The Paradoxes of Leadership, Pt. 1
- Pete Ward
- Aug 20
- 3 min read
About the Author: Pete Ward - Partner, Rise Above Consulting
Pete Ward is a globally experienced founder and executive. After kicking off his career as a rock climbing rescue ranger, Pete then contributed to our foundational understanding of the mathematics of Neuroscience at university. Looking for the greatest possible positive impact, Pete brought that intellectual rigor combined with a fearless commitment to results into the business world where he has built his career as a leader. That career has spanned industries and continents and resulted in a truly unique perspective on how to build and grow profitable businesses. From New York to Oxford to Switzerland and from Tech to Financial Services to Retail, Pete has crafted high-performance strategies on the cutting edge regardless of context.
Paradox (noun): a situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities
Last week I wrote about why the climbing industry needs strong leadership more than ever. I introduced a paradox many owners and managers face: take risks to innovate or play it safe to deliver steady returns to investors.
That tension is just one example of what makes leadership difficult. There are rarely easy answers—only tradeoffs.
I call these tradeoffs The Paradoxes of Leadership. They’re the contradictory truths that every leader must navigate.
Your natural strengths & weaknesses will put you on a spectrum of leadership traits that are desirable and additive to one another, but which (for most leaders) are very hard to exercise at once. The complete leader must choose between traits as conditions require. The first goal of every leader should be to understand which traits you naturally are more comfortable with and by how much.
We map your preferred leadership style on the following spectrums
So what makes a good leader?
Start With Yourself
Socrates said, “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.” Leadership begins with self-awareness. Without it, your biases and comfort zones will shape decisions in ways you don’t even notice. Knowing your strengths, weaknesses, and defaults is the first step toward making clear, effective choices.
And be patient: leadership isn’t a quick fix, it's the work of a lifetime. Beware anyone selling simple answers to complex problems.
The Core Responsibilities of Leadership
Based on research I conducted with my friend James Schoonmaker, leadership boils down to four responsibilities:
Make Decisions | Provide direction, commitment, and impetus to your organization |
Motivate Your People | Align your organization, clarify its purpose, and get buy-in |
Resource the Organization | Provide the tools, structure and assets that your people need to do the job |
See the Big Picture | Think strategically, and know when to be adaptable and when to be resilient |
Over the coming weeks, I’ll explore these responsibilities in detail, beginning with the paradox of decision-making: how to make choices differently in strategic planning vs. crisis.
HOT TAKE: What gets you promoted won’t make you a good leader.
As an individual contributor (for example, a talented route setter), you advance through expertise and focus. But once you lead (IE: become the head setter or route setting manager), that same narrow focus can become a liability. For example, a great product manager or sales rep may struggle when the supply chain breaks down or when a teammate needs mentorship. Leadership requires broad vision and adaptability—not just mastery of one skill.
The same challenge exists the first time you become a General Manager, an Owner or President of a Board of Directors. Leadership is an ongoing growth process that requires scaling your abilities over the course of your career.
You can’t effectively grow your business if you’re not actively growing the capabilities of your leadership.
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