That was the question I found myself asking one morning, coffee in hand, while reading an article by Rodolphe Durand.

It is a simple question on the surface.

Yet it is deeply unsettling.

The world is changing fast (economically, socially, technologically). Uncertainty has become the norm rather than the exception. And still, many organisations continue to respond to this new reality using yesterday’s models: more control, tighter processes, stronger reporting, more pressure.

On the ground, I meet managers who are caught in the middle of contradictory demands. They are expected to deliver increasingly ambitious objectives, lead teams that are searching for meaning, keep pace with accelerating rhythms, and at the same time preserve what is most fragile and most essential: the human dimension.

For years, better organisation and better steering were enough. If something wasn’t working, we refined the process, adjusted the structure, added indicators. Performance was largely a matter of optimisation.

Today, that logic is reaching its limits.

What truly transforms a team no longer lies primarily in tools or methodologies, but in the quality of the relationship. In the leader’s ability to name tensions rather than ignore them, to listen to what is happening beneath the words, and to create trust even when everything is not fully under control.

Because today, managers are no longer simply managing projects.

They are managing uncertainty.

And above all, they are leading human beings in an unstable world.

This changes the nature of leadership itself.

The leaders I see navigating this complexity most effectively are not necessarily the most technical or the most expert in processes. They are the ones who are able to remain present. Present to themselves, present to others, present to what is actually happening rather than what should be happening.

They accept that they do not have all the answers. They dare to replace certainty with awareness, control with trust, posture with genuine presence. They understand that authority today comes less from knowing and more from the capacity to hold space for dialogue, for doubt, for shared reflection.

This does not mean lowering expectations or renouncing performance. On the contrary. It means recognising that sustainable performance now depends on psychological safety, clarity of intention, and relational quality. Teams engage not because everything is perfectly defined, but because they feel seen, heard, and trusted.

In a complex world, leadership is no longer about mastering the system.

It is about creating conditions: conditions in which people can think, decide, adjust, and grow—together.

Perhaps this is the quiet shift underway.

A form of leadership that is less about control and more about consciousness. Less about rigidity and more about grounding. Less about appearing strong and more about being real.

And in today’s world, that may well be the most demanding form of leadership there is.