Dealing with Ambiguity: An Essential Leadership Skill in 2026

Consider how you're moving through your professional life. Your success likely depends not only on your expertise or effort, but on the quality of your relationships, as well as your ability to engage, influence, collaborate, and lead others.

In our executive search and coaching practice, we’re finding that one of the most valued professional attributes today is the ability to deal with ambiguity.

With so many unknowns on a daily basis, “business as usual” is no longer the norm. Regardless of company size or stage, leaders are being called to adapt quickly. They need to make decisions with incomplete information and stay attuned to shifting conditions. In other words, it’s no longer about having the perfect plan. It’s about reading the weather, adjusting course, and guiding others through uncertainty with clarity and calm.

For some executives, that’s an innate attribute, but for most others, it’s a skillset to be developed. That’s why, in our executive coaching engagements, we often explore how to build this skill. We do so not by removing ambiguity, but by working with leaders on how to navigate it with agility, curiosity, and presence.

There’s a sequence of steps we take to build this muscle, beginning with The Mindset Shift.

Step One: The Mindset Shift

When faced with uncertainty, most of us instinctively want clarity before we act. However, in today’s environment, waiting for all the answers can mean falling behind. We believe that the leaders who thrive in ambiguity are those who can shift their mindset from seeking control to cultivating curiosity.

Instead of having all the right answers, they ask powerful questions like, What’s possible here? What can I learn? That simple shift opens up space for creativity, collaboration, and forward movement, even when not everything is known.

So while ambiguity isn’t going away, our relationship to it can change. When we learn to view uncertainty not as a threat, but as a signal for learning and adaptation, we become more grounded, resilient, and ready to lead.

Step Two: Decision-Making in the Gray

With so many economic variables and hard-to-predict business scenarios, leaders are faced with the challenge of making sound decisions without perfect data. No matter how much experience, how much confidence and proven ability, that can still be an unsettling place for any leader to be.

Some practical tips: 

• Start by gathering input quickly and separating the “must know” from the “nice to know.”

• Then trust your experience, including that “gut read,” paying attention to your intuition.

• And stay willing to adjust as new information emerges.

What matters most isn’t being right every time but being responsive and willing to course-correct, guided by steady constants like one’s values.

Step Three: Leading Others Through It

Being a servant leader brings with it a great commitment to those you lead. That’s an asset in many instances, but can create a particular pressure when it comes to leading during changeable and fraught times: It’s not just about you, it’s the impact of your decisions that keeps you up at night.

This is a moment when the way you show up can have a significant impact on the team. Modeling calm helps those around you manage and move through unsettling times more productively. When so much is unknown, begin with what is known to anchor your decision-making. Name the uncertainty honestly to create transparency and build trust, and reinforce a sense of shared purpose as you move forward.

When leaders project steadiness, they make uncertainty feel navigable.

Step Four: Building Your Tolerance

When uncertainty is swirling around and lots of changeable “weather,” an effective leadership practice, we find, is to build in time to turn inward. Finding time for reflection, taking a walk, stepping away from the task for a few can allow you to turn inward and draw upon your own personal capacity.

By that we mean that leading effectively isn’t only about relying on external data or keeping your eyes fixed straight ahead. It also involves drawing on self-awareness, practicing mindfulness, and managing your emotional responses. These habits—pausing, reframing, and realigning your compass with your values—expand your tolerance for ambiguity.

Your ability to stay grounded when things feel uncertain may be your greatest leadership advantage.

As you reflect on your own leadership today, consider this question: What helps you stay steady when the landscape keeps changing?

At CFW Careers, we combine the reach of global executive search with the insight of professional coaching, serving leaders and organizations. Since 1973, we’ve been committed to opening doors, creating opportunities, and helping anyone on the rise in their career not just succeed but thrive.