Introduction
In 2014, John Kotter, who wrote the book, Leading Change (Harvard Business School Press, 1996), which is considered the gold standard for successful organizational change, came out with another book called Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility For A Faster-Moving World (Harvard Business Review Press, 2014). In it, he wrote: “The world is now changing at a rate at which the basic systems, structures, and cultures built over the past century cannot keep up with the demands being placed on them. Incremental adjustments to how you manage and strategize, no matter how clever, are not up to the job…. organizations everywhere are struggling to keep up with the accelerating pace of change - let alone get ahead of it.”
Twelve years later, he is still correct. Leaders and organizations can not keep up “with the demands being placed on them,” and that “organizations everywhere are struggling to keep up with the accelerating pace of change.” The problem has not gone away. If any thing, it has increased in magnitude and complexity.
And given this reality, we know, as leaders, that we need to respond, rather than react to this situation. However, privately, many leaders report to me that they are reacting to what is happening more than they would like to, and that they are overwhelmed by the pace and continual acceleration.
Now, the typical response to these kinds of situations, is to just go faster and faster. This response is best captured by the The Red Queen Principle, namely we run faster and faster just to stay in one place. But based on personal and professional experience, this never ends well. A matter of fact, it often results in burn-out, and then a full melt down with a long pathway to recovery.
The better choice is to slow down when confronted with the reaction to accelerate during times of complexity. We know we can not stop it, or dramatically change it. However, we can slow ourselves down, and thus gain greater perspective and understanding of what is happening and why it is happening. The key is to figure out how to do this and how to create a realistic sense of pace in the midst of complexity.
Feeling Stressed vs. Feeling Overwhelmed
To start doing this, we must turn to the work of Brené Brown and her book, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience (Random House, 2021). In this helpful resource, Brown notes the difference between being stress and being overwhelmed. As she writes, “We feel stressed when we evaluate environmental demands as beyond our ability to cope successfully. This includes elements of unpredictability, uncontrollability, and feeling overloaded… Stressful situations cause both physiological (body) and psychological (mind and emotion) reactions.” As she continues, “Overwhelmed means an extreme level of stress, an emotional and/or cognitive intensity to the point of feeling unable to function.” Then she explains, “Feeling stressed and feeling overwhelmed seem to be related to our perception of how we are coping with our current situation and our ability to handle the accompanying emotions.” I appreciate that Brown also references the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, who describes overwhelmed as the all-too-common feeling “that our lives are somehow unfolding faster than the nervous system and psyche are able to manage well.” Understanding the difference between being stressed and overwhelmed helps us to recognize the depth of our experience with the feeling of constant acceleration.
The Importance of Trust
So, in order de-accelerate, and begin to feel less overwhelmed with “unpredictability, uncontrollability, and feeling overloaded,” I believe we need to focus on two specific areas. First, we need to recognize the importance of building and maintaining trusting relationships. For many years, I taught that the best leaders I ever met where the ones who were gardeners of trust. They recognized that the followers place their trust in them, and that leaders need to tend and grow this level of trust placed in them.
In the January 8, 2009 issue of the on-line Gallup Management Journal, they reported the following: “To run an organization effectively, leaders must be able to strategize, set visions and priorities, build relationships, influence others, and make things happen. But if you ask followers what they need from leaders, the clear answer is trust, compassion, stability, and hope. These four basic needs are the result of [Tom] Rath, [Barry] Conchie, [coauthors of Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow,Teams, and Why People Follow] and a Gallup research team asking more than 10,000 followers what the most influential leaders contribute to their lives.”
When I review this powerful statement and reflect on people feeling overwhelmed in the midst of continual acceleration, I think about the leaders who had the courage and “grounded confidence,” referencing the writing of 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), I come to realize that the leaders who understand these four basic needs, i.e. “trust, compassion, stability, and hope,” recognize that they are all interconnected. But from my vantage point, trust is the cornerstone to building the capacity for de-acceleration. For when I trust those around me, and myself too, I gain something very important, namely the ability to move from resilience to thriving.
To be continued on Tuesday.
© Geery Howe 2026
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