The essence of leadership is being able to see the iceberg before it hits the Titanic.

Using the Titanic disaster as a vivid metaphor, the quote frames leadership as anticipatory judgment: noticing weak signals early, naming uncomfortable risks, and acting before a crisis becomes inevitable. The “iceberg” stands for foreseeable threats—strategic blind spots, cultural dysfunction, technological disruption, or ethical lapses—that are often visible in fragments long before they are undeniable. The line also implies that leadership is not merely charisma or command in emergencies, but the quieter discipline of prevention: building systems for foresight, encouraging dissenting information, and making timely course corrections even when doing so is unpopular or costly.