What we think about leadership.
Some ideas don’t come from strategy decks or workshops. They emerge from the quiet, late-night conversations. The ones we’ve had, sometimes after intense days working with teams, sometimes just the two of us or our team trying to make sense of what we’re seeing. The question we kept returning to: what’s really going on underneath it all?
After five years of building and leading Encountas, we see a growing need for leaders to play the deeper game. There is a lot more to deal with right now, and yes, we need to build our capability, and expand our capacity. As Directors, we work with our own coach, and one of the biggest things we are actively developing as our business grows, is our capacity, our ability to stay grounded, self-resourced, and increase our own window of tolerance. It’s working on the deeper game and usually has to do with ourselves, not everyone else! It's not just something we facilitate; it's something we practice and work on.
Playing the Deeper Game.
We work with teams trying hard to deliver in a world of relentless pressure, competing against the rapid pace of tech, to plan for a future that feels increasingly uncertain, or to navigate team dynamics that feel stuck or volatile.
Some of our work is deeply inspirational, aligned to ambitious 10x growth agendas. And some of it is hard (but rewarding),confronting challenging or misaligned cultures that don’t know how to get themselves out. These are not surface-level problems, and they can’t be solved with surface-level solutions.
One truth stands out, the challenges leaders face is less about what’s on their calendars, and more about what’s under their skin. Uncertainty, doubt, misalignment, conflict, burnout, and tension are part of daily leadership life, yet rarely spoken about honestly.
The world of work is undergoing seismic shifts. Complexity is no longer a distant threat; it is our current reality. Disagreements, differing values, and diverging worldviews are increasingly surfacing in ourteams and organisations. And often, the real dynamics aren’t what we see on the surface.
At Encountas, we call this "playing the deepe rgame."
This deeper game is not about mastering the next leadership framework or productivity hack. It's about recognising that how you show up as a leader, your presence, your internal state, your courage, your values, yourability to regulate and connect is a growing focus of performance and culture.In a climate where quiet conflict, power imbalances, and unspoken tensions arerife, technical skills are no longer enough.
What Lies Beneath the Surface
In many organisations, conflict simmers quietly beneath thesurface. People avoid difficult conversations, yet the tension seeps into collaboration, decision-making, and trust. Alternatively, overt conflict candominate, holding teams hostage without the tools or the courage to navigate through it.
And conflict is just one of many hidden dynamics. Powerplays, emotional undercurrents, and misalignment between stated values andlived behaviours often go unaddressed, silently eroding culture and performance from the inside out.
But here’s the shift: when these dynamics are named and navigated with skill and safety, something powerful happens.
Trust is restored. Capacity expands.
We’ve seen teams unlock clarity, cohesion, and performance breakthroughs that once felt impossible, not in spite of the discomfort, but because they moved through it. It’s often cathartic. And always catalytic.
This is what it means to lead beyond the surface and to build organisations where human complexity is not feared, but embraced as asource of strength.
The Inner Game of Leadership
Your ability to stay grounded and connected in tense moments is shaped by your nervous system’s “window of tolerance.”
When leaders operate outside that window, they tend todefault to control, withdrawal, or reactivity, eroding trust. But with awareness, emotional literacy, and support, they expand their capacity to leadwith calm presence.
Performance and wellbeing are not separate tracks, they’re interwoven. The deeper game is about creating capacity where both can flourish.
When we organise work in ways that honour human experience and motivation, we unlock potential and deliver performance that is sustainable.
A Personal Reflection from the Frontlines
Over the last five years, we’ve worked with leaders who appear outwardly confident but quietly ask:
- Am I doing enough?
- How do I hold all of this?
- When do I get to be human?
These are the moments where the deeper game matters most, when leaders reconnect with their values, build capacity, and create ripple effects across their teams and organisations.
Performance in a New Era
The world of work is shifting fast. The real question isn’t just whether your leaders have the skills, it’s whether they have the inner capacity to meet this moment. Can they navigate ambiguity, create psychological safety, and surface what’s been left unspoken?
We see the tension: leaders rising through the ranks while drifting from the purpose that once lit them up. Trust in themselves and others begins to fray. And beneath it all, a silent hope: If I follow the rules, it’ll be okay. If I pretend, it’ll pass. But will it?
Playing the deeper game starts within. It’s not about more effort, it’s about more depth. It ripples from the individual to the team, and across the organisation. Because the future of performance belongs to those willing to lead with clarity, courage, and humanity.
If your team is navigating unspoken tension or quiet conflict, now’s the time to lead differently.
At Encountas, we help leaders to build the capability and capacity to play the deeper game, through coaching and tailored leadership experiences.
Are you ready to play the deeper game?
