Leadership in a World That Has Changed (part 2)

Human Capacity Is the New Competitive Advantage

Earlier this week, a leader said to me, “I know what I should be doing - I just seem to lose that knowledge in the moment and afterwards I kick myself.”

That sentence captures what many leaders are experiencing.

It’s not a lack of skill or knowledge. It’s not a lack of commitment. It’s the growing gap between what leadership now demands and what we’ve traditionally developed. I call it 'the knowing, doing gap'.

From competence to capacity

For years, leadership development has focused on competence.

Skills. Frameworks. Functional mastery.

Those still matter, but they’re no longer enough.

In a world of constant change, AI acceleration, and ongoing uncertainty, the leaders who thrive aren’t just the most skilled.

They’re the most capable - internally.

Competence and capability is about what you can do.

Capacity is about how you hold complexity, pressure, emotion, and ambiguity while you do it.

It’s the difference between:

• knowing what to say and do - and being able to say and do it when tension is high

• understanding change - and staying steady while others react

• having the answer - and creating the space for better ones to emerge

This is the shift many leaders haven’t fully made yet.

Why skill isn’t enough anymore

AI has raised the baseline of competence.

Access to information is instant. Analysis is faster. Execution is increasingly automated.

What hasn’t been automated is:

• emotional regulation

• sense-making

• trust-building

• judgement under pressure

• the ability to hold uncertainty without rushing to false certainty

These human capacities are now doing the heavy lifting.

The capacities leaders are being stretched on

In my work, the same patterns show up repeatedly.

Leaders are being asked to:

• absorb pressure from above and below

• translate strategy into meaning, not just action

• make decisions without full information

• manage their own energy while supporting others’ wellbeing

This isn’t resilience as “toughing it out”.

It’s internal capacity - the ability to stay present, grounded, and intentional in the middle of complexity.

Capacity isn’t a personality trait - it’s buildable

This is the hopeful part.

Capacity isn’t fixed. It’s not about being naturally calm or confident. And, just like leadership itself, it’s not reserved for a select few.

Capacity grows when leaders:

• build awareness of their own triggers and patterns and constantly tune in

• learn to regulate emotion under pressure

• create space to think, not just react

• practice sense-making with others, not in isolation

This is development that works with the nervous system, not against it.

Why organisations need to take this seriously

When leaders lack capacity:

• teams feel it

• decisions suffer

• trust erodes

• change stalls

  
  

When leaders build capacity:

• clarity increases

• pressure is held, not passed down

• people feel safer to think and speak

• performance becomes more sustainable

This isn’t “soft”. It’s structural.

Micro-practices to build capacity (without adding more to your plate)

Building capacity doesn’t always require big programmes or more time in already-full diaries. It’s built through small, repeatable practices embedded into everyday leadership moments.

Here are a few I’m seeing make a real difference:

• Pause before performance

  Before a meeting, conversation, or decision, take one deliberate breath and ask: What does this moment and outcome actually need from me and my leadership?

• Name before you navigate

  When things feel tense or unclear, name what’s happening - internally or out loud. Naming reduces reactivity and invites shared sense-making.

• Shift from answer-holder to space-holder

  When you feel the urge to solve quickly, ask one question instead: What are we not seeing yet, what is your perspective on this?

• Regulate first, respond second

  Strong leadership responses come after regulation, not before it. A short walk, a breath cycle, or stepping away from a screen can reset far more than pushing through.

• Debrief the human, not just the task

  After a demanding moment, ask: What was that like to lead or experience? What are you most proud of here? What have you learnt from this? Reflection is how capacity consolidates.

  
  

  These practices aren’t about doing more. They’re about doing what you already do with more awareness, steadiness, and intention.

Final thought

The organisations that will thrive aren’t the ones with the smartest strategies.

They’ll be the ones with leaders who have the internal capacity to carry them.

Coming next in the series

In Article 3, I’ll explore why mid-level leaders are carrying the heaviest load of all - and what organisations and leaders must do differently if they want change to land rather than stall.