Leading with confidence, even when answers are lacking – A look back at our PANDA NEXT LEVEL exploration room with Dr. Maria Bergler

How can you provide guidance to your team if you yourself don't know what comes next?

We addressed this question on October 15, 2026 in our PANDA NEXT LEVEL exploration space “Taking a stronger lead in uncertain times – confidently and effectively going your own way” .

Together with Dr. Maria Bergler , executive coach and sparring partner for leaders, the workshop focused on how we can remain confident and capable of taking action despite uncertainty. It included psychological insights, practical methods, and ample opportunity for personal reflection and exchange.

Self-efficacy: Taking action even when the outcome is uncertain.

Reorganizations, unclear decisions or conflicting expectations: Especially during change processes, managers often face the challenge of having to provide guidance, even though they themselves do not yet know all the answers.

Maria explained why it can be helpful in such situations to focus on one's own self-efficacy.

She distinguished between two psychological concepts:

• the expected outcome , i.e., the confidence in a particular result and

• the expectation of effectiveness , the confidence in one's own ability to overcome a challenge.
  

Because even if we cannot always influence how a situation turns out, we can decide how we deal with it.

A key idea from the session: We don't need to have security before we can act. Sometimes security only arises through our actions.

Self-efficacy can be consciously strengthened. For example, by remembering challenges already overcome, looking to role models, accepting the trust of others, and questioning our own reactions to uncertainty.

Self-esteem: What sustains us when external validation is lacking

In addition to self-efficacy, the discussion also addressed the extent to which we base our self-worth on performance, recognition, or professional success. This can be particularly unsettling when circumstances change and familiar validation is lacking. Maria therefore demonstrated the importance of a stable sense of self-worth that is not solely dependent on external factors.

What can help? Consciously setting boundaries, not feeling responsible for everything, and finding people and spaces outside the professional environment that provide strength and new perspectives.

Because leading with confidence doesn't mean having to be in control all the time.

From understanding to action: Recognizing one's own scope for action

Following the psychological insights, the focus shifted to applying these findings to one's own everyday leadership practice.

One of the reflection questions was essentially: Where am I thinking "I must" even though I can actually decide for myself what I want?

This shift in perspective helps to shift the focus away from external constraints and towards one's own possibilities for action. In the subsequent exchange in pairs, the participants were able to reflect on their personal challenges, gain new perspectives, and develop concrete next steps. It became clear how valuable it can be to share similar experiences with other women—not to find an immediate solution for everything, but to give each other new ideas and encouragement.

What we take away from the exploration space

Self-efficacy doesn't mean always knowing all the answers or being able to control every situation. It means trusting that we can shape our next step ourselves, even under uncertain conditions.

Perhaps it is therefore worthwhile to pause more often in everyday life and ask oneself:

• What challenges have I already overcome and what helped me back then?

• Where do I make my own worth too dependent on performance or recognition?

• And what next step can I take today, even if everything isn't clear yet?

A huge thank you to Dr. Maria Bergler for the valuable insights, the practical methods, and the space for reflection. And of course, thank you to all the participants for your openness, your perspectives, and the exchange of ideas! Because sometimes, new confidence begins precisely where we find the courage to take action.