The future of leadership: Why presence matters more than identity
By Chantelle Botha
FOR the last two decades, leadership development has been heavily influenced by
personality assessments, strengths-based development, leadership archetypes and values clarification.
Each asks, in its own way, the same question: Who are you?
It has been a useful question, but I suspect it is no longer the most important one.
The leaders who will thrive over the next decade will be the ones who allow themselves to adapt, not the ones who can define themselves most clearly.
The problem with identity-based leadership
Today, organisations are navigating technological disruption, economic uncertainty, and unprecedented access to information. What worked five years ago may no longer work today.
Identity provides a sense of consistency, but the danger is that consistency can become rigidity.
Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m not good with conflict,” or “I’m not a creative person”? While these statements may feel true, they can become constraints because they create fixed definitions in a world that is anything but fixed.
In this environment, certainty has a shorter shelf life than ever before.
The challenge is that many people become trapped by who they believe they are, or who they believe they should be, rather than responding to what the situation requires of them.
The emerging question
What if we moved beyond “Who am I” and asked “How am I” instead?
This linguistic reframe represents a fundamental shift in how we think about leadership.
When the environment becomes uncertain, our instinct is to seek certainty. In an uncertain world, this can show up as procrastination or anxiety. Yet the only place we can influence outcomes is in the present moment.
Asking “How am I?” brings awareness back to what is happening right now.
“Who” asks for a definition, whereas “How” asks for an experience. The former seeks certainty, whilst the latter creates awareness.
If you’re tired of carrying the weight of always knowing who you are and what to do next, presence offers a different path: you don’t have to have the answers, you only have to show up to the moment.
Presence creates momentum
This shift from identity to presence is not merely philosophical, it is already being recognised in global leadership research.
A senior L&D Director is quoted in Harvard’s 2024 Global Leadership Development Study: “What our business leaders need to do differently is to recognise that the things that have gotten them to the place they are, will not get us to the next level. We need internal introspection on not just our strengths and weaknesses, but on those things that we don’t like to do and embrace the changes.”
The best leaders remain present long enough to ask better questions. They stay curious when situations become unclear, tolerating discomfort without immediately retreating into old habits.They respond rather than react. Most importantly, they take action before certainty arrives.
One of the biggest misconceptions in leadership is that confidence comes first. Confidence is built through repeated actions over time. Presence allows us to take that first courageous step before certainty arrives.
Presence creates the conditions for action. And action creates momentum.
A new leadership advantage
The future belongs to leaders who allow themselves to flow with radically changing dynamics.
In an increasingly uncertain future, perhaps the most valuable leadership question is no longer: Who am I?
But rather: How am I? … and what does this moment require of me?
If you’re a leader who wants to thrive over the next decade, you don’t need another framework. You need permission to stop performing certainty and start practising presence. If that conversation resonates, message me.
Chantelle Botha is an international speaker, author and founder of Phoenix. Through her speaking, coaching and facilitation, she helps leaders move beyond fixed identities to become more curious, courageous and confident in an ever-changing world.
