Leaders Are Losing Their Aggressiveness. Let’s Get It Back

The most aggressive decision humans can make is to leave the planet. At least four private space stations are in development to take us into low-Earth orbit and beyond. Among them is Starlab, a commercial space station that will house research projects, a science park, and humanity’s quest to become multi-planetary. It will feature interiors designed by Hilton.

Living in space represents a bold vision and requires an aggressive pursuit that many people can’t process. Sixty-five percent of Americans don’t believe we’ll build livable space colonies in the next 50 years, according to Pew Research. Yet some leaders are going boldly into space, scheduling launches as soon as 2025.

Leaders in every industry should take note, especially those who have lost some of their aggressive sides in a changing workforce. Technology, a new generation of workers, the post-Covid workplace, and society’s evolving view of work have dulled our instincts to be aggressive in business. We’re moving at a more deliberate, comfortable pace. We’re allowing change to drive us instead of driving it. What then? An AI CEO?

To build successful businesses, to drive real change—and yes, to go to space—leaders must be bold and aggressive. But let’s do it right.

What is “aggressive” leadership?

Companies that disrupt, innovate and change blend leaders and employees into teams that thrive on breaking boundaries. This requires leadership that pushes teams forward, celebrates achievements, learns from failure, and constantly reaches for the next challenge. That’s how we should define “aggressive.”

However, “aggressive” leadership (often rightfully) is a negative today. It connotes criticism, intimidation and bullying. It means being mean, and that’s antithetical to successful leadership.

Leading aggressively means having both purpose and strategy and defining them clearly for your teams. It means holding team members to deliverable schedules and performance benchmarks. It means asking employees to grow comfortable with being uncomfortable. It means asking why your team is comfortable with 10-percent growth.

Aggressive leadership sets goals and then peers past them. For instance, we created a new operation to deliver a projected $1.2 million in revenue, which is good. But we also should ask, “What’s preventing us from doubling that?” And then, we discuss, debate, and refine the plan. We push the pace, gathering input from the team and challenging what we thought was possible. And we do that with empathy.

Leading “aggressively” without acting aggressively

First, let’s define the word “aggressive” in relation to successful leadership. Leaders must lead aggressively without acting aggressively. That’s the line too many toxic leaders cross.

Leaders unclear about their vision or unprepared with one can lapse into what the Harvard Business Review called “pathologies.” Those include overconfidence, impulsiveness, rigidity and insecurity, leading to aggressive actions.

“These are far more than just annoyances,” according to HBR, “as they cast a large shadow across their organizations, contributing to failures in the design and execution of strategy.”

The past five years have disrupted the workforce as much as the previous 25. The pandemic changed where we work, technology is changing how we work, and younger employees are asking, “Why do we work?” These forces are turning managers inside out, prompting a trend the Wall Street Journal called “unbossing”—some leaders want to shed responsibility without losing their careers.

“We’re attracted to the cachet of the title, the promise of more money or the comfort of having a ladder to ascend,” Rachel Feintzeig writes. “Then come the performance reviews, the team drama to adjudicate, the meetings to attend. The job keeps getting harder.”

While this has always been a challenge, we see leaders conflate assessing performance with challenging feelings. Leaders can make their objectives clear without reducing morale. The key is to create a shared mission.

Involving everyone in the “aggressive” mindset

We should consider leading from the perspective of being “assertive” rather than being “aggressive.” Assertiveness can be a positive skill to develop. According to the Mayo Clinic, being assertive helps create self-esteem, develop communication skills, manage stress, and earn respect. Leaders who deploy assertiveness in pursuit of an aggressive strategy better equip themselves and their teams for success.

Assertive leaders value focus in pursuing a shared goal, like organizational restructuring, for example. They ask for input, provide strategy, and accept challenges to their ideas. In this example, leaders can clearly communicate the rationale behind their decisions while encouraging managers to share their concerns. They also collaborate, a chief function of successful leadership. There have been situations where I have maintained my firm expectations about timelines and outcomes in scenarios like these but have been willing to adjust the plan based on valuable feedback from my team. This approach ensured effectiveness while also prioritizing support. Assertive leaders don’t allow themselves to become aggressively one-sided in pursuing a mission.

Further, well-rounded leaders communicate assertively without speaking aggressively. They deliver a sharp vision that relies on data, establishes a series of objectives, and continues with purpose. And they do this calmly and encouragingly. Assertive leaders are also agile. They accept input and shift from strategies that aren’t working. They encourage teams to perform instead of dictating it. They listen, which is antithetical to aggressive leadership.

In 2022, as leaders confronted a post-pandemic workplace, Gallup cautioned leaders against trying to reclaim control with heavy-handed measures. “No More Mr. Nice Guy?” Gallup asked before declaring that traditional “command-and-control” tactics had long been ineffective. Instead, Gallup suggested, leaders must have two-way conversations, share accountability, and promote learning and development.

These strategies don’t have to conflict with aggressive project goals. We can pursue bold purpose and be empathetic leaders. The key is to lead aggressively toward a purpose without acting aggressively toward your teams. If we do that, we’ll get to space together.

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