Recently I had the pleasure of being a guest on Dr. Greg Ketchum’s “Coach on Demand” podcast.

Dubbed the “Frasier of the Cubicles” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Dr. Greg is a former clinical psychologist-turned executive coach and radio talk show host.  A unique mix of psychology and coaching expertise gives Dr. Greg a great understanding of people and what it takes for career success. Combined with his keen insight into today’s workplace, and infused with his trademark quick wit, Dr. Greg challenges his listeners and clients to reach for career success on their own terms—and to have a good time doing it.  I had a blast in our visit, where we talked about how uncertainty has always been a part of our world. But with Covid 19 and all the disruptions, it has caused uncertainty is now a permanent, unrelenting worldwide fixture rather than something that happens in response to a particular crisis and then recedes. Despite how much we may dislike uncertainty, learning how to not only accept but truly embrace it and the new possibilities it brings is one of those fundamental leadership skills for our time.

Recently I was a guest on Dr. Nancy O’Reilly’s podcast Smart, Amazing Conversations with Dr. Nancy, where we discussed how leaders can develop a possibilities mindset in times of unrelenting uncertainty. Dr. Nancy O’Reilly is the founder of Women Connect4Good foundation and is a trailblazer for women’s empowerment and supporting women in the pursuit of leadership.

Like me, she is an endurance athlete who appreciates that the business world of today requires the same resiliency skills as those of an endurance athlete. During our conversational, yet informative conversation, I felt like turning the tables and asking her about her personal leadership journey (note for one of my 2022 podcasts).

We enjoyed discussing how we really never know what today – or tomorrow – will bring. And the more you’re responsible for, the more stress can result. As women leaders, we need to acknowledge this, prepare ourselves for whatever curveball is coming our way and support other women in doing the same.

Thank you Dr. Nancy for the opportunity!

Recently I was a guest on Zoë Routh’s podcast People Stuff: Dealing with the Tough Stuff in Leadership. Zoë is THE number one leadership guru in Australia. She’s an award-winning leadership expert, speaker, and author of People Stuff (see below) as well as a multi-talented, non-nonsense host and producer.

I really appreciated her approach to preparing and conducting the interview and enjoyed being a guest on her show. Our conversation served as a good reminder that “Leadership Stuff” is the same down under as it is here.

There is no question that the requirements for strategic leadership are changing in an uncertain environment. In the past, leaders could rely on being experts in a specific functional area.

We were chosen and advanced in the organization for our functional expertise, because we directed people what to do and because we delivered results. We learned through time that we are the ones that need to be unfazed by change, that we need to be the ones walking down the hallways erect, purposeful, in control of our environment.

We knew our stuff, gave directives to our teams and relied on our personalities and charisma to be efficient.  Today’s requirements are very different. Less importance is placed on subject matter knowledge, more on self-knowledge and awareness, on being open to multiple perspectives, to having the capacity to envision and articulate where we want to lead our teams to be effective. 

In my experience, few leaders have acknowledged this level of change in what it means to lead thought uncertainty; fewer have taken steps to build the new skills needed to lead in this time.

There is no doubt: the mindset and skillset changes required to evolve into today’s new leader are significant. I have seen this in many of my client companies where, even though technology continues to drive change in their work environment, people struggling with constant change and uncertainty get stuck. They are afraid to make decisions and move forward. They hit the virtual “pause” button, waiting for certainty to return.

We see how uncertainty can put us on the defense, avoiding risk instead of embracing opportunity. Uncertainty can definitely throw us off our game: we give in, then we give up. But uncertainty can also be a gift, because it allows us to look at challenges from a place of “what can be”, not a place or resignation.

How will you embrace uncertainty – and see it as a way to help your teams realize what is truly possible in this age of uncertainty?

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Bobbie LaPorte draws on the sciences of positive psychology, neuroscience and behavioral fitness to help challenged executives navigate today’s uncharted territory to achieve their goals. Learn how our approach can transform your people, your processes, and your entire organization—and help you get ready for anything!

Bobbie’s new leadership book is available on Amazon now!

How did we arrive at this point where we are living in a world of unrelenting uncertainty, with no idea of what is coming next or how to plan for tomorrow?

Surely, we didn’t just wake up one morning and feel like the ground was shifting under us, that we were completely unsure of how to plan for the day and what, if anything, we could count on.

It does feel like that sometimes. There is no question that we are living in one of the most challenging times in recent memory. The pace of change and the impact that has across not just work, but all the domains of our lives, have been accelerating over the last decade. We now see that disrupting markets are not just the focus of high technology; it is happening across all industries and in organizations of all sizes and stages. Nearly every business faces increasing competition to stay relevant from start-ups to mature organizations who are transforming and reinventing themselves every day.

Stakeholders from every corner – investors, clients, employees, community members, and others – have a broader vision of the role of corporations in today’s environment and are heightening their demands. It seems like everyone wants more of you as a leader, and that pressure, combined with an environment of uncertainty, can feel overwhelming, even for the most resilient amongst us.

There has always been change, but the type of change we are experiencing now is completely different from what we have known in the past. It is broad, structural, and impacts virtually everything we do. The structural impact is unlike anything we’ve experienced in the past. It is ongoing…. a continuous ripple effect that continues to degrade the structure we have come to depend upon. It is like an earthquake that never ends: you think it is over but it’s not; the aftershocks just keep coming and coming.

This is the age of unrelenting uncertainty.

Don’t think you can look the other way and hope that this unrelenting uncertainty will go away and you can get back to the times where you knew what was coming next and how to plan for tomorrow; when your team came to you for answers and you showed them the way;  when you were clear on your path to continued success. That world is gone. Stop hoping that maybe, just maybe “things” will get back to normal….that you can just wait for things to settle down.

Or that you can create certainty because uncertainty brings more pressure to create certainty. Leaders who try to do more of the same of what worked in the past will be continually frustrated and stalled. Our brains don’t like uncertainty; they want to be in a “toward” state where there is at least some sense of direction, of promise, if not certainty.

Your role now is to provide reassurance that uncertainty affects everyone equally, that as a leader, you are on the same, unstable footing as the people on your team. You can provide general direction and guidance, you can help your team connect to their long-term goals, you can instill confidence and promise, but you can’t provide answers with any certainty.

This is the new standard of competence and confidence by which all leaders will be measured from this point forward.

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Bobbie LaPorte draws on the sciences of positive psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral fitness to help challenged executives navigate today’s uncharted territory to achieve their goals. Get in touch with Bobbie to learn how her approach can transform your people, your processes, and your entire organization—and help you get ready for anything!

The book is now available on Amazon.