We live in a time marked by polarization: political, social, cultural and even business. In this context, harsh and personalistic leaderships seem to find fertile ground, relying on confusion, overexposure to information on social networks and, in many cases, on the loss of judgment of those who have not strengthened their own internal leadership.
Recent studies show the magnitude of this phenomenon. The Pew Research Center (2023) revealed that 65% of people in the United States believe that political polarization affects their daily lives. In Latin America, the Latinobarómetro (2023) indicates that only 22% of citizens trust their political leaders, evidencing the credibility crisis. On the other hand, the World Economic Forum (2025) points out that 6 of the 10 most valued competencies in current leaders are soft skills: critical thinking, resilience, empathy, active learning, leadership and social influence. In fact, a McKinsey report (2022) warns that companies with empathetic leaders achieve 20% higher talent retention.
The problem is that, when an employee does not cultivate their internal leadership, they end up looking outside for strong figures to guide them, falling into the trap of rigid and polarizing models. However, the evolution that we are seeing in many organizations points in another direction: towards conscious, neutral and empathetic leadership, capable of building agreements without being trapped in the unpleasantness generated by disagreements.
Neutrality: the forgotten quality of the leader
I remember a meeting with a team in crisis. There was tension, opposing positions and raised voices. Instead of imposing my point of view, I took a breath, asked for silence, and asked, “What aren’t we hearing yet?” That moment of neutrality opened the door to a joint solution that was not in my hands, but in everyone’s ability to listen to each other without attacking.
In such a polarized world, I believe that the key for a leader is to develop neutrality: the ability to be master of your emotions and decide what emotional charge you incorporate into each communication link or relationship. A leader without emotional awareness—an “emotionally illiterate”—will hardly be able to handle disagreements; These will end up turning into displeasure, and from there the destructive conflict is born. Collaborative leadership needs to rescue the ability to remain in disagreement without adding negative emotion, focusing on building agreements from awareness and empathy.
If your collaborators had to choose between following you or following a polarizing discourse, what would they choose? What does that say about your leadership?
The leadership we need today is not that of rigid control or that of a personalistic leader. It is a leadership that combines awareness, empathy and neutrality; that listens deeply, recognizes diversity as wealth and creates spaces of trust where people develop and contribute the best of themselves.
In a world saturated with extreme voices, the true leader is the one who dares to be the center: firm, conscious and human. That is the leadership that does not polarize, but rather builds. In times of extremes, the true courage of a leader is to remain in the center.
* Jacques Giraud is an engineer, specialist in organizational development. www.jacquesgiraud.com