Executive leaders face many challenges in today’s workplace and one of the biggest is how to manage uncertainty. Sarah Parr shares her thoughts on this difficult topic.

Helping leaders deal with managing uncertainty

I was talking to a chief exec about this recently in the context of motivating an organisation in the current climate. “We have been through two years of pandemic and now face the possibility of World War 111,” he said. “Everyone is fed-up. The economic climate is awful and people are worried about how they are going to survive.” So, how do we motivate staff in this environment?”

This all sounds quite dramatic. I don’t necessarily agree. However, it is a reality that everyone has had to put so much energy into just getting through the pandemic, and just when we thought we’d turned a corner, we now face a new load of challenges. So how do we manage uncertainty both as individuals and businesses? 

According to RHR International, a global firm of management psychologists, employees turn to their leaders for reassurance in uncertain times. They cite four key concepts in leading people during turbulent times: Inform, Connect, Guide, and Unite.

Inform, Connect, Guide & Unite

I paraphrase these four ways to manage uncertainty as follows:

1. Inform - It is vital to communicate in an open and honest way as workers struggle to come to terms with what’s happening;

2. Connect - It’s important to acknowledge how everyone is affected, across the organisation, providing a safe place to express emotions.

3. Guide – RHR maintains that it is “the leader’s job to help people make sense of the changing conditions, anticipate the likely scenarios ahead, and make up their own minds about how to best deal with these situations.”

4. Unite – Leaders need to bring people together, rallying teams to deal with difficulty. This brings a sense of togetherness and resilience.

I find these four points helpful as they highlight key areas of my expertise as an executive coach. Each requires a level of trust;  vulnerability and psychological safety which are essential to the overall process of learning to manage uncertainty.

There are probably many more ways to manage uncertainty and I would like to suggest three of my own…  Purpose, Motivation and Finding your comfort zone.

Purpose, Motivation & Finding your comfort zone

1. Purpose - I believe it’s crucial to create an environment where you've got a clear purpose as an organisation.Clarity of purpose will ensure that your vision and values are truly embedded and give your organisation a better chance of survival.

2. Motivation - This is similar to providing guidance, but I take it a step further. People who are ‘fed-up’ need a sizable shift in their thinking. They need to ‘Start with the Why”, as Simon Sinek says. It’s important to reconnect with one’s core motivation especially in tough times.

3. Find your comfort zone – I think it’s essential for leaders to get comfortable with uncertainty.  This means getting into a position where you know what you can cope with and what you can’t. Traditionally some organisations have not been so agile and they're going to need to be more and more so in future.

An example of managing uncertainty

Just one of the areas in the UK where management uncertainty is obvious is in the massive staffing crisis now facing the business world. The chief exec I spoke to quoted some shocking figures about the number of people who have left the workforce over the past 18 months. Some of this is Brexit-related, but there are also workers who have evaluated their lives after Lockdown and decided to retire early.

This is a problem that will need to be addressed as companies manage uncertainty around staffing. In some organisations, supply chains are suffering, they don't know if they're going to be able to get goods in or out, or how much they're going to cost. Then there is the issue of staff retention. For example, in the construction industry, some companies are losing engineers to competitors who are prepared to pay 20K more. That’s not sustainable for any business. So, companies are going to have to work harder to motivate staff and keep them engaged, productive and loyal.

 These combined seven ways to manage uncertainty can all benefit from executive coaching and/or team coaching. This provides an opportunity where leaders can look at scenarios from different perspectives and broaden their thinking about things.

It’s good business sense to have contingency plans in place. It’s also great to have a knowledgeable circle of people around you that can bring different perspectives to consider risk in different ways. It’s essential to have anyone on the same page, knowing what to do if things go wrong. However, it’s more important to consider how you can do things differently to minimise the chance of them going wrong.

Senior leaders can achieve this within the safety of a coaching relationship, which helps them to crystallise their thoughts before they discuss them with others. It takes a high degree of psychological safety in a boardroom for an executive to admit that they don’t have all the answers. However, a coach can help them structure and prepare for the hard conversations that may be needed.  

I would love to hear your thoughts on uncertainty management. Feel free to set up a free 30 minute appointment to discuss achieving these seven objectives.