The Gift of Not Knowing: A Leader's Guide to Starting the New Year Right

As we stand on the threshold of a new year, I find myself reflecting on a counterintuitive leadership principle that has transformed my life and could transform how you approach this next year, the power of admitting what we don't know.

I read a book on ignorance recently, and it's been profoundly convicting. In our Information Age, we've become terrified of being ignorant. Information is so abundant that we've elevated the state of knowing facts above almost everything else. This creates an insatiable need to know everything and to deny not knowing things. We surf endlessly for factoids, desperately covering up gaps in our knowledge.

This tendency doesn't just cause us to deny our ignorance; it causes us to cover it up entirely. We become more rigid in what we claim to know, projecting confidence in our positions even when uncertainty might be more honest. Can you imagine one of our current political candidates admitting they don't know something? Or wondering aloud about various positions? It's almost unthinkable in today's climate.

But here's what I'm learning as I look ahead to the new year. Most leadership drift doesn't come from wrong decisions, but from unexamined assumptions, and assumptions stay unexamined when leaders refuse to admit their ignorance.

The Doorway to Curiosity

When we admit our ignorance, something remarkable happens we become curious and open to discussion. Being curious is built upon acknowledging our ignorance. Only when we admit we don't know something can we begin to learn, change our position, mature, and grow. Growth is quite literally founded upon ignorance.

I'm frustrated because so many leaders today are not growing, maturing, and changing for the better. It would appear this is directly related to our desperate attempts to cover up our ignorance. We won't admit we need to know more or learn more about critical issues, so we simply don't grow.

Teams stop talking when leaders stop listening, and leaders stop listening when they stop admitting ignorance. When a leader acknowledges what they don't know, it creates relational safety for others to speak honestly. Curiosity grows when leaders hold their perspectives loosely rather than defending them tightly. Admitting ignorance is one of the most relationally powerful things a leader can do; it communicates value and respect to your team.

The truth is simple but stark, you can't grow unless you admit you are ignorant.

The Procrastination Connection

Another byproduct of our Information Age is that procrastination has become worse. We wander through endless facts or positions on the internet or social media. Because information is continually available, we continually find new avenues to know more, which paradoxically keeps us from doing what actually matters.

I recently watched a brilliant 12-minute TED talk by Tim Urban about procrastination.

He described it in terms of The Rational Decision Maker, the Monkey in the Moment, and the Panic Monster. It illustrates the problem perfectly, though I'm not sure he offered much help in dealing with it; he describes it well. Urban clearly and phenomenologically describes what I experience, or am at least tempted to experience, often as a leader.

Here's the insight I want you to consider as you plan your new year, leaders don't procrastinate because they're lazy; they procrastinate because doing the real work forces them to confront their ignorance. Procrastination isn't about time management; it's emotional avoidance. Leaders delay tasks when those tasks expose what they don't know or aren't confident in. Avoidance becomes a defense mechanism to protect the ego, identity, or perceived competence.

Once ignorance is acknowledged, however, leaders can ask for help, gain clarity, and move forward with momentum. Admitting what you don't know disarms procrastination by removing the emotional threat behind the task.

A New Year's Resolution Worth Keeping

Most New Year's resolutions fail because they focus on behavior change without addressing the underlying mindset. What if this year, instead of resolving to do more, you resolved to admit more, specifically, to admit what you don't know?

I had a conversation with a friend the other day that lasted about 2.5 hours. It was genuinely refreshing. I appreciate the way he thinks; he's a great complement to me and could be a valuable ally in rethinking our organizational direction. We discussed developing a renewed stakeholder group to take us beyond our 90-day goals and into a 1-3 year vision. The conversation worked precisely because we both admitted what we didn't know and explored possibilities together.

Scripture is remarkably clear about the importance of growing in knowledge we didn't previously have, growing from a place of ignorance. The Apostle Paul repeatedly writes about increasing in knowledge, being transformed by the renewing of our minds, and growing in maturity. This growth isn't possible without first acknowledging that there are things we don't yet understand.

Your One Resolution for 2026

As you close out this year and prepare for the next, I want to offer you a resolution that could reshape your entire leadership approach.

If you make only one resolution this year, make it this, resolve to be a leader who admits ignorance.

Not because you lack competence, but because you desire to grow. Not because you're uncertain about everything, but because you're honest about what you know and don't know. Not because you want to appear weak, but because you're strong enough to acknowledge your limitations.

This means examining the assumptions you've carried for years without questioning. It means creating space for your team to speak honestly by modeling honesty about your own blind spots. It means tackling that project you've been avoiding; not by pretending you have all the answers, but by admitting you need help and asking for it.

The leaders who will thrive in the coming years won't be the ones who pretend to have all the answers. They'll be the ones who dare to admit what they don't know and the curiosity to discover it alongside their teams.

You can't grow unless you admit you are ignorant.

This is the foundation of transformation. This is the path to maturity. This is how great leaders are formed; not by knowing everything, but by being honest about what they're still learning.

Make 2026 the year you stop pretending and start growing.