Ten Leadership Tips For Managing Uncertainty in 2022
For Leaders
FIND YOUR SECRET JOY
Manage the impact of uncertainty by creating a regular personal routine) like finding time to meditate or exercise daily.
This routine will help you cognitively balance external uncertainties outside of your control with the consistency of your own internal, self-determined schedule.
However, be sure to maintain flexibility. If you choose to have a coffee every morning as your routine, prepare for a day that the milk runs out as practice for managing greater uncertainty as a leader within your company.
COMMIT TO INSPIRATION
A great antidote to anxiety resulting from uncertainty is feeling awe and wonder.
EXERCISE
Make a list of corporate leaders, books, and lectures with stories that help you momentarily believe in the impossible.
WHEN UNCERTAINTY STRIKES…
Refer back to the list to find inspirational new ideas, approaches, and energy to offset its impact.
For Employees
UNDERSTAND STRESSORS
Uncertainty can throw people for a loop, but there are other elements in play.
Meet VUCAD
Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity, and Delayed Feedback are known as the Five Elements of Stress.
How to beat VUCAD
Identifying which of these elements is the hardest on each employee can allow for personalized solutions.
For example, giving more feedback following task completion or giving clear instructions on a project will be more impactful in reducing stress in your team.
PREEMPT BURNOUT
Be realistic about the inevitable dips in your employees' energy.
Recognize Symptoms
While you shouldn't let your employees slack off simply because of the pandemic, it's important to understand that they will experience moments of burnout as a result of the world around us
Be Proactive
Addressing burnout early (by offering a day off or encouraging energy breaks) can help you avoid unexpected poor performance reviews or losing otherwise valuable employees down the line.
KEEP COMMUNICATION OPEN
Create Opportunity
One of the strongest support tools for navigating uncertainty is clear and open lines of communication within your team. This will lead to more effective information sharing.
Stay Informed
Focus on rewarding good communication and taking quick action to remedy gaps when it falls short.
For Organizations
JUMPSTART YOUR ORGANIZATION'S THINKING
In uncertain times, we default to reactive thinking. Shifting your team from reactivity to proactivity can help you unlock lasting organizational success and outshine your competitors. We recommend the C-A-N exercise:
Identifying and acknowledging Constraints
Re-framing situations through the lens of Alternate futures
Visioning the next chapter of the organizational Narrative
PREPARE A CRISIS RESPONSE PLAN
Working with your team on this will also help reduce the stress of an actual uncertain moment, and decrease overall anxiety about unknowns.
Just like you would plan for an earthquake or hurricane, plan for crisis level uncertainty to impact your organization's decision making.
PRO TIP: Start by identifying how you have managed chaotic situations successfully in the past and prepare a list of approaches that have helped before.
CREATE INDEPENDENT GOALS
Set a quantitative content goal or building V1 of a product, rather than a dependent organizational goal such as the amount of revenue you generate per month.
Your team needs moments of success and triumph during turbulent times for employee motivation and energy to stay high.
PRO TIP: To create these successes, set independent organizational goals that are fully within the control of your team.
INVEST IN DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES
When building teams, ensure your employees are a representative sample of the diversity of the world, both in diversity of background and of perspective.
In uncertain moments, it is critical for organizations to blend a wealth of varied experience and perspectives together to create an informed picture of the world and the future.
PRO TIP: To successfully execute on this tip, it is important to gather insight and perspective from all employees.
Write The Story You Want
Decide the narrative you want to tell about your organization during this period of unknowns -- do you want to be known as the company with a supportive culture? The organization that never faltered in terms of revenue?
Whatever it may be, apply this as a filter while decision-making to determine how your choices contribute to your long-term company story.
