From rapid advances in AI to shifting workforce expectations, today’s senior leaders are navigating decisions that carry more weight, more complexity and often, less clarity than ever before. In 2026, a good leader is someone who moves well through uncertainty.

We spoke with Australian Institute of Management WA (AIM WA) Chief Learning and Innovation officer Drew Mayhills about the current decisions facing senior leaders, and how they’re handling them.

“A few decisions come up again and again,” Mr Mayhills explained. “Leaders are wondering how best to invest in AI when there is still so much we are yet to fully understand. They’re wondering how to grow without impacting their organisational culture or losing the people who hold things together. Others are wondering when to stay with a strategy and when to change it.”

The common thread is that none of these challenges get easier with time. High-stakes decisions often demand that leaders act with courage, before they’re ready and with limited data.

Here are five defining decisions shaping the year ahead.

1. How far, how fast to go on AI

AI investment is no longer optional, but the pace and scale remain deeply uncertain. Leaders must weigh the competitive advantage of early adoption against the risks of overcommitting to tools and systems still evolving. It’s not just a technology decision; it’s a cultural one, requiring careful integration with people, processes and purpose.

2. How to grow without breaking culture

Growth has always been a goal, but in 2026, how you grow matters just as much as how much. Expanding too quickly can damage culture, disengage teams and jeopardise the foundations that made success possible.

3. When to stay the course and when to pivot

Strategic patience is increasingly difficult in a world that rewards speed. Yet constant change can be just as dangerous as standing still. Knowing when to hold firm and when to shift direction is one of the most nuanced calls a leader can make.

4. Making decisions under pressure

Even the most experienced leaders are feeling the strain. “Experience helps us read situations we’ve seen before but in the present environment, fewer of those situations look familiar,” Mr Mayhills said. “There’s also an added pressure that comes with seniority. Your decisions affect more people. It can slow good leaders down, even when they know what needs to happen.”

This is where “strategic courage” becomes critical. “Sometimes it’s deciding to end an initiative while it’s still working. Sometimes it looks like supporting a colleague who disagrees with you. It could be saying ‘not yet’ to an idea everyone else likes. It’s built through practice, in places where your thinking gets tested by people you trust to be honest with you.”

5. Investing in your own decision-making capability

In a landscape this complex, the ability to make better decisions becomes a competitive advantage. Increasingly, leaders are recognising that stepping away from day-to-day operations is a necessity.

“We know that senior leaders often put themselves last while they support those around them,” Mr Mayhills said. “Stepping away from the day-to-day demands unlocks a clarity of perspective that is otherwise unavailable. Decisions leaders have been carrying for months often clarify quickly once they have the space to think and reflect outside of their usual environment.”

One of the most effective ways to build this capability is through immersive, peer-driven learning. Programs using the Harvard Business School case method place leaders in real-world scenarios, requiring them to make decisions with incomplete information. “There’s no ‘answer at the back of the book’. You learn as much from the case as you do your colleagues in the room,” Mr Mayhills explained.

Equally powerful is the diversity of perspectives. “When you sit alongside a hospital CEO, a mining executive and a tech founder, you explore the same problem from three different angles. The relationships built in these environments are uniquely powerful.”

The Senior Executive Forum, delivered by Australian Institute of Management WA in collaboration with Harvard Business School, brings world-class executive education to Western Australia. Visit the website for more information.