What Canadian business leaders are teaching us about leading through uncertainty

Feb 6

I lived and worked in Canada for many years, culminating in earning my MBA at the Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario. I really value the perspective I gained from living outside of the U.S. for over twenty years, and I also value my ongoing access to learning opportunities at Ivey. Here are some great ideas from a recent webinar I attended, Impact Live: Are you ready to lead in 2026?

Uncertainty

There is no doubt that business leaders are being challenged by an extraordinary degree of uncertainty. But honestly, that’s nothing new. When I started consulting in the early 2000s, leaders were talking about “constant whitewater.” Articles, books, and speakers have all been fretting about the “exponential” rate of change for decades. In my long lifetime, there has been no era in which we were not experiencing a high degree of change and uncertainty.

So what’s different? Rahul Bhardwaj, president and CEO of the Toronto-based Institute of Corporate Directors, suggested that what is unsettling us right now is not the uncertainty. It is discomfort with a new emerging certainty — one that we don’t much like. He focused on two trends in particular:

AI is going to change the world of work in ways we are just beginning to understand. Jobs will be lost and jobs will be created. There will be winners and losers. We won’t feel as smart when AI can produce work faster and of higher quality than we can. Like any powerful new tool, from the wheel to the printing press to the internet, AI will be used for both wonderful and nefarious purposes.
There is a very rapid shifting of alliances, priorities, and rules about how the countries on this planet will interact with each other. Many leaders thought they had a good understanding about how this game is played, and it’s clear that there has been a radical change.

Will things go back to the way they were before? Almost certainly not. I think “discomfort with the new emerging certainty” aptly captures what many business leaders are contending with now.

Narrowing of What We Are Willing to Hear

Many commentators have talked about the loss of common ground in our information channels. I totally get it. We find it extremely uncomfortable to listen to people who are promoting ideas we find repulsive. But it is all too easy to fall into the trap of assuming the people who disagree with us are just stupid and evil. Of course, some of them are. But then some of the folks on our side are stupid and evil too.

One of the webinar speakers advised, “Listen to people with whom you disagree.” It may make you uncomfortable or angry. But if you focus on the people on the other side who are smart and well-meaning, you are likely to find common ground. You may even find that your own ideas shift as you consider their point of view. And that promotes dialogue, cooperation, and community.

Adopting an Entrepreneurial Mindset

There are entrepreneurs, and then there are the rest of us. But in the current climate, the panelists advised that all leaders need to become more entrepreneurial. That means:

Exercise your curiosity. To paraphrase the immortal mission from Star Trek: “Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Be confident but humble. Recognize what you don’t know and learn as much as you can.
Adapt fast.

It was fascinating to hear Canadian leaders wrestling with the challenges of 2026. They have a tough hand to play right now. But with this kind of foresight and energy, they — and we — have a chance to make 2026 a great year.

If you or your organization are wrestling with similar challenges, I’d be glad to explore how I might help. You can reach me at ggolden@gailgoldenconsulting.com.