Leadership During Times Of Prolonged Uncertainty - part #5

Focus On Operational Excellence

Next, we need to focus on operational excellence. Now, most people focus on the word operational when those two words are put together. They really want to get things done fast and efficiently. Others will focus on the word excellence. For these individuals, this translates into things being done perfectly, all day and every day. But very few people actually understand what operational excellence means. 

For the answer, I always turn to the work of Tom Peters and his 1982 book called In Search of Excellence. In this seminal work, Peters defines excellence as “a workplace philosophy where problem solving, teamwork and leadership result in on-going improvements or continuous improvements in the organization.” And all of these improvements focus on meeting the ever-evolving needs of the customer. So, when the two words, operational excellence, are put together, the goal is to create a work environment that is continually improving how it mets the changing needs of its’ customers. 

With this in mind, recognizing that we are operating during a time period of prolonged uncertainty, we need to have the capacity to plan and the capacity to execute. The late Stephen Covey said we needed to “begin with the end in mind.” However, this end point was not a fixed location as much as an on-going movement in a specific direction, i.e. the union of vision and strategic intent. 

As we strive to make operational excellence an integral part of the daily systems, culture, and mindset of those with whom we work with on a daily basis, we need to understand the difference between two key concepts. First, we may need to work on individual competencies of all involved, i.e. a specific person’s knowledge and skills required to fulfill specific role requirements. Second, we may need to work on organizational capabilities, i.e. the collective abilities of the company required to execute a business strategy. While some days, we may work at the competency level and other days at the capabilities level, the key is to do both in a consistent and disciplined manner. 

Next, we need to utilize or create two systems to support operational excellence, namely an intelligence collection system and an innovation support system. As Marcus  Buckingham and Ashley Goodall in their aforementioned book write, “The defining characteristic of our reality today … the speed of change.” Given this factor, we need to differentiate between a planning system and an intelligence system. As they explain, “The thing we call planning doesn’t tell you where to go; it just helps you understand where you are. Or rather, were recently. We aren’t planning for the future, we planning for the near-term past…. Plans scope the problem, not the solution.” Then, they note, “When we understand the characteristics of an intelligence system, as distinct from a planning system - accurate, real-time data, distributed broadly and quickly, and presented in detail so that team members can see and react to patterns in deciding for themselves what to do - we begin to see them everywhere.” 

I think the thing that most leaders miss about the difference between a planning system and an intelligence collection system is that the latter one helps the former one work better. As a leader and their team utilize the information from the intelligence collection system on a regular basis, they then leverage the information to be better prepared within a VUCA environment. They also create the capacity within the planning system to consider various possible scenarios, ensuring that the company is better prepared for unforeseen variables which could jeopardize the current strategy. In short, the intelligence collection systems access the power of constantly being prepared, no matter what happens. 

In order to achieve this level of preparation, Buckingham and Goodall propose a three step process to make this a reality. “First, liberate as much information as you possibly can…. Second, watch carefully to see which data your people find useful… [i.e. they are] sorting the signal from the noise…. Third, trust your people to make sense of the data.” This combination of steps then becomes a force multiplier in the midst of uncertainty, namely it dramatically increases effectiveness, influence, and results over time. From my perspective and observations, a widely utilized, intelligence collection system results in constant tinkering and experimentation rather than singular legendary acts. During prolonged uncertainty, this again is a force multiplier. 

We also need to be able to think fast and slow, referencing the work of psychologist and economist, Daniel Kahneman. During uncertainty, many leaders are choosing to just go fast and faster, thinking this will solve all of their problems, technical or adaptive. However, in the world of counseling, there is a phrase that offers a unique insight: Addiction makes you need more and more of what is not working. And right now, we are witnessing an addiction to speed. 

Still, we can choose something different than speed as the solution to everything. Instead, we can create time and space to think slowly in order to think through the second and third order implications of our decisions. Once we begin to slow down our thinking, we will realize something very interesting. As Robert E. Quinn explained, “Excellence is a form of deviance. If you perform beyond the norms, you disrupt all the existing control systems. Those systems will then alter and begin to work to routinize your efforts. That is, the systems will adjust to try to make you normal.” But this will never be understood if we are moving at light speed, hoping to catch up and adapt. 

Instead, we need to recognize that “existing control systems” can limit excellence. Therefore, we need create people who have the competence and the capacity to catch this when it is happening, and not let excellence be drowned by normalcy. I like how Brene’ Brown understood this when she wrote,“They worked from commitment, not to compliance.” Leaders, who realize that commitment, not authority or compliance, is the key to working through prolonged uncertainty, also understand that it is the foundation for operational excellence in the short and long haul. 

Respect Transition Management

When working and leading during a period of prolonged uncertainty, we can often feel caught between what was and what will be, unsure of how to proceed. When I have coached people during this unique situation, I often remind those involved of two key points that Margaret Wheatley noted in her book, Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time. (Berrett-Koehler, 2005). As she pointed out, “... humans usually default to the known when confronted with the unknown,” and “new leaders must invent the future while dealing with the past.” Within both of these insights is the recognition that we all have defaults, conscious and unconscious, and we are always dealing with the past when moving through uncertainty. As William Faulkner wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Therefore, we need to understand the differences between change management, and transition management.  

The late William Bridges in his book, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change (Perseuss Books, 1991), writes that change management is outcome focused with the hopes of helping an individual, group, or company to achieve a particular goal and/or moving them to a particular destination, i.e. think closer to the vision. It also is very situationally influenced and deals with external issues and problems. Transition management, on the other hand, focuses on the psychological, internal, and emotional process of change. As he explains, “Transition is different. The starting point for transition is not the outcome but the ending that you will have to make to leave the old situation behind.... Transition starts with an ending..... finishes with a new beginning.” 

During a period of prolonged uncertainty, a combination of change management and transition management is happening, all at the same time. The difficulty is that few leaders are aware of, or respect the importance of transition management. In particular, they do realize that the letting go of the old ways of working, and the subsequent loss of confidence and clarity that comes with this is very hard to do. Grief is real, and always present during uncertainty. 

With the goal being a shared understanding and commitment by all to move forward through the current difficulties, a leader, who respect transition management, needs to do three things. First, they must understand that loss is a subjective, personal experience while leadership is objective and goal oriented. And when loss is subjective, it often surfaces as resistance to doing things differently. When this happens, leaders need to reframe resistance as a form of feedback, because what people are actually resisting is not change as much as the loss of clarity, connections, confidence, and control. We also will typically see grieving behaviors such as anger, bargaining, anxiety, sadness, disorientation, and depression during periods of prolonged uncertainty. 

Second, once this surfaces, leaders need to define what is and what is not over during this period, recognizing that people will naturally default to the old ways of doing things rather than embrace new ways of doing things. We are just wired that way. Therefore, leaders need to treat the past with respect, i.e. the old ways of doing things, and, at the same time, communicate what is the line of continuity through the period of uncertainty. In essence, people need to understand and believe that what really matters the most is not being lost in the midst of their struggles and challenges. 

Third, when caught between what was and what will be or might be, communication is critical to success. This starts with active listening. Leaders need to understand what people are experiencing rather than react or defend what is happening. In simple terms, they need to understand how others are seeing the process, not simply focus on what they are seeing and doing. 

As part of this communication process, Bridges points out that during transitions people need the following four things. First, they need to have a sense of purpose, i.e. an understanding of why are we doing what we are doing right now. Second, they need to have a clear mental picture of what we are seeking to achieve as we move through the transition. From my perspective, if the picture can not be clearly painted, then leaders need to articulate the mindset we need to hold as we move through uncertainty. Third, we need to know the plan, which includes clarity about priorities and the goals. Fourth, we need to know our part, especially our role and responsibility in working the plan that has been proposed. 

Respecting transitions during prolonged uncertainty is important and an on-going discipline. It takes time and energy. It also requires operational leaders to be competent in problem solving, communication, and delegation. And it requires strategic leaders to be competent in interpersonal skills, decision-making, and adaptability. But in the end, both kinds of leaders need to discern the difference between change management and transition management, recognizing that how we treat people today will significantly impact how they handle current events, and any future events moving forward. 

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Leadership During Times Of Prolonged Uncertainty - part #4

Reduce Your Cognitive Load

Nevertheless, there are days at work when we are overwhelmed by the magnitude and number of problems and issues that come at us hour by hour. On these days our entire bandwidth is full, and still people and problems keep showing up at our doorstep. Decision fatigue, cognitive overload, and problem solving exhaustion are real. Furthermore, attention fatigue, the constant hyper-vigilance that comes from monitoring everything and everyone, is also real. 

Marshall  Goldsmith in his book, Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts - Becoming the Person You Want to Be (Crown Business, 2015), writes: “The social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister coined the term ego depletion in the 1990’s … He contended that we possess a limited conceptual resource called ego strength, which is depleted through the day by various efforts at self-regulation - resisting temptations, making trade-offs, inhibiting our desires, controlling our thoughts and statements, adhering to other people’s rules…. People in this state, said Baumeister, are ego depleted.” 

For leaders, I would translate ego depletion into decision and attention fatigue. When we act from this place, we typically default to two courses of action. First, we make careless choices or, second, we surrender to the status quo and do nothing. Now, it is one thing to engage in depleting activities, but there’s another dimension to this problem, namely how we behave under the influence of depletion. As Goldsmith points out, “Doing things that deplete us is not the same as doing things when we’re depleted. The former is cause, the latter effect.” So, rather than default to these choices, we need to find new solutions to these persistent problems. 

One solution is to reduce our cognitive load. Gary Keller with Jay Papasan in the book, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results (Bard Press, 2012), point out that in the world of decision-making, some processes and systems are automatic rather than controlled. For example, 6 + 6 = 12. Once we have learned basic math, the answer is achieved with little or no mental exertion. This is an example of automatic decision-making. On the other hand, if we are presented with a more complex mathematical problem, this will require us to engage in controlled decision-making, where something takes greater effort and requires us to go through a series of steps before a conclusion or answer is achieved. The goal then is to move more things into the world of automatic decision-making. 

As a small business owner, I have experienced cognitive overload and decision fatigue. When this has happened, I had to leverage more automatic decision-making. As a result, all computer problems, website choices, printing needs, business travel decisions, and business taxes were handled by other people. While I know this reduced my company’s profitability on one level, and that I more likely could have done all or some of these things myself, I came to understand that when I was focused on doing this level of work, I was not focused on serving my clients in a timely and effective manner. As an Russian proverb states, “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.” So, in order to build on my strengths and talents plus reduce my cognitive load, I focused on doing more controlled decision-making. As Keller wrote, “What’s the ONE Thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?” My answer was to build collaborative relationships with other people so I could build on their strengths, and do what I did best and what I was passionate about doing in the long run. And this made a world of difference. 

Tell More Stories

There is one more element to coping with prolonged uncertainty that few people choose, namely to tell more stories about resilience, adaptability, and transformation. I think most people don’t make this choice, because they feel powerless in the midst of uncertainty, and are unable to cope with the intensity that comes with uncertainty. Still, I believe it is time to tell our stories, but, also, to listen to the stories that others have to tell. 

What we forget when we feel stressed and overwhelmed is that people are profoundly shaped by past experiences. As I have often pointed out, the past, on one level, is prologue. It not only shapes our lives, but routinely generates our unconscious default choices and actions. 

Furthermore, our past has the potential to be the foundation from which we build a new beginning. Or our past can be a burden that needs to be released in order that we can create a new way of living and working. Either way, our past is part of our current journey.

So, when we choose to tell our stories about these past experiences, we have the opportunity to gain new insights and fresh perspective. We also can share the lessons learned from these past experiences. And as a result, these stories can shape other peoples’ perspective and understanding as much as if they had lived these past experiences themselves. 

Still, many people do not know which stories to share. For the answer to this good question, I turn to the work of Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall, and their book,  Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019). They share three excellent questions that, from my perspective, are a good starting place during a time of prolonged uncertainty. Here are the three questions: “When you had a problem like this in the past, what did you do that worked? What do you already know you need to do? What do you already know works in this situation?”. Each questions helps us approach this complex and dynamic period from various angles, taking us from past experiences to current choices. As the poet Mark Nepo reminds us: “The deeper purpose of memory is not just to preserve the past but to care for things that have mattered until they can come alive again.” And surely, given current events, we need to care for things that have mattered until they can come alive again. 

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Leadership During Times Of Prolonged Uncertainty - part #3

Become A Better Person

When I was actively teaching young leaders about leadership and organizational change, I would often tell my students that in order to become a better leader, you first had to become a better person. This often surprised them. They were focused on improving their positional leadership competencies, and getting things done. I, on the other hand, was focused on them becoming better people. They were focused on the job. I was focused on their life and the job. Because, as I have learned, when we change people’s lives at work, we are also changing their experiences at home. The same is true when we change their life at home, it also impacts their work life. So, becoming a better person is the foundation for becoming a better leader. 

This all became clear to me during a lunch meeting when a young leader shared with me that she was overwhelmed, and starting to burn out from the endless stream of operational details bombarding her every day. As a result of her decision fatigue, she was becoming anxious, worried, and frustrated on a regular basis. I remember her telling me, “if this is leadership, it sucks.”

She then asked me an interesting question: “Should I apply for a new job?” I have been asked this question many times as an executive coach, and I have always answered this question with a question: “Will this make you a better person, mother, daughter, sister, or wife?” On this particular day, she stopped talking, looked out the window of the restaurant, and was silent for a long time. 

Once she had turned back to me, I continued, “Once you have the ‘new’ job, what will your whole life be like?” Her description was scattered. I understood completely. I had been there once myself.

Many years before that day, I was invited to speak at a large, multi-day regional conference. Given I was one of the speakers, I got to attend all the other workshops for free. So, having looked through the conference workshop booklet, I decided to attend a workshop on planning, an area that interested me and something I did on a regular basis. 

Once we were seated, the presenter asked us one simple question: “What will your life be like when you turn 40, 50, or 60?” I sat there in my chair and was stumped. I hadn’t a clue. At the time, I was in my mid-30’s, and being 40 seemed like a very distant future from where I was on that day. 

She then asked us another question: “What do you want your life to be like when you turn 40, 50, or 60?” Again, I couldn’t answer the question. I was mostly focused on getting through the day, and my upcoming workshop at this big event. She then gave us the following categories, work, family, and personal, to help us begin to find the answers to these two important questions. What I realized was that I needed a picture, an anchor in the future by which I could pull myself through the current challenges before me. I also needed a sense of purpose and a plan in order to move forward based on clarity rather than reactivity. 

Jim Collins writes, “Indeed, the great paradox of change is that the organizations that best adapt to a changing world first and foremost know what should not change; they have a fixed anchor of guiding principles around which they can more easily change everything else.” It is the same when dealing with prolonged uncertainty and critically important when choosing to become a better person over time. We need to clarify those guiding principles, i.e. that fixed anchor around which we build our lives. 

Since this experience, I have routinely sat down and reflected on what I have wanted my life to be like when I have crossed a major ten year date, e.g. 50, 60, etc.  I also have activated my “kitchen table cabinet,” my circle of mentors, advisor, allies and confidents, to help me in this process. I know I have many more miles to go in my life journey, and I know that my intent and focus play a big part of my dealing with the challenges before me. 

Tasha Eurich in her book, Shatterproof: How to Thrive in a World of Constant Chaos (And why resilience alone isn’t enough) (Little, Brown Spark, 2025), which is a wonderful resource on so many levels, notes something very important about living and working in constant chaos, a common experience during prolonged uncertainty. She focuses on three things to help us thrive: “The first three-to-thrive need is confidence: the belief that we’re effective in our actions, capable of achieving our goals, and able to grow and learn new things…. The second three-to-thrive need is choice, means feeling free to function without pressure or threat, acting with agency and integrity, staying true to ourselves…. The final need is connection, the sense that we belong, get along with others, and experience mutual closeness and support.” As she continues, “Fundamentally, confidence keep us growing, choice keeps us authentic, and connection keeps us together.”

When I think about leaders becoming better people in order to become better leaders, all three of these elements are critically important, namely confidence, choice and connection. As we create plans to become better people, these three things need to become part of the plan. For when I have met leaders who are able to lead effectively in the midst of prolonged uncertainty, they all role model a healthy level of confidence, the capacity to consider different choices and the ability to make good choices, and the feeling of mutual closeness and support from the key people at work and at home. As Eurich reminds us, “When you get better, everyone benefits.” And this is the strong inner foundation for the hard, external work that needs to be done.

Rediscover Your Internal Strength

These same leaders also do one other thing, namely they separate their role from their definition of self. Typically at work, this starts by sitting down with their supervisor and clarifying their role and their responsibilities plus their expectations and their goals.  However, there is another element to this process which is more challenging. As Ron Heiftz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky in their book, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World (Harvard Business Press, 2009) explains, “Whatever role you are playing at any one time, that role does not represent all of who you are, even if it feels that way.” We forget that our work role is only a part of us. We, as a person, are greater than our jobs. 

As the above authors continue, “When you make a distinction between the roles you play and yourself, you gain the emotional strength to ignore personal attacks your opponents hope will stymie your initiative…. though an attack may feel personal (and be intended as personal), it is not a statement about your character or your worth as a human being. It is a strategy and an attempt to manipulate you.” This is a common problem during times of prolonged uncertainty. People want you, as the leader, to assert control, order, and predictability even though, in most circumstances of this nature, that is not possible, or actually a smart choice. 

Instead, I believe there is a wiser choice, namely we need to further develop our non-work identities. This is because when we solely define ourselves by our work, we loose that “fixed anchor of guiding principles,” which we will give us the capacity to adapt to complexity and uncertainty. 

Many years, I spoke at banking conference in Oklahoma. The CEO, who was going to introduce me after the meal, had me sit with him, his wife, and his team. Over the course of the meal, he asked me a lot of questions: Who was your father?, Your mother?, Siblings?, Are you married?, Your wife’s name?, Your children’s name?, etc. When it came time to introduce me as the keynote speaker, he started by talking about my being a son and a brother, a husband and a father. At the end of my introduction, he shared that I was a consultant, executive coach and trainer in the fields of leadership, strategic planning and organizational change. This was a very moving experience for me. 

Erin Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan in their article called “Managing The High Intensity Workplace” in the June 2016 issue of the Harvard Business Review, write: “People in leadership positions can avoid the fragility that results from blind acceptance of ideal-workers by deliberately cultivating their own non-work identities: a civic self, an athletic self, a family-oriented self.” By developing a “multifaceted identity,” we strengthen our ability to tolerate challenging times and to create realistic and healthy expectations for ourselves and others. In short, when we live a life defined by more than our work role, we create a life that has greater levels of meaning, perspective, and purpose.

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Leadership During Times Of Prolonged Uncertainty - part #2

Remember The Stockdale Paradox

As we seek this deeper wisdom within paradoxes, we also need to remember The Stockade Paradox. Jim Collins writes about this paradox in his book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap. . . and Others Don't (HarperBusiness, 2001). The paradox originated from Navy Vice Admiral, James Stockade’s experiences as a POW during the Vietnam War, where he survived years of torture and deprivation by balancing his harsh and painful reality with a strong belief in a better future. As Collins explains, this paradox is based on the ability to “retain absolute faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” 

By combining a realistic acceptance of our current challenges, i.e. working within a VUCA environment, with a stedfast and optimistic outlook, i.e. we can, and we will over time prevail in the midst of this prolonged uncertainty, we can, and we will generate successful outcomes. In short, by holding two contradictory truths at the same time, and with regular coaching and support, leaders can get better at leading in the midst of these challenges. 

Still, we need to remember one other key point from the aforementioned book. As Collins writes, “Good is the enemy of great.” Right now, many leaders and managers can, to a degree, embrace The Stockdale Paradox, but when it comes to the point that they need to make a decision, I often hear them defer to a that’s good enough mentality. This is a major problem when dealing with prolonged uncertainty. It often reflects decision fatigue, cognitive overload, and a touch of just wanting to give up and go with the path of least resistance. 

I can not fault leaders who choose this path. That would be an example of grit gaslighting. As Tasha Eurich in her book, Shatterproof: How to Thrive in a World of Constant Chaos (And why resilience alone isn’t enough) (Little, Brown Spark, 2025), explains: “… grit gaslighting, a common phenomena, where, instead of validating our stress or distress, our commitment to coping with it is questioned. Often, grit gaslighting comes from people in positions of authority or well-meaning but unaware family and friends.” I have met many people who are deeply committed to the work they are doing, and completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the complexity and uncertainty that surrounds them. To solve this problem in the world of leadership, we need to approach this as a team problem, not just an individual effort problem. 

Surround Yourself With The Right People

Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive (Jossey-Bass, 2000), writes about the importance of building and maintaining a cohesive leadership team. As he notes, “cohesive teams build trust, eliminate politics and increase efficiency by knowing one another's unique strengths and weaknesses,  openly engaging in constructive ideological conflict, holding one another accountable for behaviors and actions, [and] committing to group decisions.” In this kind of team environment, grit gaslighting would not be permissible or accepted. Instead, there would be open and engaging discussions about what are, and what are not acceptable, behavioral choices.

But, upon reflection, I think leaders jump too quickly to a focus on improving teamwork during prolonged uncertainty, and miss a key point of Lencioni’s work, namely to build the team, not just improve or maintain the team. The focus on building the team is often skipped over in the rush to get things done. 

Martine Haas and Mark Mortensen in their article called “The Secrets of Great Teamwork” from the June 2016 issue of the Harvard Business Review, writes, “Today’s teams are different from the teams of the past: They’re far more diverse, dispersed, digital, and dynamic (with frequent changes in membership).” From my perspective, given this important insight, we need to make sure we have “the right people in the right seats on the bus,” referencing the work of Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap. . . and Others Don't (HarperBusiness, 2001). 

The difficulty of this metaphor is that Collins did not initially define what are the characteristics of “the right people.” It was not until he wrote the book, How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In (HarperCollins, 2009), that he gave a clear answer to the question, “What makes for the ‘Right People’ in key seats?.” In this book, he gives the following answer: “the right people fit with the company’s core values; the right people don’t need to be tightly managed; the right people understand that they do not have ‘jobs’, they have responsibilities; the right people fulfill their commitments; the right people are passionate about the company and its work; the right people display ‘window and mirror’ maturity.” The outcome of choosing the right people when building a team and later maintaining or improving it, is that you create a culture of discipline and a shared mindset based on a common understanding of what matters most. You also are choosing people who have a combination of technical and social skills that can handle uncertainty. 

Nevertheless, we as leaders need to make some tough choices when it comes to people. First, we must stop hiring and retaining people who routinely screw things up, or create levels of disruptive toxicity at the team level. If we tolerate these poor and misaligned behaviors, we will consistently have issues and problems that take our time and attention away from focusing on the right things, operationally and strategically. Having the right people in place reduces distractions and increases engagement and healthy teamwork, all of which is vital to coping with prolonged uncertainty. 

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Leadership During Times Of Prolonged Uncertainty - part #1

Introduction

In 2011, Jim Collins and Morten Hansen in their book, Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (HarperCollins, 2011), wrote: “Given this rise of complexity, globalization, and technology, all of which are accelerating change and increased volatility, we must come to accept that there is no ‘new normal.’ There will only be a continuous series of ‘not normal’ times.” Fifteen years later, their words seem prophetic. They also could have been written yesterday about the events that are happening today. 

Currently, we are living in a VUCA environment, borrowing a term from the US military. This is a time period where things are volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. The implications are that instability is chronic, uncertainty is permanent, change is accelerating, and disruptions are common. All we know for certain is that we can neither predict nor govern most events.

Furthermore, we are worried about the possibility of phase transitions (wide-reaching disruptions triggered by small shifts, like market crashes or social movements), and the possibility for compound extremes (multiple co-occurring disruptions like a natural disaster during a recession). We also are concerned about the convergence of AI, advanced sensors, and biotechnology. Simultaneously, many people are experiencing chronic, compounding, and highly stressful challenges across multiple areas of their life (work, family, health, etc.). 

When we step back and look at all that is happening, and all that has happened, we come to realize that our challenges have become more difficult and complex, and that our organizational systems, and personal and professional mindsets have not evolved as quickly as the changes that are happening all around us. Thus, we are confronted with an important question: How can we strengthen our capacity to adapt during this period of prolonged uncertainty?

Embrace Paradox

Brene’ Brown in her book, Strong Ground: The Lessons Of Daring Leadership, The Tenacity Of Paradox, and The Wisdom Of The Human Spirit (Random House, 2025), writes: “Paradoxes embrace ambiguity, expose our intolerance for uncertainty, push our boundaries, and, if we hang on long enough, often force us to deny the comfort of our ideologies for a deeper wisdom that is a more honest reflection of the human experience and the human spirit.” As she continues, “In its original Greek, paradox is made up of two words, para (contrary to) and dokein (opinion). The Latin paradoxum means ‘seemingly absurd but true’.” And right now, there is a lot that is seemingly absurd but true. Therefore, we need to embrace these paradoxes.  

Wendy Smith, Marianne Lewis, and Michael Tushman in their article called, “Both/And Leadership,” in the May 2016 issue of the Harvard Business Review, write that the source of our uncertainty in the business world comes from three questions. The first question is: “Are we managing for today or for tomorrow?” This is the innovation paradox where we are challenged to balance today’s needs vs. tomorrow’s needs. The second question is: “Do we adhere to boundaries or cross them?” This is the globalization paradox where we are challenged to balance global integration vs. local interests. The third question is: “Do we focus on creating value for our shareholders and investors or for a broader set of stakeholders?” This is the obligation paradox where we are challenged to balance social mission vs. financial pressure. In each of these questions, we have to seek the concept of both/and rather than the more comfortable choice of either/or. 

From my perspective, the first step in this process of embracing paradox is to check our perception. There are two ways to see the world, namely the observing eye and the perceiving eye. Ryan Holiday in his book, The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph (Penguin, 2014), explains that the observing eye sees what is there, while the perceiving eye sees more than what is there. The goal for leaders during prolonged uncertainty is to see things as they really are, without any of the ornamentation, or self-imposed stories we project on to what is happening. 

Yet, as we choose to see in this manner, we must recognize that our perspective on the problems we are dealing with is always missing something, namely an in-depth understanding of our own history and “baggage.” And, at the same time, we must recognize that when we hear of other people’s perspectives or problems, we always see their history and baggage. 

So, when we choose to see things as they are, we must always check our perspective with others who we trust and can offer grounded insights and perspective over time. This check-in with trusted mentors, coaches, allies, and confidants requires us to step back from the press of current events, and instead choose to see the larger picture of the world. We need to do this step back in order to prevent and/or limit any level of myopic thinking, i.e. a short-sighted way of thinking that focuses on immediate problems and concerns, and short-term gains while neglecting long-term consequences and broader implications for the business. Myopic thinking always lacks foresight and the ability to consider how current actions will affect future growth and innovation. We do all of this, because the most dangerous perspective to hold is one where we think we can change everything, or something specific that is not ours to change. This is the tenacity of paradox, and the reason why we must seek “a deeper wisdom that is a more honest reflection of the human experience and the human spirit.”

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change