Leading through uncertainty is a core skill, especially in today’s volatile economic climate. Here are a 6 key principles and practical tips that leaders should use right now:
1. Communicate with radical transparency
- Share what you know and what you don’t. People can handle bad news better than uncertainty or silence.
- Regular, honest updates (even brief ones) build trust and calm anxiety.
- When you don’t know an answer, do not guess. Ask an expert and then get back to the employee.
2. Focus on adaptability, not perfection
- Encourage teams to make small, interim, reversible decisions instead of waiting for all the data.
- Model flexibility yourself and demonstrate that plans can evolve without it being a failure.
3. Anchor to purpose and values
- In uncertain times, a clear mission and shared values are the compass.
- Remind teams why the work matters; it helps them stay grounded and resilient.
4. Empower distributed decision-making
- Centralized control slows organizations down.
- Give teams guardrails, not rigid rules, so they can act quickly as conditions change.
5. Prioritize well-being and connection
- Uncertainty fuels stress. Leaders who invest in empathy, listening, and psychological safety get better performance and loyalty.
- Even short 1:1 check-ins make a big difference
6. Scenario plan, but stay light on your feet
- Map out a few plausible futures (best, base, worst case) and prepare flexible responses.
- Don’t over-plan. Focus on learning loops so the organization can adapt as new info emerges.