Comment: When rats, snakes and thawing cadavers turned up on my university campus in Brisbane, it reminded me that leadership often isn’t about heroics. It’s about holding enough ambiguity to give other people stability; it is about providing steadiness, rather than claiming certainty. My lesson that night was uncomfortable but clear, leadership sometimes means admitting you don’t have all the answers, yet deciding a way forward nonetheless. In the university setting, leadership is about equipping talented staff and students with the foundation they need to pursue ambitious ideas. In a world this unpredictable, steadiness may be the most radical, and valuable, contribution a leader can make.