Maya Ivanovic: Leadership isn’t about having the answer – it’s learning to let go

By Maya Ivanovic, Associate Director at Palin Communications

 

What six months of mentoring taught me about leadership and what I had to unlearn.

For much of my career, I’ve wrestled with a particular idea of leadership – that part being a good leader means having the answer. Specifically, it meant seeing the path forward clearly, knowing what to do, and when to do it.

That belief served me well. It rewarded preparation and decisiveness in an industry built on pace and pressure. Over time however, it became a quiet source of friction. I found myself caught between wanting clarity and recognising that clarity rarely arrives fully formed, if at all.

Often leadership development is framed as a confidence problem – fighting “imposter syndrome.” However, I’m thinking that it’s more a clarity problem. After six months of structured mentoring and leadership development through Global Women in Public Relations (GWPR) Australia’s inaugural scholarship for the Beaumont People LEAD Programme, I see that tension more clearly.

Mentoring hasn’t handed me answers. It has challenged assumptions, sharpened my judgement, and created space to lead in a way that’s more intentional, consistent and authentic to me. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Clarity doesn’t arrive – it’s created

A challenge I’ve experienced at times is perfection paralysis: the sense that more information, more confidence, or more certainty is needed before you can act.

That instinct often masquerades as rigour. In practice, it can stall decision-making, delay progress and create frustration for leaders and their teams.

A critical reframe for me is that clarity doesn’t emerge on its own. It’s something leaders are responsible for creating. Not by having all the answers, but by structuring complexity, naming assumptions, and choosing a direction with intention, especially when multiple strong options exist.

There is rarely one ‘right’ way forward

One of the most useful mentoring reminders reinforced something I know but often forget in practice: there is rarely a single logical path forward when it comes to your career, your business, or a complex piece of work. More often, there are several strong, viable options – and waiting for one to clearly outperform the rest can leave you in limbo. This hit home.

My mentor encouraged me to read Working Identity by Herminia Ibarra, which articulates this tension well. The idea is simple but challenging – clarity doesn’t come from thinking harder about the right path – it comes from moving, experimenting, and learning which directions open as you go.

Leadership, in this context, isn’t about identifying the “most correct” option upfront. It’s about making a deliberate choice, communicating it clearly, and being willing to adapt as you learn more. Letting go of the need to find the “right” answer creates its own momentum – and signals trust, in yourself and in the people around you.

For me, the challenge was letting go of a hidden constraint – a tendency to equate credibility with absolute certainty.

Predictability builds trust more than adaptability

Adaptability is often celebrated in agency life, and rightly so. However, one of the more surprising insights from mentoring and the programme workshops was that what teams value most in leaders isn’t constant flexibility, it’s predictability.

Knowing what to expect, understanding how a leader will respond when everything else is changing, and feeling anchored in consistent values and behaviours.

For leaders who pride themselves on being highly responsive to context, this can be uncomfortable. When behaviour shifts too frequently – even with good intent – it can unintentionally create uncertainty rather than confidence. Predictability doesn’t mean rigidity; it means reliability.

Leadership is creating the conditions for others to know what to do

Perhaps the most significant learning is that effective leadership is more often about restraint.

It’s about allowing others to discover the answer, own decisions, exercise judgement, build confidence – and tell you about it later. It’s about prioritising the few pieces of feedback that will make the greatest difference, rather than overwhelming people with everything you may see.

My mentor aptly summarised this as, “I am not going to tell you how to do your job, I’m going to support you to figure out how to do your job.” I scribbled this down immediately.

Strengths can have blind spots

Leadership and strengths profiling throughout the programme reinforced another important truth: strengths don’t operate in isolation and there are two sides to every coin.

For example, my tendency to humour can build energy and connection in high-pressure environments, but it can also mask stress or unintentionally downplay challenges. As a leader, it’s important you recognise your strengths and broader style, as well as how and when this is best leveraged.

Leadership intent and leadership impact are not always the same thing – and closing that gap requires reflection, not just good intentions.

What letting go actually looks like

What’s changed most for me isn’t what I’ve started doing – it’s what I’ve stopped.

I’ve stopped trying to find and give answers. I’ve stopped assuming leadership requires certainty. I’ve stopped treating clarity as something you either have or don’t.

Instead, I am trying to lead with greater intention by slowing down, naming constraints (especially the self-imposed ones), and being more deliberate about when to step in – and, most importantly, when to step back.

 

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