How Unshakeable Are You as a Leader?
How Unshakeable Are You as a Leader?
One of the biggest misconceptions about leadership is that confident, experienced or successful people are naturally immune to internal pressure. They’re not.
In 2018, Australian billionaire and Crown Resorts chairman James Packer stepped down from the Crown board citing mental health issues. In 2023, WA Premier Mark McGowan and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern both spoke about exhaustion and burnout when stepping away from leadership.
These were highly capable, successful people, yet none were immune to the emotional load that can come with leading under sustained pressure.
Research into leadership and feedback also shows that fear, self-doubt and concern about how others will respond can influence how leaders behave. Leaders may avoid difficult conversations, overthink feedback, become reactive, struggle with boundaries or begin doubting their own judgement.
It’s a common experience. If you can relate, you are not alone.
The Shakeable Leader
At level one, the lowest level, leaders are directly impacted by other people, whose actions can highly influence how they feel and act. External circumstances can cause them to react unsteadily.
Leaders who are shakeable don’t have much flexibility in their thinking, and how good they feel about themselves directly depends on how they’re performing at work. For example, they will feel bad about themselves – and struggle to overcome it – when they make a mistake. They often rely on other people to boost their confidence and ‘give’ them self-esteem.
Shakeable Leaders often struggle with others and find that people rub them the wrong way. If someone unfairly criticises them, they take it personally, fall to pieces, become emotional and are left shaken for a few days.
At this level, leaders are disempowered because they don’t trust themselves to navigate difficult situations or feel confident in their ability to maintain their sense of worth independently of what’s happening around them.
Being Unshakeable does not mean becoming tougher or pretending nothing affects you. It means developing the ability to stay grounded, trust your judgement and respond thoughtfully when pressure rises.
The Unshakeable Leader
At level five, leaders operate from a deep sense of internal steadiness, self-awareness and emotional flexibility. Regardless of what is happening around them, they believe they have the power to choose how they respond.
Unshakeable Leaders do not believe that other people can control their emotions, push their buttons or determine how they feel about themselves. Instead, they approach ‘interesting’ people and challenging situations with curiosity, perspective and emotional control. (I say ‘interesting’ as a non-judgmental way of saying ‘challenging’ or ‘difficult’ people.)
If someone unfairly criticises them, they don’t immediately become defensive or emotionally overwhelmed. Instead, they ask questions, seek to understand and consciously choose how much meaning or emotional weight to give the situation.
At this level, their self-esteem comes from within rather than from performance, praise or approval from others. They understand that they’re more than both their mistakes and their achievements. Because of this, leadership no longer feels like a constant emotional rollercoaster. The heaviness of leadership is replaced with the excitement of possibility.
The Unshakeable Leader operates from a highly empowered state. They trust their ability to navigate uncertainty, regulate themselves during pressure and lead intentionally regardless of external circumstances. This doesn’t mean they never experience stress, frustration or self-doubt. It simply means those experiences no longer control how they lead or how they feel about themselves.
The pressure may not disappear, but you can become more Unshakeable within it.
Take The Unshakeable Leaders Self-Assessment and sing out if you would like to know how to move up the ladder.
