This keynote explores how successful organizations and leaders take action in these circumstances. Often, action precedes certainty, as they move quickly. But what’s more surprising is that these organizations actually use that action to generate the confidence they’re seeking, in a way that “more consulting and analysis” simply can’t.

My keynote "The Leader We Needed Was Us" challenges the traditional hero-centric leadership model by revealing how embracing collective leadership enables organizations to maintain both speed and coherence in even the most challenging circumstances. Drawing from my experience leading high-stakes pandemic response initiatives, I share frameworks for cultivating distributed leadership capabilities that serve daily operations, succession planning, and crisis response.

In today's business environment, leaders face mounting pressure to drive change quickly while maintaining clarity and direction, often sacrificing deep engagement in the name of speed. Yet this approach typically yields disappointing results: a revolving door of initiatives, minimal lasting impact, and teams who grow increasingly cynical about the possibility of meaningful change.