To Face Uncertainty, Follow the Anxiety

The work of leadership is to show up to the moment, and both hold fast to the values and vision of the organization while also remaining nimble and flexible enough to meet that moment authentically. In these times of great change, where so much is unknown, that often means leading in the face of uncertainty. 

What if facing uncertainty is really about excavating anxiety? Uncertainty provokes anxiety in me and so many of us. One thing I’ve learned over my lifelong relationship with anxiety is that feeling anxiety is not an indication of a deficit within me that I need to solve. I don’t just need to calm down, trust, and invoke confidence. Anxiety is a tuning fork that is revealing to me what is really important.

As much as I love what I do, I find that when I’m looking ahead to something that is important to me, I experience more anxiety than excitement. I’ve come to understand that feeling is trying to tell me something. Specifically, it’s asking me to give more of my energy and attention to what’s important to me. It serves as an indication of what really matters in the moment. 

When I am feeling anxious instead of excited about a retreat I’m about to facilitate, it is because I long for my presence in a room to be impactful and effective. When I am feeling anxious about attending a networking event, it is because I deeply value authentic human connection. When I am feeling anxious at the start of a coaching call with a new client, it is because a successful outcome of that conversation is that they glean value from our time together. 

As leaders, whether we are face-to-face with our own uncertainty or the uncertainty of others, what we are really facing is a gap between what is being tended to and what is most important to us. Leading a team in a time of uncertainty can feel like leading a team that is projecting their doubt and distrust onto you. How would it be different if you took the time to feel into what is important to the people you lead and speak to that? In times of uncertainty, you likely cannot make promises. You certainly should not make promises you cannot keep, like making certainty where there is none. What you can do, however, is acknowledge what people are experiencing. You can name the tension in the room. You can invite people to voice dissent. You can encourage people to do what they need to do in order to take care of themselves.

Before you tend to the uncertainty of others, please make time to tend to your own. When you are faced with the unknown, what does that kick up in you? And what does that say about what is important to you?