Some 'leaders' believe they are in complete control. They aren’t. And that’s okay. Leaders know that early sensing and adaptability are more important, they also know when command and control matters.
The hard truth is that control—at least in the way many executives, strategists, and professionals imagine it—is often an illusion. Our brains are wired to crave certainty, predictability, and structure. We construct models, analyse trends, and forecast the future as if the world follows a script. But the economic, competitive, and geopolitical landscapes don’t work that way. They are chaotic, ambiguous, and often brutal in their randomness.
Yet, some business 'leaders' cling to control as a default. They demand certainty from forecasts that are, at best, educated guesses. They build five-year strategic plans in industries that will look nothing like today’s market in half that time. They seek order in environments driven by unpredictable consumer behaviour, supply chain shocks, and black swan events. The need for control is almost pathological—but it is also the wrong game to play.
The Shift: From Control to Navigation
Leadership and strategy aren’t about controlling the environment; they are about navigating it. The most successful leaders aren’t those who attempt to impose order on chaos but those who learn to move with it, anticipating shifts and adjusting course in real time. They use command and control when required.
Consider this: No general controls the battlefield. No investor controls the market. No CEO controls consumer sentiment. What separates the great from the mediocre is the ability to make high-stakes decisions in conditions of uncertainty—decisions based on incomplete information, imperfect data, and ambiguous signals.
This is the lesser-known discipline of modern leadership: the art of making choices when clarity is a luxury.
The Tools of the Modern Leader
If the notion of complete control is a myth, what replaces it? The best leaders develop a toolkit for navigating the unknown:
Scenario Thinking Over Predictions - Instead of treating forecasts as certainties, resilient leaders prepare for multiple futures. They run scenario planning exercises, stress-test assumptions, and build agility into their strategies. The question is not “What will happen?” but “What could happen, and how do we prepare for it?”
Probabilistic Decision-Making - Good strategists don’t look for a single “right” answer; they think in probabilities. They weigh risks, assess potential payoffs, and make informed bets rather than chasing the illusion of certainty.
The Bias for Adaptability - Strategy isn’t a fixed map—it’s a dynamic system. Leaders who excel in volatile environments embrace adaptability as a core competency. They don’t stubbornly cling to outdated plans; they pivot intelligently based on real-time signals.
The Power of Feedback Loops - Rapid iteration beats rigid planning. Leaders who navigate uncertainty effectively set up fast, responsive feedback loops, ensuring their teams can course-correct before small missteps become major failures.
Decision-Making Under Uncertainty - The best decision-makers aren’t the ones with the most data—they’re the ones who can act despite incomplete information. They understand the risks, minimise downside exposure, and move forward decisively rather than being paralysed by ambiguity.
The Final Question: How Well Do You Navigate the Unknown?
The measure of a leader or strategist is not how well they control their environment—it’s how well they respond to the lack of control.
The companies that will dominate tomorrow are not those led by executives clinging to an outdated command-and-control mindset. They are the ones led by navigators—leaders who embrace complexity, thrive in uncertainty, and recognize that in a world without guarantees, adaptability is the most valuable skill of all.
So the real question is: How well do you lead when the map is unclear?
When command and control matters
While command and control leadership can be seen as rigid and outdated, there are specific situations where it is not only necessary but critical for success.
Crisis Management & High-Stakes Situations - In emergencies—whether a cybersecurity breach, a financial meltdown, or a supply chain disruption—decisive, top-down leadership is essential. The military, for instance, operates under a command structure for a reason: in life-or-death scenarios, speed and clarity matter more than consensus. Research from Harvard Business Review ("Leadership in a Crisis") highlights that in high-pressure situations, organisations benefit from leaders who make swift, authoritative decisions while providing clear directives.
Regulated, High-Risk Industries - Sectors like aviation, nuclear energy, and healthcare require strict adherence to protocols to prevent catastrophic failures. In these environments, control is not about stifling innovation—it’s about ensuring safety, compliance, and precision. The Challenger disaster, as analysed by NASA post-mortems, was partially a failure of leadership structure—engineers' warnings were ignored due to bureaucratic pressures rather than strong, decisive intervention.
Turnarounds & Organizational Chaos - When businesses face existential threats—mass layoffs, hostile takeovers, or extreme underperformance—decisive leadership can be the difference between survival and collapse. During his time at Ford, Alan Mulally adopted a disciplined, command-style leadership approach to force transparency and alignment, ultimately rescuing the company from near bankruptcy.
Execution of Well-Defined, Time-Sensitive Tasks - Certain business operations—large-scale product launches, crisis response teams, or major infrastructure projects—require strict coordination, fast decision-making, and role clarity. Here, too much debate slows momentum, and a clear chain of command ensures execution without unnecessary delays.
However, command and control should be a tool, not a default. The best leaders know when to shift gears—deploying control in urgent situations but fostering inclusion, adaptability, and strategic dialogue when navigating complexity. True leadership is not about always being authoritarian or always being collaborative—it’s about knowing when to take charge and when to listen.
Sources:
Harvard Business Review – "Leadership in a Crisis: Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak and Future Challenges", 2020.
Ronald Heifetz & Marty Linsky, Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading, Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
Diane Vaughan, The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA, University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Kathleen M. Sutcliffe & Karl E. Weick, Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty, Wiley, 2015.
Bryce G. Hoffman, American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company, Crown Business, 2012.
John P. Kotter, Leading Change, Harvard Business Review Press, 2012.
Jocko Willink & Leif Babin, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, St. Martin’s Press, 2015.
General Stanley McChrystal, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, Portfolio, 2015.
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