Forward-thinking leaders love uncertainty. While others around them freeze in the face of changing circumstances, these leaders sense an opportunity to radically innovate and leapfrog past hesitant competitors. Of course, they can only press this advantage if they communicate effectively to their organization about what a gift uncertainty is - and organizations can themselves be resistant to change. To get their team on board, leaders have to recognize that organizational resistance to change is emotional, not rational. So it’s their job to connect to their people on a psychological level as well as a strategic level. They can forge this connection by painting a vision of the future that untether their organization's past to its evolving future, showing that change is part of the company’s overarching narrative, and not something extraordinary. For example, when we evolved at Rubrik from data backup to cybersecurity, I spent a lot of time talking about the shift in broad terms. And I talked about what the change would mean for our future success, even before the market fully understood it. Uncertainty is only a stressor if you don't address the psychological concerns it often triggers. But if you can frame uncertainty as a golden opportunity for your team, it will be just that.
Your perspective on forward-thinking leaders embracing uncertainty deeply resonates. It ties directly into your thesis on the death of traditional product market fit and the necessity to repeat zero to one every six months. In today's environment of rapid change, ambiguity, and disruption at AI-speed, being in “founder mode" to continuously evolve product market fit is essential. Thanks for highlighting the critical role of leaders in guiding organizations through this exciting uncertainty!
I love change and indeed uncertainty can be an opportunity to grow. That said, I was never much a fan of surprises inside my companies. Certainly external ones cannot always be foreseen, but internally, they should not be shockers. As a sidebar, I loved the idea of you inviting 800 employees into the BOD meetings.... EXCELLENT move.
Love this, Bipul
Definitely worth reading ❤️
This is a powerful reflection on the role of emotional intelligence in leadership. Uncertainty often exposes an organization’s deepest insecurities but visionary leaders know how to transform that discomfort into momentum. Your point about decoupling from the past to create a future-facing narrative is especially compelling. It's not just about strategy it’s about story, belief, and shared purpose. Thanks for sharing the Rubrik example; it’s a great reminder that successful pivots begin with bold communication.
You rightly pointed Bipul Sinha, uncertainty always creates more opportunities for growth.
Love this conversation Bipul Sinha. Earlier this week I was having a conversation with a CEO on this exact topic of uncertainty. While it makes you risk averse it does make you look at the challenge with several angles and outline ‘what ifs’ and adjust incrementally. Having this approach does allow you to continually improve the business needs.
Absolutely Bipul, I’ve found that in our SaaS benchmarking work, UNCERTAINTY is actually the raw data of INNOVATION; the delta where bold GTM pivots and UX reinventions are born, before the market catches up.
Absolutely, it’s where the magic happens
Uncertainty = opportunity plain and simple. Some people thrive on it, some ppl drown in it