Why Experience Often Holds Leaders Back

In January 2017, I was promoted to Managing Director Ukraine — though I had already been leading the business since 2015, during the first stage of the military conflict in Eastern Ukraine. I was a woman stepping into a position of power in the male-dominated, highly traditional telecoms industry. But that wasn’t my greatest concern.

What worried me most was my age. I was almost 30, and that went against the idea I had of what a leader is supposed to look like: someone with decades of experience who has faced every problem more times than they can remember. My first thought was to act senior and hope everyone would buy it, but pretending wouldn’t have helped me grow in the role or earn respect from those with far greater technical expertise. Instead, I focused on what had landed me there: making swift decisions, taking ownership, and building a team that has all the answers, even if I myself didn’t.

In hindsight, my lack of experience relative to many in similar roles wasn’t a weakness. It forced me to trust my gut, deal with uncertainty, and admit that I’m not an infinite source of knowledge — something that many experienced leaders struggle with. Now with 15 years in the industry, here’s what being thrown in the deep end taught me about leadership:

What worked in the past doesn’t necessarily work in the present
Many leaders rely on past experience to guide their decision-making. They look back at what worked previously and assume it still applies today. The problem is, the world doesn’t stand still, and what delivered results even five years ago often doesn’t now. Some leaders still insist teams must be in the same room because working together once required it. That isn’t the case today, with modern tools allowing teams to connect and collaborate from opposite sides of the world.

The advantage of becoming a leader with little experience was that I wasn’t overly attached to such legacy ways of working. Experience hadn’t taught me that there was a “right” or “wrong” way to do things. I was left to learn on the job, and I still make a conscious effort to ensure I don’t stop learning and adapting. Experience isn’t the problem, but the bias towards doing things “how they have always been done.” Your leadership approach might not change, but your industry, talent and customers certainly will.

There’s a fine line between critical thinking and overthinking
The world moves much faster than it used to, and there isn’t time to spend weeks analyzing the past and asking yourself what if. If you delay too long, someone else will beat you to it. Take hiring: top talents are typically only on the market for 10 days. If you haven’t made them an offer by that point, there’s a high chance they will have already accepted a role elsewhere.

I climbed the ranks quickly, which meant many situations were novel to me. Rather than wasting time consulting the past, I learnt to trust my gut and make quick decisions, which has proven highly valuable in a fast-moving industry where delays can be costly. Do I get every decision right? Of course not. Nobody does, no matter how much experience they have. Yet, the occasional imperfect call is no worse than a perfect one made too late, when the opportunity has already passed.

Not knowing won’t hold you back, but dishonesty will
Being a successful leader requires ego. You need to be confident in your ability and trust your decision-making. If you don’t, nobody will. But that ego also has to be carefully managed. For those who have seen and done it all, it can be tough to admit when you don’t know. The instinct is often to insist otherwise, but that only damages your credibility and harms your team’s chances of success. As a leader, your job isn’t to be the smartest person in the room at all times, but to get the best out of the talent available to you. If you don’t know, the correct answer is to call upon the expertise of those who do.

That transparency builds trust — it shows you prioritise the team’s success over your own ego, and genuinely value the knowledge and experience others bring – and that’s incredibly lucrative. Workers in high-trust companies are 50% less likely to quit, 180% more motivated, and 140% more likely to take on extra responsibilities.

Uncertainty is uncomfortable for those who haven’t faced it
Leaders who enter a senior position with decades of experience behind them will have dealt with most issues so many times that navigating them is almost instinctive. There’s little challenge. But what happens when the market shifts suddenly, or a problem arises that you’ve never encountered before? When a technology like AI drastically reshapes the market, or a geopolitical conflict throws a spanner into your supply chain. If you’re gone years without facing any sort of uncertainty, it can be incredibly uncomfortable.

It helped that, initially, most issues were new to me. Now I have experience to call upon, but I’m also incredibly comfortable dealing with discomfort. You may have a head full of technical knowledge and know your market inside out, but training those soft skills — adaptability, composure, and the ability to think on your feet — is just as important. Once you reach the higher rungs, it’s vital to continue stepping outside your comfort zone, remaining comfortable with uncertainty. Because eventually, you will face something that experience hasn’t prepared you for.

The qualities that actually make a great leader
Companies often prioritise experience when hiring for leadership roles, but the most seasoned candidates aren’t always the most effective. Technical know-how or seniority doesn’t mean you can lead successfully. In fact, overvaluing experience often results in slow decision-making and sticking to outdated practices. What businesses should really be looking for? People who can make decisions with very little to go on, find a way during unprecedented moments, and always question whether there’s a better way.