The Leadership Gaps
Sometimes the gap isn't knowledge. It's what you can't see.
Most of the leaders I work with are already capable.
They're smart. Experienced. Thoughtful. Good at what they do.
They've read the books. Taken the courses. Had the training.
And yet, knowing what good leadership looks like and being able to practise it consistently are two very different things.
A leader may know they need to delegate, but still find themselves stepping back in.
Know they need to have the conversation, but soften the message until the meaning gets lost.
Know they are capable of making the decision, but keep looking for reassurance.
Know that asking questions develops people, but still provide the answer because it's faster.
Know they need to give someone room to grow, but struggle with the discomfort of watching them figure it out.
These aren't always capability gaps.
Often, the capability is already there.
The opportunity is noticing what is getting in the way of using it.
I call these Leadership Gaps.
The gaps between knowing and leading
I've spent nearly a decade coaching leaders at very different stages of their careers.
Emerging leaders learning to lead other people for the first time.
Experienced leaders taking on greater responsibility.
Senior executives trying to lead differently as the complexity around them increases.
And leaders responsible for developing the people who will lead what comes next.
The circumstances change, but I keep noticing versions of the same thing.
There is often a gap between what someone intellectually understands about leadership and what happens when the moment gets uncomfortable.
Between capability and permission.
Between expertise and curiosity.
Between intention and impact.
Between knowing you should step back and actually letting go.
Between wanting other people to take ownership and allowing enough friction for them to develop it.
Those are the gaps I'm interested in.
Not because they mean someone is a poor leader.
Because they're often where the next stage of someone's leadership is waiting.
The Leadership Gaps I'm seeing
The Self-Trust Gap
When capability is there, but certainty still feels necessary.
Greater responsibility often brings greater freedom. But without someone else providing the answer, capable leaders can find themselves overthinking, seeking reassurance or waiting for certainty before moving.
Closing the gap isn't about always making the right decision.
It's about trusting yourself enough to make one, learn and adjust.
The Identity Gap
When the skills that made you successful start getting in the way of leading.
Leadership often requires a fundamental shift in how we create value.
From solving to developing.
From doing to enabling.
From having the answer to asking the question.
From being the player to becoming the coach.
The challenge isn't simply learning new behaviours. It's letting go of an identity that may have made you very successful.
The Explicitness Gap
When leaders assume people know what was never actually said.
We assume people know they're trusted.
Know they're allowed to disagree.
Know we want their ideas.
Know they're doing good work.
Know what we expect.
Know they can come to us.
But what feels obvious to the leader may not feel obvious to the person receiving the message.
Sometimes leadership requires saying the thing we assume shouldn't need to be said.
Clearly. Directly. And sometimes more than once.
The Permission Gap
When capability exists, but someone is still waiting to be invited to use it.
There is often a gap between what someone is capable of and what they give themselves permission to do.
Speak up.
Challenge the thinking.
Reach for the role.
Make the decision.
Lead.
Sometimes development isn't about adding another skill. It's recognizing that no one else is going to hand you permission to become the leader you're capable of becoming.
The Curiosity Gap
When expertise starts replacing inquiry.
The more experienced we become, the easier it is to believe we understand what's happening.
Why someone behaved that way.
What motivates them.
Why the team isn't taking ownership.
What the solution should be.
Expertise is valuable.
But when knowing replaces curiosity, leaders can miss information that would change how they lead.
Sometimes the most powerful leadership move isn't having a better answer.
It's asking a better question.
The Friction Gap
When avoiding discomfort also removes the conditions for growth.
We naturally want to make things easier.
Give the answer.
Solve the problem.
Step in.
Smooth over the tension.
But some friction is where learning happens.
For us and for the people we lead.
The challenge is learning to recognize the difference between friction that is getting in the way and friction that someone needs to experience in order to grow.
The Visibility Gap
When doing good work isn't the same as being seen doing meaningful work.
Many capable people assume their contribution will speak for itself.
Sometimes it does.
Sometimes leadership requires making your thinking, contribution and ambition more visible.
Not performatively.
Intentionally.
Because waiting to be discovered can quietly become a barrier to growth.
The Evidence Gap
When we stop a new behaviour before we've given it enough time to work.
Leadership change can feel uncomfortable before it feels effective.
Delegate differently and someone may struggle.
Ask instead of answer and the conversation may take longer.
Become more direct and it may initially feel unnatural.
So we retreat to what we know.
The problem is that we may abandon the new behaviour before we've stayed with it long enough to collect evidence that something different is possible.
The Reflection Gap
When experience keeps accumulating, but learning doesn't.
Busy leaders have no shortage of experiences.
Meetings. Decisions. Conversations. Mistakes. Wins. Difficult moments.
But experience by itself doesn't guarantee growth.
We have to stop long enough to notice what happened.
What worked?
What didn't?
How did I show up?
What would I do differently?
Sometimes the missing leadership practice isn't another action.
It's reflection.
This isn't a checklist
I don't see the Leadership Gaps as a model leaders need to complete.
And I don't expect this list to stay exactly the same.
They're patterns I'm noticing through coaching conversations, leadership development work and my own experience leading people.
Some overlap.
Some appear at particular stages of leadership.
And sometimes one gap exposes another.
A leader struggling to delegate may initially appear to have an Identity Gap, only to discover underneath it is a Self-Trust Gap.
Someone waiting to be noticed may discover a Visibility Gap and a Permission Gap sitting side by side.
A leader frustrated by a team's lack of ownership may discover that their own Curiosity Gap or Friction Gap is contributing to it.
That's what makes leadership interesting.
The gap we first notice isn't always the gap that matters most.
Leadership readiness is built in the moments that matter
Leadership development isn't simply about knowing more.
It's about increasing our capacity to notice ourselves in the moments when leadership is actually happening.
The conversation we're avoiding.
The answer we're about to provide.
The decision we're second-guessing.
The person we're tempted to rescue.
The assumption we haven't questioned.
The invitation we haven't made explicit.
The moment we need to step forward.
Or step back.
Those are the moments in which leadership gets practised.
About Jacqueline “Jax” Rose, PCC
I'm Jacqueline “Jax” Rose, PCC, an Executive & Leadership Coach.
I work with emerging leaders, experienced executives and organizations developing their leadership bench.
My work helps thoughtful, growth-oriented leaders uncover the gaps they may not be able to see on their own, so they can lead more intentionally, develop their people and build the human skills required for the moments that matter.