The most consistent complaint I hear from senior leaders is the struggle to find a delicate balance of communicating with transparency without causing alarm.
The only certainty that exists in today’s workforce is change. Over the past few years, this change has felt relentless, unpredictable and often disorienting. From the rise of remote work to "return to the office" mandates, economic shifts like recessions, mass resignations, and rounds of mass layoffs, employees are navigating new relationships with work and reorienting their expectations around it.
As employees are feeling instability and unease, the role of managers and senior leaders becomes increasingly more important. But even at the C-suite level, leaders are struggling to keep up with these constant shifts. In my work facilitating leadership workshops and training across Fortune 500 organizations, the most consistent complaint I hear from senior leaders is the struggle to find a delicate balance of communicating with transparency without oversharing or causing alarm. They want to foster clarity, trust, and stability while walking a careful line between making thoughtful, informed decisions without falling intoSo, how can leaders steer their organizations forward, make smart decisions, and keep employees motivated while battling an onslaught of uncertainty that is constantly shifting the workforce?To understand how leaders can manage uncertainty, it helps to understand why humans struggle with it in the first place. Navigating uncertainty is a drain on the brain’s metabolic energy. That’s why humans are always seeking certainty and comfort within our environments.She says, "Humans are wired to avoid or reduce uncertainty and minimize surprise by changing how we respond to our environment."over our lifetimes. Weingarten points out that the powerful drive to resolve uncertainty as quickly as possible is our brain’s biological impulse to conserve future energy.Kruglanski found that some people have a stronger need for closure than others. That’s what causes a rush to find quick, easy answers, causing people to hurry towards quick decisions, sometimes haphazardly.to measure where people fall on the spectrum of their need for cognitive closure. People with high scores on this scale, “value order, dislike ambiguity… and form impressions quickly.” People with a high need for closure are more likely to latch onto the first available answer and less likely to explore alternatives. In the workplace, this manifests as reactive decision-making, avoidance of difficult conversations, and increased stress that many pass along to their teams. While we can't entirely eliminate uncertainty, there are ways we can prepare to meet it. Below are five principles leaders can put into practice to equip themselves and their teams to better navigate workplace uncertainty.As a senior leader, understanding one’s relationship to uncertainty is a key first step in preparing to lead a team through it. "The relationship that we have with ourselves is a proxy to our relationship with uncertainty," says Weingarten. She suggests leaders start by gaining an understanding of where they fall on Kruglanski’s Cognitive Closure scale. “Leadership development starts from self-awareness,” says Weingarten. "If you know you have a desire for fast answers, you can work around it.” That way, uncertainty or everyday obstacles will be less likely to throw you off. You’ll know who on your team to enlist for help, have a better sense of how to approach decisions, and be less likely to pass along anxiety, stress, or pressure to the rest of your team. Self-awareness also fuels better team building. If a leader is more aware of their weaknesses, it’s easier to understand where others can fill those gaps. Surround yourself with people whose strengths complement your weaknesses., senior partner emeritus of Boston Consulting Group, points out that the most impactful leaders, “build the emotional stamina to withstand people telling you that your new idea is naïve or reckless or just plain stupid.” “Great leaders prepare themselves not for the comfortable predictability of yesterday,” she says, “But also for the realities of today and all of those unknown possibilities of tomorrow.” Once you recognize how you, as a leader, will react to uncertainty, you can plan for by building the right team around you to offer fresh perspectives and see around corners."The reason so many of us fear uncertainty is because it makes us feel threatened," says Weingarten. Whether the threat is real or perceived, the feeling of being threatened compels leaders to rush to seek fast, easy answers and quick, turnkey solutions. They want to reduce the threat as soon as possible or completely eliminate it. For example, when a specific stakeholder, a manager, or a board member asks a question you don’t have the answer to, that may feel like a threat. In moments like these, Weingarten suggests asking:Do I need more clarity, or should I request more time to figure this out? "Many of us tend to cling to what we know when we’re uncertain and feeling threatened," says Weingarten. "Leaders often feel like they must come up with an answer. So they grasp things that feel within reach, when they should really be viewing things with panoramic vision." Leaders must remember their role as strategic visionaries and the importance of looking at the big picture instead of chasing small wins or band-aid solutions. While this may seem obvious, logic often falls apart during moments of panic.spent 15 years working in the human resources department at Microsoft. She suggests leaders navigate uncertainty by honestly sharing when they don’t have the answers. “Leaders need to change the paradigm that they are the only one who needs to provide answers,” she says. “Enlist others to figure out answers, to gather information, to provide opinions. During uncertain times, it is especially important to expand the net we cast on information gathering and idea generation as no one knows how to crack the code alone.” Think critically about how to approach your team when delivering bad news or offering new ideas. The key isn't finding the perfect answer. It's getting comfortable exploring questions and collecting information without rushing to a resolution.So many leaders, especially in the C-Suite, feel constant pressure to demonstrate authority. But authority doesn’t mean always having everything figured out. Acknowledging that with one’s immediate team is a great way to build trust. Modeling transparent communication and candid, helpful feedback fosters a culture of psychological safety, and generally, company loyalty. "It’s not about poking holes in ideas and bringing others down when their ideas aren't fully formed,” says Weingarten. “It's about extending curiosity and collaboration when one person doesn’t have an answer.”The Executive Express “Be honest with your team and give them as much information as you can as soon as you can," she says. “But you don't want to promise 100% transparency at all times because there may be information you simply can't share.” “Admit to your team that this is an unsettling time for you, too," Wasserman offers. “This will validate their feelings and they’ll feel less alone knowing you’re in the uncertainty with them, and that you’re human.”Resist the impulse to reduce complex situations into binary categories: right or wrong, good or bad, black or white. Uncertainty often pushes leaders toward oversimplification in their rush for solutions, which impacts their ability to explore the nuances of certain scenarios. To avoid that trap, leaders can pause to consider the questions they’re asking to arrive at those narrow answers. Weingarten offers this filter for evaluating whether or not their question leads to binary answers: “Does this question open up possibilities, or does it close them down?" This can be part of what Weingarten calls a “questions practice,” which essentially means getting better at asking the right questions so leaders are able to open up those possibilities without shutting them down. Reframing binary questions like "Will this succeed or fail?" into more exploratory ones like "What does success look like in this moment?" or "What small move forward can we make today?" encourages broader thinking and can unlock stronger, more creative solutions and a clear path forward. Often, executive communication prioritizes clarity and simplicity, but the real challenge is doing that without sacrificing nuance or discouraging critical thought. Leaders can model this by asking questions that invite dimension and depth, such as:What factors haven’t we considered yet? "If you’ve asked a direct report to put together a strategy, ask them directly, what are all the ways this could go wrong?" suggests Weingarten. Though she admits, "This is terrifying but incredibly effective." Remember, it’s not about finding flaws. It's about creating space for better thinking. Give your teams a chance to strengthen their ideas before they're tested in the real world. Applying this approach helps leaders foster a culture of inquiry, better preparing their teams to respond to challenges with curiosity rather than fear.So many leaders claim to plan out various scenarios, but often, it’s all in their heads. Many C-Suite executives admittedly put all their effort and energy into expecting scenario A to go according to plan. But it’s essential to lay out scenarios B and C Employees need to know what to expect if Plan A hits a snag. How do you communicate with stakeholders, clients, and board members? Laying out various scenarios in advance offers clarity even when things seem chaotic. It may seem counterintuitive, but structured systems are the very thing that makes organizations adaptable and flexible. Examples of systems can be as simple as: SOPs ensure continuity and collective understanding of company systems and processes for critical tasks. Workplace management systems like Notion or Slack help everyone understand how communication works and where it happens. But pick only one, as it's critical to avoid overloading your employees with messaging across multiple platforms. Contingency playbooks or decision trees can prepare teams for changes in plans or for filling in gaps if a team member abruptly leaves the company. One of the most critical pieces of scenario planning is knowing who to involve, how to communicate with them and when to ask for more help. Create an action plan and know who is driving, who is approving, and who is supporting. The best leaders know that clear answers don’t always come quickly. Instead of scrambling to find answers or jumping to create quick solutions, focus on building an organization or team with a strong, resilient, and enduring foundation. The best way to prepare for uncertainty is to build a team that thinks critically, knows the value of nuance, celebrates curiosity, and understands that thoughtful questions pave the way for possibility.
Five Principles To Navigate Uncertainty Leadership Elizabeth Weingarten Executive Coaching Coaching Through Uncertainty Lead Team Through Uncertainty Management Tips Leadership Principles
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