The Permission to Be Incompetent: Why Great Leaders Don’t Need to Know It All

In leadership, we often carry an unspoken expectation: the leader should have the answers. The leader should know the way. The leader should project certainty and confidence at all times.

But what if true leadership growth comes not from knowing everything, but from giving yourself permission to be incompetent?

Sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Yet, psychology shows us that when leaders release the pressure of having to be the expert in every situation, something powerful happens.

The Psychology of Permission

Psychologists talk about the “expert trap”—the idea that people in positions of authority feel pressured to always perform at peak knowledge. This mindset can create stress, rigidity, and even stifle innovation in teams.

By contrast, when leaders are willing to say, “I don’t know yet” or “What do you think?”, they open the door to psychological safety—a cornerstone of effective teams identified in Amy Edmondson’s research at Harvard.

Psychological safety allows team members to take risks, share new ideas, and challenge the status quo without fear of embarrassment. In this environment, innovation flourishes.

Growth Through Incompetence

When you embrace incompetence, you:

• Model vulnerability – showing your team that it’s okay to learn, try, and sometimes fail.

• Invite collaboration – unlocking the diversity of thought and experience that exists within your team.

• Encourage adaptability – moving away from rigid “leader knows best” approaches towards agile, collective problem-solving.

• Foster investment – people are more engaged when they feel their contributions matter to the outcome.

Neuroscience supports this too: curiosity (triggered when leaders admit they don’t know) activates the brain’s dopamine reward pathways, making people more motivated and creative in finding solutions.

From Assumptions to Innovation

The spirit of giving yourself permission to be incompetent doesn’t diminish your leadership—it strengthens it. It transforms your role from the one with the answers to the one who cultivates answers with others.

That shift builds trust, fuels innovation, and makes teams feel deeply invested in both the process and the outcome.

Call to Action

At Intentional Steps Ltd, our flagship DAWWN Programme (Daily Application of Workplace Wellbeing Now) helps leaders and teams embrace these very principles—building cultures of psychological safety, collaboration, and sustainable wellbeing.

If you’re ready to explore how your organisation can benefit from leadership approaches rooted in psychology, wellbeing, and growth:

👉 Book an enquiry call today👉 Or find out more about the DAWWN Programme on our website.

Give yourself permission not to know it all. The growth—for you and your team—starts there.