Learning how to lead with humility and strength

Learning how to lead with humility and strength

3 minute read

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  1. 1. Acknowledge you don’t know it all
  2. 2. Recognise the gap between the objective and where we currently are
  3. 3. In a faith-based business, learn how to rest, so you can let God be God

1. Acknowledge you don’t know it all

I started 2026 taking on account management.

I identify myself more as a software engineer. Logically walk through the problem at hand, and explore the solution that allows us to scale.

AM… how would you describe it in a way that captures its essence?

Balancing what people expect, helping them do their best work, and earning enough trust that they’d speak up for you.

[Updated 2 months later from original draft]
Interestingly, some of the changes we worried would add to everyone’s load ended up lightening it, and helped us get the job done better.

As I reflect on the last 3 months, I realised that this approach of hypothesis-driven thinking has helped to keep me grounded and welcome feedback, even when it’s hard to hear. Since the goal of any hypothesis is to find every possible piece of evidence to falsify your hypothesis, you find yourself welcoming feedback instead of shying away from it.

2nd update since the original draft: when you’re driving change, it’s easy to come across as having already made up your mind. I’m still learning how to show that listening and agreeing are two different things. Every piece of feedback is heard, and then we test it against what we know. I often wondered if I was an outlier in thinking this way, but I was warmly assured when I heard another senior leader in another organisation working with their team in the same way.

2. Recognise the gap between the objective and where we currently are

Not knowing today doesn’t mean not knowing at all.

Learn to find out. Learn how to chart out your journey of growth and find out your unknown unknowns.

Learn to slow down and find out your leverage to tap on. For slow is steady and steady is fast.

You can’t work on everything, and you can’t individually contribute to all objectives, even with AI - trust me I tried.

But it is still your responsibility to come up with a plan.

People need to know what the commander’s direction is.

  • Crystal clear
  • No ambiguity on its intention and the ideal outcome that could come out of these decisions.
  • There has to be a vision painted for the team to hold onto and move towards.
  • There has to be a vision they can back and associate their meaning of work to.

3. In a faith-based business, learn how to rest, so you can let God be God

You cannot be the saviour forever, you are human and you need rest.

You pray for providence not because God is Santa Claus. You pray because you know it’s God’s intention to enable this company.

Let’s use Moses and the Exodus as a reference:

  • How do you know God wanted it to happen?
  • Because the reasons are clear.
  • And the signs are shown.

Not all are flashy, and they could easily be reasoned away as ‘coincidence’. But just how many ‘coincidences’ are enough to convince one that it’s perhaps a plan instead?

  • If the number of coincidences is indefinite, it’s a biased view and not objective.

The right people
The right resources
The right clients right where we needed them
The supporters, the challengers

My resolve has been tested, burnt, refined and strengthened along the entire journey.

I didn’t start a company first because I wanted to be rich, for it’s in the Bible that the love of money brings big issues along with it.

  • Not because money is evil, but I’ll let a commentary explain this holistically.
  • commentary

I’m also learning an interesting concept in The Founder’s Dilemmas, about the type of control you might want to have in a company.
King VS rich.

Neither is wrong, but it’s worth knowing which one you’re choosing, so you don’t end up somewhere you never meant to be.