Seven Ways Leaders Thrive Amid Anxiety In Uncertain Times

We human beings are wired for certainty. A lack of it tends to trigger anxiety that drives people to resist anything that may further threaten the status quo…regardless of the cost. Good leaders not only work to dial down fear but to tap the passion, ingenuity and innovation it too often stifles.

Of course uncertainty is a staple in all our lives, including the organizations in which we spend much of them.  Yet you’d have to be living in another Twittersphere not to have felt it dial up a notch or ten in recent times. Speculating about what’s to come has consumed a vast amount of column inches and dinner time debate. It’s also fueled a great deal of anxiety.

Our need for certainty was  hardwired into our psychological DNA back in our cave dwelling days. We like to make plans for a future we can reasonably predict. At the very least, we want to think we know what lies just ahead. The impact of uncertainty on our stress levels has recently been validated by a study by University College London (funded by the Medical Research Council). It found that people who are certain they will receive a small electric shock experience far less stress than those who know there’s a chance they may get shocked and a chance they won’t.  When we know something is about to happen that we won’t like, we can brace ourselves. It’s the not knowing, the uncertainty, that triggers stress and anxiety.

“Let’s just wait until things settle down a bit,” a manager I know told his team last week,  referencing plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Mexico. Another shared with me how they are holding off an international relocation to expand their mid-sized IT company’s business in China until they had a stronger sense of the political and economic climate. Their indecision is understandable, yet it exacts a toll.

Disruption to the status quo may produce anxiety, but it also creates opportunity. In today’s climate of uncertainty, leaders have an opportunity to harness this anxiety in positive ways to fuel the innovation and productivity it so often stifles. This requires spending less time trying to guard against all external threats to their organization, and more on tapping the ingenuity, passion and potential that resides within its walls.  Below are seven ways leaders can do just that.

1. Keep people focused on the mission.

Keeping people on task when the headlines are so distracting is no small feat. Good leaders communicate a compelling vision for their organization, and make sure everyone knows exactly what they need to be doing in order to achieve it. Does this eradicate all anxiety? Of course not. But when people are clear about what’s expected of them, and know that what they do provides a meaningful contribution to the larger whole, they’ll have less time and inclination to sit around catastrophizing about all the “What ifs?”

2. Dial down the anxiety-meter.

Organizational psychologists have found that every workplace develops its own group emotion, or “group effective tone.” Over time, this creates shared “emotional norms” that are proliferated and reinforced by behavior, both verbal and non-verbal. Leaders have to set the tone for these norms. In many ways they act as emotional barometers, as people look to them for cues on how to think, engage and behave in the face of change and uncertainty. It’s why great leaders are very deliberate about harnessing the contagious nature of emotions in a positive way , dialing down anxiety and dialing up optimism complete with its “we’ll figure it out” mindset.

 3. Acknowledge unspoken concerns.

While good leaders don’t spread stress, they also don’t ignore what’s causing it. Tuning into and acknowledging the concerns and anxieties of those around them – legitimate and otherwise –  reassures people that they’re not alone and that the people they work for have got their back.

4. Shrink the holes in the psychological safety net.

Nobel Laureate and psychologist Daniel Kahneman wrote that when deciding whether to take action, “Potential losses loom larger than potential gains.” When uncertainty is running high, it further amplifies our innate tendency to focus more on what could go wrong than on what could go right ; more on what we might lose than on what we might gain. This in turn creates over-caution, intensifying any underlying insecurities. After all, as Bill Treasurer wrote in Courage Goes To Work, “People play it safe when they feel it’s unsafe to do otherwise.”

It’s why creating a safe environment is even more important in uncertain times when future security feels threatened, when people lack confidence in their ability to predict what lies ahead or how it will impact them, their family, their ability to pay their mortgage and their kid’s college fees. Leaders who focus solely on what could go wrong can enlarge the holes in people’s psychological safety net at a time when they most need to shrink them. Leaders must continually embolden people to ‘lean toward risk’ rather than away from it as a prerequisite for their own growth and success.

5. Reward bravery.

The more frequently people are exposed to uncomfortable situations, the more comfortable they become with them. Coined the “Mere Exposure Effect” by psychologists, it explains why bomb disposal experts, given both the right training and sufficient practice, can keep their cool in situations that would turn most of us into a shaking mess.

Encouraging people to embrace discomfort, risk mistakes and stretch themselves creates a scaffolding that builds confidence for taking bolder actions in the future. It’s why leaders must encourage people to take risks, but must also reward them for doing so. Reassurance that risks won’t be punished—assuming they’ve prepared properly—offsets anxiety and grows a willingness to innovate, experiment and disrupt old paradigms. Unless people feel that they’re able to make the odd bad decision, they won’t be willing to risk making good ones.

When leaders reward courageous behaviors—not just successful ones—they’re also demonstrating to everyone what is valued. The reward should be immediate (not delayed until their annual review), meaningful to the person receiving it and, ideally,  linked to the behavior you want to encourage.  It could as simple as a handwritten note or a few encouraging words of acknowledgment in a team meeting.

6. Encourage decisiveness.

Auto-chief Lee Iacocca once said, “The one word that makes a good manager—decisiveness.” But let’s face it, when we’re dealing with a lack of information, ambiguity, and a future that’s anything but predictable, being decisive is easier said than done. Yet just because making a decision can create greater uncertainty, that’s not a good reason not to make it.  While waiting a little longer can feel like the sensible option, the price we pay for putting off a decision often outweighs the benefits we get by simply committing to a course of action. To quote

As a manager, you need to both practice and encourage decisiveness. Avoiding change because the future is uncertain makes us less secure, not more so.

7. Lay your own reputation on the line.

Are you venturing on to new ground, being decisive amid the ambiguity, risking mistakes and challenging the paradigms that govern how you do business?

If you’re not, you can hardly expect those further down in the ranks to be doing so. Let’s face it, people will always be more influenced by the power of your example than by the example of your power. In short: you’ve got to walk your talk.

Consider where you need to lead with greater courage and move through your own fears and anxiety to disrupt old thinking, generate new ideas and set your organization up to compete in the world we’ll be living in ten years from now.  While none of us can predict the future, it is the organizations which have been industrious in creating it that will be best poised to seize the opportunities it holds.