When you should know but you don’t
There are moments when your team looks at you and waits.
Not because you’re the only person who can make the decision. But because you have the broadest context. You know the most about the financial situation, about the status of the investor talks, about the strategic direction. Or at least you should know.
The problem is that sometimes you don’t know. You don’t have complete data. The decision hasn’t crystallized yet. Each available option carries some risk. You have doubts.
And yet you have to stand before your people and say something, without losing authority or your team’s trust. But how do you do that? And that’s when the tension starts to build and the tempting thought emerges: “Maybe I just don’t go there and stay quiet?”
You can communicate uncertainty without losing authority and trust
Imagine a moment when you stand before your team fully aware that you don’t have all the answers. And yet there’s no awkward atmosphere in the room. No nervous filling in of scenarios. No whispers after the meeting.
People listen to what you’re saying. Not because everything sounds perfect. Not because the situation is simple. But because they feel you know where you’re heading.
They leave the meeting with a sense of stability. Not because there’s no risk, but because they know the company isn’t drifting. That at the helm sits someone who, even when a wave catches them by surprise, is able to react and keep the ship afloat.
And paradoxically, it’s precisely in these moments — when there’s no complete clarity — that a leader’s authority doesn’t have to weaken at all. These moments are the best opportunity to strengthen it.
You don’t build authority by saying it’s easy, or by staying silent when it’s hard. You build it by showing that even though it’s hard, you know what to do.
Because lack of communication is not the same as the absence of a message.
I talk more about how to communicate with your team in uncertainty so you don’t lose trust and authority — especially in difficult situations — in episode 5 of the Founder 2.0 series, available in Polish and English.
If you don’t fill the silence, someone will do it for you
Silence is a double-edged sword.
The first edge is silence on the leader’s side. The situation is difficult, so you wait. You don’t want to speak too early. You don’t believe in promising things you’re not sure you’ll deliver. You feel uncomfortable with the thought that you might come across as someone who constantly changes their mind.
From the team’s perspective, a leader’s silence is rarely neutral. Lack of information starts being interpreted faster than you think. People fill the void with their own scenarios — often more radical than reality.
The second edge is silence on the team’s side. When you finally say something, you come prepared. You’ve already built a narrative. You explain its context and the rationale behind it. You speak at length and eloquently. People listen. There’s no open resistance. The meeting ends calmly.
But lack of questions doesn’t always mean there aren’t any. Sometimes it means people don’t know what to ask. They don’t know what’s direction and what’s just a hypothesis. They’re silent because they have nothing to reference. Or worse, they’re silent because they completely don’t buy the narrative.
In none of these cases does the vacuum remain a vacuum.
Communication doesn’t start with speaking. It starts with thinking. Before you say something — or before you decide to say nothing — it’s worth asking yourself: what should I say to move things forward?
Because if you don’t name the direction, someone will do it for you. Most often not at all as you expect.
Because if silence doesn’t bring peace, it’s quite possible that it’s the calm before the storm.
What’s next?
I talk more about how to speak with your team in difficult situations and how to communicate in uncertainty without losing authority and trust, but consistently strengthening them instead, in episode 5 of the Founder 2.0 series, available in Polish and English.
And if you’re facing a difficult conversation today and don’t have all the answers yet, but you know you can’t leave silence — let’s talk.