day-to-day context, ideally into nature, helps shift them out of performance mode and into genuine reflection.”
To learn more about transforming your leadership game, register for HRD’s upcoming Leadership Summit here.
This article was created in partnership with Out of Bounds.
