“My team is looking to me to be calm, and I think of myself as the duck—or in a good day, maybe the swan—that’s on the water,” Sherringham said. “…They’re looking at me not just to be centered, but also to make clear what actually matters, like this is what matters. This is where you should focus.”
“Scaling has this element of needing you to be agile and figure out what’s the next thing that needs to get done, and where can I uniquely help out?” Mertz said.
“In a complex organization or a world that can be uncertain, context is really the most important,” Mertz said.
“I believe that education is the great equalizer,” Canney said, adding that it equips workers with the courage to try something new without the fear of breaking something, which ultimately sparks innovation.
Across industries, these leaders agree: staying calm, providing context, and enabling learning are the hallmarks of modern leadership—and sometimes, being a graceful swan is just as important as solving the next big problem.
