Managers are helping teams navigate uncertain times. It may be a leader’s greatest opportunity. Photo: Lead with Courage.
If it feels like there has never been a harder or more relentless time to be a leader, you’re not alone.
Economic pressure is mounting, workforce restructures are becoming routine, and navigating uncertainty has become the baseline of modern leadership.
Yet one expert argues that workplace leaders are looking at an unprecedented opportunity to show their mettle.
Leadership capability specialist and co-founder of Lead with Courage Tammy Coggan says when friction hits the workplace, the greatest risk to team trust isn’t the disruption itself — it’s silence from the top.
“In 2026, leaders cannot be hamstrung by the outdated pressure to project complete certainty in uncertain times,” she says.
Through Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead program, Coggan teaches leaders how to shed corporate “armour,” why vulnerability is becoming a vital strategic asset, and what it takes to build brave cultures.
But to start, no discussion on effective modern leadership can happen without addressing the elephant in the virtual room: AI.
Coggan acknowledges that AI integration is either present or imminent in most businesses. But while boardrooms across Australia try to get ahead of it by investing millions in AI capabilities, she says the smartest organisations are doubling down on the one resource AI can’t replicate.
“The organisations on the front foot are investing just as much, if not more, into developing human capacity as they are in AI,” she says. “As AI takes over technical and process-driven tasks, uniquely human traits like emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and empathy become paramount.”
She points to a major tech benchmark: “During the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, Microsoft invested heavily in their North American workforce through the Dare to Lead program. A company that saw the AI revolution coming clearer than most still chose to invest fundamentally in human capability.”
Leadership Capability specialist Tammy Coggan says modern leaders must lean into the discomfort of change instead of waiting for certainty. Photo: Lead with Courage.
Yet AI is just one disruptor in a sea of constant change keeping teams on edge. Coggan says nothing about this moment being special.
She recalls her previous career in finance before her 25 years in leadership development, a period seemingly defined by relentless restructuring.
In one instance, management declared every role vacant, forcing seasoned leaders, some who had started straight out of high school, to reapply for their jobs.
In another, workers walked past a new automated facility being built, knowing it would eventually replace them.
Throughout it all, leaders still had to guide their teams through the turmoil while processing the shift themselves.
Facing instability, many leaders reach for projecting absolute control. Coggan says this façade often lands as secrecy and can, in fact, erode team trust.
“You might not be withholding information. You might be acting with good intent, holding back until you have full clarity. But human nature hates a vacuum, and we will seek stories to fill the gaps — often damaging ones,” she says.
“Having the awareness, courage and skill set to lean into that discomfort of not having all the answers — that’s a learnable skill. You can simply say, ‘I don’t have all the answers yet, but as soon as information comes to hand, I will share it with you’.”
Lead with Courage offers multiple immersive programs and workshops; the most in-demand are those grounded in the research of renowned American academic Dr Brené Brown, who spent decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame and empathy.
These programs are tailored specifically for those guiding teams through growth, change or crisis, and designed for leaders at all levels.
“For C-suite leaders, demonstrating vulnerability grants permission for others to do the same, and that can shift entire cultures,” Coggan says.
“For emerging leaders, mastering these skills early prevents them from building defensive habits that don’t serve their teams. And for middle managers — the crucial catalyst holding organisations together during transition — how you show up is vital.
“Most importantly, it’s for leaders who are ready to examine their own style honestly.”
Instead of traditional lecture-style training, the experiential curriculum uses real workplace scenarios. Participants build self-awareness, learn to catch themselves reaching for old habits, and practice the tough conversations most leaders actively avoid.
A handful of tickets remain for the Dare to Lead Canberra program running from 13 to 15 October. Dates for the upcoming program are currently being finalised. Visit Lead with Courage to register for exclusive access.
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