The Matrix of Insecurity

 John Lubans’s Insecurity Matrix really resonates with me. I came across his chapter, “I’ll Ask the Question: The Insecure Boss” from Leading from the Middle, and it appears almost too simple: a four-quadrant grid mapping competence against insecurity. This matrix speaks to me because its brilliance lies in its simplicity. I see it, and I immediately think of people I have known. I think of my own bosses.

What Lubans gives us is not just a taxonomy of working styles, but also a way of understanding how leadership is shaped by two deeply human conditions: how capable we are and how secure we feel.

In the upper left is the Radioactive Boss: high insecurity, low competence. This is the most volatile combination. Here, insecurity does not remain private; it radiates outward. It unsettles a workplace. Questions are asked not to learn, but to control. Decisions feel erratic. Staff become cautious, quiet, watchful. From a distance, this can sometimes look like authority. But within the system, it feels unstable.

Below that is the Petty Boss: low competence, low insecurity. This figure is less explosive, but no less limiting. The harm here is subtler. Power is expressed through smallness—through rules, preferences, little performances of authority. The result is not chaos, but diminishment. Work becomes narrower. Imagination shrinks. The atmosphere grows smaller than it needs to be.

In the lower right sits the Benign Bumbler: high competence, low insecurity. This leader is capable and stable. Things work. But without a little uncertainty—without that quiet sense that things could still be improved—competence can harden into routine. The organization may run smoothly, but it may stop growing. Safe leadership is not always searching leadership.

And then Lubans gives us the most surprising quadrant of all: the Effective Boss in the upper right. High competence, high insecurity. At first, this feels counterintuitive. We are taught to associate good leadership with certainty. But Lubans suggests something in addition: that a degree of insecurity, when held well, can actually deepen leadership. It can make a person more curious, more attentive, and more willing to ask instead of assume. Here, insecurity is not necessarily a weakness. It is awareness and humility that one does not know everything. An openness to asking a question may be more powerful than pretending to have the answer.

I'm certain we've all witnessed the workings of all four quadrants.   But what I find most fascinating and insightful is the figure at the centre of Lubans’ matrix: the Evolving Leader.  No one remains fixed in a single quadrant. We move. Under stress, under pressure, under reflection . . . we shift.  The point is not perfection. The point is self-awareness, and the willingness to keep moving toward better ways of leading. Even for myself, especially when working with someone above me.

After two decades as a professional librarian, I believe leadership is less about knowledge and more about uncertainty. Whether we weaponize it, hide it, or allow it to deepen our humanity – it’s up to us to choose the path forward.