I’m a Trekkie and I make no apologies for it.
The original series will always be home: original Spock, original Captain James T. Kirk.
Yet Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has pulled me in, particularly a moment in Season 3, Episode 6.
On his first day in the Captain’s chair of the U.S.S. Farragut, Commander James Kirk makes a decision based on the information available at the time. It’s a difficult decision but it seems like the right call. Until the consequences unfold.
This was also true of my client’s first time in a management role.
Like Kirk, the decision felt right, until reality tested it.
Then
That phone call from the GM’s office.
The perfect deal that fell through.
A team quietly wondering whether management chose the right person to lead them.
Afterwards, the questions linger:
Should I have waited longer?
If only I had known…
Would I have chosen differently?
First times taking action in a new role are hard.
They require risk.
They demand decisions without certainty.
They test judgment before experience catches up.
All this can leave you questioning whether you belong in the chair at all.
However, leadership isn’t about getting it perfect the first time.
It’s about learning in real time, reflecting honestly, and choosing to lead forward even when the path isn’t clear yet.
Because every confident leader you admire was once navigating their first command. And the truth is, you really never stops navigating.
What changes is not the journey but the relationship to it.
With experience, you don’t seek 100% certainty before you move.
You learn to trust your judgment, stay alert to the signals, and adjust as needed.
Navigation becomes less about fear of getting it wrong and more about responsibility for staying the course.
Or, as I am given to imagine how Spock might put it “The objective is not the elimination of uncertainty, but the mastery of response.”
To all those in leadership exploring these strange new worlds for the first time lead with curiousity, compassion, and grace NOT judgement of self.
Image credit: Google Image
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