This is a time that calls for those who claim to be leaders to meet the moment.

Societies are on fire from the Middle East to Ukraine to the United States to Latin America causing massive disruption. Refugees stream outside the boundaries of their countries, decimated by war and climate change as residents inside the boundaries find themselves pitted against each other, fueled by polarization.

And it’s not just conflict and displacement. For myriads of reasons, the ways things have been are no longer. Many feel disoriented and adrift. We are now in a global mental health pandemic. Globally, 15% of working-age adults experience mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and others (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation).

There’s political uncertainty as the rules of engagement, the best practices, and the norms are being demolished. There is a lack of clarity about what to do when things that once seemed stable and understood are suddenly broken, with no clear path forward for policy or strategy.

Sure, managerial leadership matters — tending to the daily running of teams, organizations, cities, and countries. But leadership, in its deeper form, must show up when the road disappears as confusion, uncertainty, strife, polarization, and disruption threaten to pull everything apart.

But leadership, in its deeper form, must show up when the road disappears as confusion, uncertainty, strife, polarization, and disruption threaten to pull everything apart.

Yet, as we look around, we see shamelessness, abdication, cowardice, caution. The world is short on leader voices steady enough to hold the weight and meet the moment. People everywhere search for leaders who see them, understand what they carry, and care enough to guide them through the uncertainties.

The authentic leadership we need at this moment must have the caliber, verve, and resolve to find the way forward. Se hace camino al andar. We make our path as we walk it.

What does this look like? For starters, leaders must center themselves like never before to carve out that path every morning. They must look in the mirror and ask themselves: What do I believe? What matters most? Where is my guiding star?

While many may feel they are losing it, what’s required is the ying to the yang – calm, measured, confident leaders focused on the needs of their organizations and those around them. In this state, they must offer hope without false promises. They must name reality without fueling despair. They must step forward even when they don’t see the road yet.

But belief and resolve aren’t enough. In moments like these, leadership requires focus across four essential tasks.

First, leaders must address the immediate crises. The moment requires making sense of what’s going on. They must cut through noise and complexity and identify the core forces shaping what we are all experiencing. These forces are technological, environmental, political, and economic — and the rules are virally changing. The best practices have been decimated, and new ways of doing things are not yet clear. People hunger for clarity. They want to know: What is happening? Why is it happening?

Sense-making is both analytical and intuitive. It requires attention to data and facts and the ability to read the larger currents to understand why confusion reigns and what new patterns may emerge. Leaders must decide which crises need immediate action, which symptoms are being mistaken for causes, and which distractions can be ignored. They must choose what to address first, second, and third — and communicate that clearly, even when not everyone agrees. And they must act decisively, even in ambiguity. Waiting for perfect clarity is itself a form of abdication. The most effective leaders move with conviction, adjust with humility, and own the consequences.

The most effective leaders move with conviction, adjust with humility, and own the consequences.

Second, leaders must develop long-term strategy. They cannot simply react. They must carve out space to imagine what comes after the urgent fires are put out. This requires discipline — distinguishing between short-term firefighting and longer-term planning. They need to understand how the current moment fits into broader trajectories. They must look beyond today’s headlines to anticipate tomorrow’s inflection points. And they must be patient enough to build what will last, even while surrounded by demands for quick fixes.

Third, leaders must prioritize human impact. Since people are hurting and uncertain, members of organizations need to feel seen and that there is some measure of being taken care of. This requires trust-building words and actions on the part of leaders. Trust is not given — it is earned through transparency, consistency, and presence. Leaders must explain why decisions are being made and how those decisions serve something larger than self-interest. They must build trust in themselves and the teams and communities around them — empowering others to carry the weight and contribute to the solutions. They must do this over and over again. They must learn to communicate not just with facts and figures but with stories that help people connect to a larger narrative. The power of storytelling is that it can provide an agile way to pivot quickly between stakeholders, challenges, and possibilities and with humanity and humility.

Fourth, leaders must inspire people with a better tomorrow. Amid the present storm, they must also be visionaries. They must hold in their minds the not yet — the ways of being that have not yet been created but are possible. Even while navigating the immediate, they must invite people into imagining what could be, daring to ask what needs to be rebuilt, reimagined, redefined. This imagination is not escapism; it’s fuel for resilience and collective purpose.

For these four tasks to be as powerful as they can be, they must be infused with the leader’s character. This means nurturing and practicing authenticity, purpose, kindness, courage, resilience, humility, and gratitude–every moment of every day.

This is the counter-response to shamelessness.

And this is that moment—the one where leaders must rise up and meet it.