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Early in my career, I was used to having answers.
I was a Managing Editor with a minor in editing. If someone brought me a grammar or punctuation question, I could answer it—and explain why. I knew how to give feedback on clarity, flow, concision, and cohesion.
Then I moved further into leadership, and the questions got harder.
They weren't:
“Should there be a comma here?”
They were:
“How should we handle this situation with an employee?”
“Is this the right strategy?”
“What do you think we should do?”
And suddenly, I didn't always know.
For a long time, not having an immediate answer felt like a failure. If I'm being honest, I still feel that pressure sometimes. But I've learned: You don't have to have an answer yet. These three words will set you free: I don’t know.
The fastest answer isn't always the best one
Leadership decisions are often complex. You may need more information, another perspective, someone's expertise—or simply time to think.
But when someone asks you a question and everyone looks at you, there's pressure to say something smart. So you do.
Sometimes what comes out isn't your considered opinion. It's simply the first opinion you were capable of producing.
That's especially dangerous as a leader because your words carry weight.
You might say:
“I'm just thinking out loud, but maybe we should…”
Your team may hear:
“This is what she wants us to do.”
A half-formed thought can quickly become direction.
Sometimes saying “I don't have an opinion yet” isn't indecisive. It's protecting the decision-making process long enough to make a better decision.
Get comfortable saying “I don't know”
These days, I use phrases like these all the time:
“I don't know.”
“Let me think on that.”
“Let me synthesize this and form an opinion.”
“Let me check on that and get back to you.”
And one of my favorites:
“I'm not confident in an answer. What do you think?”
I also like:
“I have some initial thoughts, but I don't want them to become the answer just because I'm the manager.”
You don't lose credibility by saying these things. You build credibility when people learn that when you give them an answer, you've actually thought about it.
Your team is watching
There's another reason this matters. If you always act like you have the answer, you teach your team that competent people always know.
So when they don't know, they may bluff, stay quiet, avoid asking questions, or make decisions without enough information.
I'd rather create a team where people can comfortably say:
“I don't know. Let's figure it out.”
“I don't know” doesn't have to mean helplessness. It can mean I don't know yet. Leadership isn't about having the fastest answer in the room. It's about creating the conditions for the best answer to emerge.
And sometimes good judgment sounds like:
“Let me think about it.”
I'd rather give someone a thoughtful answer tomorrow than a bad answer today just because I felt like I was supposed to have one.
When was the last time you said “I don't know” to your team?
I'd love to hear your answer. Just hit reply—I read every one.
—Ashley Walton, CMO & Treadmill Desk Advocate
