“In more than two decades of research into how leaders’ decision-making has an impact on organizational success, I’ve uncovered a surprising insight: The most effective leaders aren’t the ones who seem to have all the answers. The most-effective leaders are those who question themselves. [..]
Such ambivalence helps in several ways. Internal conflict helps us adapt to complex situations by forcing us to seek out more information and consider alternatives. Managers who don’t see everything as either positive or negative seek out expertise from others, incorporating that knowledge more than less-ambivalent leaders.
It makes them more receptive to competing or contradictory evidence than more-decisive leaders. As a result, ambivalent leaders make better decisions than the leaders who are most certain of themselves. In study after study, my colleagues and I have found that ambivalent feelings allow leaders to look at the world from conflicting lenses simultaneously—to identify the new job candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, to think about the consulting project’s positive and negative components, to provide both positive and negative feedback to a junior colleague. They engage with competing ideas, contradictory evidence, opposing sources, conflicting knowledge and balanced feedback, and they do this even if the uncertainty causes discomfort.
Because of that, ambivalent leaders’ teams proved better at solving complex problems and achieving win-win results in negotiations than decisive leaders’ teams. And their team members became more intellectually curious and innovative. [..]
Ambivalence doesn’t just make people more effective; it makes them more open to criticism and dealing with people different from themselves. [..]
For leaders, then, there is an advantage to cultivating internal conflict—within themselves and their team members. So, what is the best way to do that?
- Acknowledge internal conflict. Leaders should pay attention to conflicting feelings as they try to make a decision. They shouldn’t try to bury those contradictory impulses or ignore them. Instead, they should look at the feelings as an opportunity to get better informed and make a better choice.
- Pursue internal conflict. Leaders should cultivate internal conflict by writing down ambivalent memories or thinking about trade-offs. They should also engage with the arts—whether music, literature or theater—which can stir a range of emotions at once.
- Build a new culture. Leaders should make it clear in their organizations that questioning yourself is a crucial part of decision-making. And they should put systems in place to make sure that people are more likely to embrace inner conflicts. Awareness can make us all more conscious, but systems make it sustainable.
Ambivalent leaders defy traditional views of what leaders look like. But the social-scientific evidence shows, again and again, that their performance also surpasses the decisive and resolute leader. Ambivalence is a spark for critical thinking and collaborative decision-making.”
N Rothman, Wall Street Journal, C-Suite Strategies, 2025.3.17