How Much Complexity Are You Willing to Lead?
“They’re a complicated person.”
I’ve heard that sentence more times than I can count.
Sometimes it’s said with frustration.
Sometimes as a warning.
Sometimes as justification.
“They’re talented, but complicated.”
“They’re high potential… but complicated.”
“They’re valuable, but hard to manage.”
And every time I hear it, I think:
Compared to what?
Who isn’t complicated?
Show me a high-performing, ambitious, emotionally invested human who isn’t complicated.
Show me someone stretching into growth who isn’t wrestling with something internally.
Show me a leader who’s never misread a situation, overcorrected, reacted emotionally, or needed time to recalibrate.
We are complicated.
The real question isn’t:
How many complications can you take?
The real question is:
How much complexity are you willing to lead?
Because leadership is rarely about managing tasks.
It’s about managing tension.
Tension between confidence and insecurity.
Between ambition and self-doubt.
Between performance and burnout.
Between vision and reality.
If you only want simple people, you’ll get simple results.
If you want growth, innovation, ownership, creativity, you’re signing up for nuance.
Now, let’s be clear.
Complicated doesn’t mean toxic.
It doesn’t mean unaccountable.
It doesn’t mean immune to feedback.
But complicated does mean human.
And humans require:
Clarity.
Boundaries.
Coaching.
Patience.
Direct conversations.
Sometimes when we label someone “complicated,” what we really mean is:
“They don’t fit neatly into my preferred management style.”
Or:
“They’re forcing me to stretch.”
Or:
“I don’t fully understand them yet.”
Are you ready to show up?
Leadership maturity shows up in how we respond to complexity.
Do we avoid it?
Suppress it?
Exit it?
Or lean in and grow through it?
The irony is this:
The people who are hardest to lead are often the ones capable of the greatest impact.
They care deeply.
They think independently.
They push back.
They feel intensely.
They want meaning, not just instructions.
That’s not dysfunction.
That’s potential, unmanaged.
And sometimes the most complicated person in the room…
is the one in the mirror.
What level am I leading at?
Before we decide how many complications we can “take,” it might be worth asking:
Am I leading at a level that complexity requires?
Because simple leadership only works in simple environments.
And we don’t live there anymore
