As the clock of 2026 has started to tick, 2025 has reminded us that real leadership is an act of ambidexterity.
Ambidexterity is the rare ability to use both hands with equal skill — or in leadership terms: the capacity to perform and transform at the same time.
Strategic leaders master this through two kinds of time: Chronos and Kairos.
- Chronos is the measured, predictable flow of time — calendars, plans, targets, and milestones. Chronos is about managing the clock.
- Kairos is the opportune, decisive moment when action creates outsized impact. Kairos is about mastering the moment.
Great leaders don’t choose between Chronos and Kairos — they synchronize them.
They use Chronos to build systems, readiness, and capacity, whereas they use Kairos to recognize when those systems must be disrupted, reimagined, or leveraged to create strategic advantage.
The most common pitfalls I have seen, which quietly erode that synchronization, are the following:
- Treating Kairos as improvisation instead of preparation: many leaders think Kairos moments are about spontaneity or intuition. In reality, Kairos rewards those who have rehearsed scenarios, defined triggers and built readiness.
- Confusing urgency with importance: Chronos pressures (deadlines, KPI’s and reporting cycles) often silence Kairos signals (shifts in markets, slower consumer signals). Leaders respond to what is loud instead of what is strategically meaningful.
- Misaligned leadership rhythm: the top team moves at a different tempo than the rest of the organization, creating friction between long term vision and day-to-day operations. Typically, strategic conversations are rare, since operational pressure dominates every week.
In 2026, your real advantage will not be how much you do, but which moments you choose to convert into disproportionate value.
As the clock of 2026 has started to tick, 2025 has reminded us that real leadership is an act of ambidexterity.
Ambidexterity is the rare ability to use both hands with equal skill — or in leadership terms: the capacity to perform and transform at the same time.
Strategic leaders master this through two kinds of time: Chronos and Kairos.
- Chronos is the measured, predictable flow of time — calendars, plans, targets, and milestones. Chronos is about managing the clock.
- Kairos is the opportune, decisive moment when action creates outsized impact. Kairos is about mastering the moment.
Great leaders don’t choose between Chronos and Kairos — they synchronize them.
They use Chronos to build systems, readiness, and capacity, whereas they use Kairos to recognize when those systems must be disrupted, reimagined, or leveraged to create strategic advantage.
The most common pitfalls I have seen, which quietly erode that synchronization, are the following:
- Treating Kairos as improvisation instead of preparation: many leaders think Kairos moments are about spontaneity or intuition. In reality, Kairos rewards those who have rehearsed scenarios, defined triggers and built readiness.
- Confusing urgency with importance: Chronos pressures (deadlines, KPI’s and reporting cycles) often silence Kairos signals (shifts in markets, slower consumer signals). Leaders respond to what is loud instead of what is strategically meaningful.
- Misaligned leadership rhythm: the top team moves at a different tempo than the rest of the organization, creating friction between long term vision and day-to-day operations. Typically, strategic conversations are rare, since operational pressure dominates every week.
In 2026, your real advantage will not be how much you do, but which moments you choose to convert into disproportionate value.
