Who Will Lead Us Through the Unknown?
A Call to Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times
Can you feel the energy? The charge? It’s in the air, in how we do things, how we talk to others, how thoughts race through our heads. At the end of the year, it feels like we’re standing at the edge of an abyss, staring into the unknown. Territory we’ve never walked before, an environment we don’t recognize, situations we can’t predict. Maybe it’s AI, maybe geopolitical shifts, economic upheaval, whatever it is, change is coming, and we have to ask ourselves: how will we meet it?
I feel that now more than ever, the world needs leaders, brave people, visionaries who will guide us through the unknown. But tomorrow’s leaders won’t just be heads of state or CEOs of major corporations. They’ll be ordinary people among us, people who help, support, and encourage when the unknown becomes overwhelming. And those who will rise as these kinds of leaders will, in my view, share the following characteristics.
The First Characteristic: Self-Knowledge and Emotional Intelligence
Only someone who can recognize their own emotions and sit alone with them can recognize what others need and provide it. Whether that’s support, guidance, or simply listening, our ability to understand the people around us will be our superpower in the years ahead. And that ability comes directly from knowing ourselves.
In my HR work, I see this again and again: managers with emotional intelligence grow into leaders. The rest stay stuck managing processes instead of developing and inspiring people. What’s striking is that in an age of artificial intelligence, our greatest need is for authentic, deeply human intelligence.
The Second Characteristic: Adaptability
If we thought we were living in dynamic times before, the future promises supersonic speed. Change will come fast and often without warning. Those who can stay grounded amid constant upheaval, think clearly, and show the path forward will be the leaders of this new era.
I have a colleague celebrating 43 years at my company this year. The future won’t see many anniversaries like that. Companies will close, new ones will open, and we’ll need to stay flexible and adapt seamlessly to new circumstances. But adaptation isn’t just about changing jobs. It’s about changing how we think, what skills we have, how we approach problems. It’s the ability to unlearn what we knew yesterday so we can learn what we need tomorrow.
The Third Characteristic: Resilience
When change is the only constant, there will inevitably be times when that change isn’t positive. The people who stay strong no matter how hard they’re hit or how devastating the impact on their lives, those are the ones who will inspire others. People trust leaders who’ve walked the path themselves, who’ve hit bottom but found the strength to rise again and stayed human through it all.
Resilience isn’t just survival. It’s the ability to remain yourself when everything around you is falling apart. It’s holding onto your values when everything else is shifting. It’s rising not despite the fall, but because of it, because you learned something when you went down.
The Fourth Characteristic: Comfort with Uncertainty
This might be the hardest quality to develop because it goes against our need for security and predictability. But future leaders won’t have the luxury of waiting for clarity before making decisions. They’ll have to act in the fog, decide with incomplete information, and accept that sometimes there’s no “right” answer, only the best possible choice in that moment.
This comfort with uncertainty connects directly to the abyss I mentioned at the start. We don’t know what’s on the other side, but someone has to take the first step. These are the leaders we need.
The Fifth Characteristic: Integrity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
AI is real. People still have wildly different opinions about it, some think it’s gotten far more attention than it deserves. But whether or not we all end up with robot servants, AI has already set a new direction for how we work, how we think, and where we’re headed. This process can’t be stopped.
Here’s the paradox: AI is both our greatest challenge and our most powerful tool. It creates uncertainty while offering new possibilities. It eliminates some jobs and creates others. It can disconnect us from our humanity, but it can also help us be more effective at what matters most.
The leaders we need will be those who can balance humanity and technology, who can reach people emotionally through digital tools, who can help those left behind by AI’s rapid growth. They won’t fear technology, but they won’t worship it either. They’ll use it with integrity, always aware of what’s machine and what’s human, and why that distinction matters.
You’re Already the Leader
Tomorrow’s leaders are you, me, CEOs, presidents, mothers, heads of community groups. They’re ordinary people and powerful figures, men and women, from every background and nation. They’re people with heart, with courage, and with enough strength to guide us through what’s coming.
What I’ve come to understand is that we’re not waiting to be saved. We’re not waiting for someone to give us permission to lead. We’re not waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect skills, or the perfect circumstances. Because leadership isn’t about perfection, it’s about presence. It’s about showing up when it matters, even when you’re scared, even when you don’t have all the answers.
The abyss I spoke of at the beginning? Someone will cross it. Many someones. And they won’t do it because they’re fearless or flawless. They’ll do it because when the moment came, they chose to step forward instead of back.
So the question isn’t whether you can be a leader. The question is simpler and harder than that: when the unknown arrives, and it will, will you step forward? Will you lead from exactly where you stand, with exactly what you have, as exactly who you are right now?
Because that’s all leadership has ever been. And that’s all the future needs from you.
Leader of the future,
Diana
