What it means to be a leader has profoundly transformed in my time as a CEO.
When I started my career, some of the traits of successful leadership were still steady hands, predictable gains, risk management, and, above all, being right.
Today, the pace of change and the influence of AI demand a different kind of leadership: one that is adaptable and curious and blends the rationale and creative parts of all our brains.
But perhaps the most crucial difference is a leader’s willingness to make mistakes and get it wrong.
Having the courage to err
This willingness to be wrong is not a flaw. In fact, it’s the opposite. Being wrong, and being transparent about it, is a vital part of being a successful leader, and that couldn’t be truer in our worlds that are embedded in technology.
Why? Because the rule book gets rewritten incredibly quickly. The pace at which AI is accelerating means that in any given month the landscape can shift significantly. Teams must be encouraged to learn and experiment without fear, through a culture that shows it’s okay to get it wrong and values this more highly than legacy thinking. Our ability to compete hinges on our ability to accelerate our rate of learning, and that requires the courage to err.
This is important because it shows a very human side to us all, especially in this era of technological change. A lot of the conversations I have each day, with colleagues, clients and friends, are about the possibility of AI in our lives but also the risks, for the planet, humanity and future generations.
I truly believe that AI is powerful, but when it is blended with the human touch and used in a responsible way, the potential is unrivalled.
The power of curiosity
As a CEO I believe we must listen more, share credit, and surround ourselves with people that see what we don’t.
While the courage to be wrong is emerging, there are other traits that are also essential – ones that women have historically been undervalued for.
Curiosity and creativity are two of these. They are traits that I commit a lot of time to. Interviews, comment pieces, podcasts, books, talks, and networking all prompt us to ask questions about the worlds we – and our teams and clients – live in.
We must challenge assumptions and make space for genuinely new ideas. I really believe this is important to make sure that we are all ready for the disruption that impacts our professional and personal lives, rather than being blindsided by it.
Courage is having the conviction to do things differently and challenge convention. It’s not asking about financial forecasts, it’s asking: what’s changing in the world? How do we adapt to that? And what does responsibility look like in practice?
A retailer I spoke to recently restructured its leadership team to bring in experts from social enterprise and data ethics. The result wasn’t chaos as some people might expect, it was clarity.
Embracing diverse perspectives
All of these traits I’ve mentioned above are things I see in my peers and in women creating amazing careers across the tech sector. One of my passions is empowering women as leaders, especially in AI and tech, and I am incredibly proud to be a Global Board Member of the C200. A global organisation of female entrepreneurs and corporate executives that celebrate and advance women’s leadership in business.
Just a few weeks ago I met with extraordinary women who are reshaping industries at our annual conference. We spoke about AI, empowerment, and how sisterhood has never been more essential.
What was clear from these discussions is that strength of diversity is an operational imperative. When we embrace diverse perspectives, we accelerate our ability to identify mistakes, challenge the status quo, and ultimately, learn more.
Modern leaders need to be willing to lead with empathy and the courage to be wrong to define, rather than follow, change.
