Uncertainty in the workplace affects both leaders and employees alike. Layoffs, shifting priorities, and heavier workloads can increase stress and lower morale. Effective leadership during these uncertain times means providing stability, clear communication, and support.
We asked our experts, instructors at our Professional & Executive Development programs to share five strategies for guiding teams through uncertain times.
Meet Our Experts
1. Communicate with Transparency
Jill Slye recommends maintaining a healthy balance of honesty and curiosity to support team morale. Be open and straightforward with your communication and take in feedback to guide your next steps.
“As we’re putting those messages out, we’re also monitoring how they’re being perceived, so then we can gauge what the next communication should be,” says Slye.
Strong communication builds trust and maintains cohesion and motivation, especially during times of uncertainty. Making sure your team knows you have their best interests at heart is one way to keep that line of communication open.
“You look out for your teammates and figure out, ‘How can I make that person even more successful than they could be without me?’” says John Westman. “By understanding what they need, how they work, how you can help them improve, that ends up bringing a mutual trust cycle where you can continue to help each other.”
2. Model Supportive Behavior
Julie Jungalwala emphasizes the importance of ensuring you can stand on your own two feet and can manage your response to disruption before jumping into new problem-solving.
“Start with yourself and put your oxygen mask on first,” she says. “It sounds like a cliche, but it’s incredibly important to make sure that you’re well-resourced as a leader.”
Another way to model this supportive behavior is to engage with your team members on a more personal level.
“Take time during the start of a meeting, for example, just to check in with folks. Ask how they are. And then the important piece is to listen to the response, and not just quickly get on to the agenda,” says Jungalwala.
3. Strengthen Your Emotional Intelligence
“As leaders, we have to remember that all eyes are on us,” says Slye. “It is important for us to remember that we have to take care of ourselves in order to be a power of example to other people.”
Taking care of yourself to prevent burnout also fosters empathy for those experiencing similar struggles. Jungalwala recommends practicing habitual self-care, like grounding or mindfulness, to help stabilize your emotional responses and keep you centered during times of stress.
4. Be Agile, But Resilient
“Setbacks are only failures if you don’t learn from them,” says Eugene Kogan.
Evaluating your shortcomings, areas for improvement, and what factors were out of your control can turn an initial disappointment into a learning opportunity that propels you forward.
“The way to turn a setback around is to start working on it piece by piece — not to see it as a black box, but to see it as a task list that you can tackle one by one, starting with today, just a little bit,” Kogan says.
On a personal level, Eugene Kogan says the professional relationships that develop you most as a leader are the ones where you can have respectful and candid conversations about where you can improve. Receiving honest feedback from that close, trusted source can build your resilience and drive you forward.
“More than ever in this job environment, we need people who will actually tell us the uncomfortable truth — things that maybe are not immediately pleasant to hear, but maybe are holding us back from succeeding,” says Kogan. “Deepening the relationship with a trusted mentor to give you brutally honest feedback is a key strategy to really build resilience in today’s volatile environment.”
5. Nurture Business Relationships
Whether networking online or in person, making connections can be so much more than just adding one another on LinkedIn. The impact comes not just from how many people are in your network, but how you can leverage those contacts, says Kogan.
Be proactive and reach out for informational interviews to gain real-time feedback and make sure you come away from every interaction with a lead.
“Leave with that lead, with somebody you can contact who they can introduce you to, somebody they know, or somebody they could pass your name to or your resume to,” Kogan says.
Establishing trust is another way to take your business relationships to the next level. Entering into mutually good faith conversations is one way to immediately establish trust, says Westman.
“For example, do you trust that you can have a good conversation with somebody? You’re not trusting that person to do surgery on you; you’re trusting them in a limited space,” he says.
Starting from that foundation sets a positive tone, and you can always adjust as needed if circumstances change.
In your day-to-day interactions, Jungawala recommends taking advantage of informal social opportunities to foster a sense of belonging.
“Many of us work either in a completely online or a hybrid environment these days, so really taking stock of how you’ve checked in personally with your folks recently can be incredibly powerful,” she says. “It’s in those conversations where you might find ways in which you can help others as they navigate this disruption and uncertainty.”
