opinion

Uncertainty and the unknown: scary, unsettling, unpredictable. Or exciting, challenging, offering the potential for growth. Which ever camp you’re in, you’ll know that uncertainty and the unknown are constant phenomena in organisational life.

Transition

Transition – which organisations and senior people find themselves in every day, in one sense or another – means moving from familiarity, and at least a degree of predictability, to the uncertain and the unknown – and also to a fresh opportunity to step up, and to be more creative and versatile.

Uncertainty is an inevitable part of both our personal lives and our organisational lives. We need to come to terms with it, find creative ways of working with it, and mould our relationship to it so that it works for us.

Awareness and understanding: know yourself

Self-awareness, self-understanding, and awareness of the systems we’re part of give us a foundation of ‘the known’ in a context where much may be unknown. This, in turn, can give us a greater sense of safety and agency.

Leaders and others who are self-aware know their values, their purpose, and their motivations. They are aware of their emotions, and the effect of those emotions on their thinking and their behaviour, and they will have learnt how to manage these emotions so that their thinking and their behaviour are productive. They’re aware of what enables, and what inhibits, their best work.

They often know how to be ‘in flow’, which nourishes them. They understand how to manage themselves so that they are inspiring leaders of others. They tend not to allow their own behaviour to take them by surprise or to trip themselves up with unmanageable emotions.

All this helps to build a firm and reliable platform that is strengthening and resourcing.

Strategies for facing the unknown

The effectiveness with which we raise and maintain our awareness is directly proportionate to the effectiveness of our thinking and thus of our behaviour – and both our thinking and our behaviour are influenced by our emotions. Equally, our emotions are influenced by our thinking and our behaviour. Well-managed emotions can steer us safely through a storm (and into harbour), while emotions that are running wild can blow us off course and take us, and our teams, somewhere we never intended to go and over which we have inadequate influence.

Get to know your thinking patterns

Exploring our thinking patterns – and particularly the assumptions and judgments that are so easy to mistake for reality – can illuminate the motivations behind our behaviour. This can provide sharper clarity on what is driving us, and therefore clearer options for that behaviour.

This way we get to know ourselves better – and we know better what we can count on ourselves for, so we expand the territory of the known.

Equally, understanding what and who are influencing us can help reduce uncertainty. This includes identifying long-established loyalties to ideas, people and well-trodden paths, some of which may serve us, and some of which may be outdated.

That understanding can help to give us a sense of mastery when our response to uncertainty might otherwise leave us feeling depleted and helpless.

Acceptance of what is

When we’re fearful of the unknown, it can be useful to remember that it is the ‘now’ which will always become known. Whatever is, is. Acknowledging and accepting that saves energy and creates a greater sense of calm and ease, which in turn allows better-quality thinking to emerge.

The acceptance of what is – acceptance of the now – is perhaps the most powerful source of calm in the turbulence of uncertainty. Mindfulness – awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally, according to Jon Kabat-Zinn – encourages focus and distances us from distracting thoughts and emotions. Not only is it calming, but it also nurtures a quiet confidence in the present moment.

Uncertainty and the unknown will continue infinitely, but they can be managed and mastered – and may even become positives.

Photo by Alan Levine via Compfight

The uncertain and the unknown

Uncertainty is an inevitable part of both our personal lives and our organisational lives. Self-awareness, self-understanding, and awareness of the systems we’re part of give us a foundation of ‘the known’ in a context where much may be unknown. This, in turn, can give us a greater sense of safety and agency. In addition, the acceptance of what is – acceptance of the now – is perhaps the most powerful source of calm in the turbulence of uncertainty. Mindfulness – awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally - encourages focus and distances us from distracting thoughts and emotions. Not only is it relaxing, but it also nurtures a quiet confidence in the present moment.

Humility and the advancement of the executive career

Humility is the capacity to recognise that you – how ever junior to me – offer something (a talent, a skill, an insight) that I don’t have, and that in that sense you are important to my success as a leader, and to our success as a team and as an organisation. Indeed, I am dependent on you – no matter in how small a way - in the system that we are all part of. Humility can be a key - albeit surprising - factor in the advancement of executive careers. More and more organisations are recognising the value of – and are recruiting for – talent that demonstrates the ability to be humble.

Authority, courage and the leader

There's an interconnection between a leader stepping appropriately into their authority, on the one hand, and their courage, on the other. An effective leader understands their team and their client group, and is able to stay up to date with their needs, changes in those needs, and changes in the context and the system that impact on those needs: they are in touch with the ebb and flow – and act on it - without getting sucked in to the detail, and they can anticipate and prepare for changes. This takes courage.

Trust and transition

Trust is a fragile commodity, and is damaged when the psychological contract (even more than the formal contract) is not respected and/or there is abuse of goodwill, when people feel exploited, disrespected or manipulated, when they have a sense that there’s a hidden agenda, or when they start to question what they had taken for granted about integrity. The outcome may be reduced motivation, performance that is restrained, constrained or diminished, and commitment that is short-lived or superficial. When trust is justified, discretionary effort, engagement and motivation are sustained and built. This is all highly relevant at a time of transition. As a leader you ignore the impact of trust at your peril.

Leading through systemic complexity

The task of leadership in our time is increasingly often described as complex – and leaders are often challenged as to how to deal with it. Leaders whom I work with arrive sooner or later at the realisation that question(s) they bring to coaching are either obviously or surprisingly complex, requiring a holistic approach to address them. Those whose behavioural pattern is to rush towards quick answers can find the exploration of what’s actually happening to be confronting, frustrating, uncomfortable – and rich in learning. In complexity what matters is strengthening relationships between people, recognising and understanding influences and forces rather than exerting control, accepting emergence rather than being focused on planning for outcomes, and a readiness to work with boundaries and perspectives rather than a sense of objective truth.

Resilience in a changing world

Leaders are constantly required to deliver more with less. But their resilience can’t be taken for granted. Resources that are particularly valuable for building resilience include: Self-compassion and self-care; mindfulness and acceptance; awareness of habitual thinking patterns such as confusing assumptions with reality; clarification and articulation of purpose; building adaptability and the ability to flex; physical resourcing through sleep, diet and exercise.

Leadership, culture and successful selling

Leaders often start their careers by excelling technically. However, as their careers progress, they require an increasingly nuanced approach – particularly in relation to communication. Leadership means getting things done through people, not in spite of them, and leaders need to tap in to their self-awareness and to convert that into self-managed communication. In the high-stakes climate of the oil and gas industry, from Texas to Saudi, the leader has a consistent need for humility, integrity, curiosity, a willingness to think beyond the usual boundaries, trust, an awareness of one’s impact, and a finely-honed capacity to listen and to respect each individual.

Stretching to breaking point

Some senior people I coach are being stretched to a point where their wellbeing has reached dangerously low levels. At the heart of their recovering their health and balance is the realisation that, whereas they’d previously regarded self-care as selfish, self-indulgent or disposable, not only is it ‘OK’, legitimate and necessary, but also it enables them to make a better job of their jobs and their relationships in and out of work, enhancing their efficiency, their insight, the ability to take a broader perspective, their emotional intelligence, and the quality of their judgments and decisions.

Whose life is it anyway? Loyalties and agendas

Leaders may give away their authority by prioritising other people’s agendas and interests over their own – often indiscriminately and usually unconsciously. This blind loyalty to an assumption that questioning or challenging someone’s else’s agenda isn’t possible can, in turn, be down to another loyalty. This underlying loyalty can be to the leader’s outdated or misplaced belief that they have to do everything themselves if things are to get done to the necessary standard. This thinking habit or indeed a lack of thought - and the consequences - can be damaging to their leadership, career prospects, reputation, effectiveness, relationships, judgements and decisions. Leaders need to remember to be aware of the moment when a situation is drawing them in, and to give themselves space to think and options for alternative action.

Compassion: a business issue

Paul Gilbert, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Derby, defines compassion as "a sensitivity to suffering in self and others with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it" – and he notes that the core of compassion is courage. Far from being a soft issue, his scientific perspective is directly relevant to how organisations can boost their effectiveness. Compassion can do much to restore trust, confidence and a sense of safety in the individual and in the system – and it’s partly about both presence and acceptance, with a close link to mindfulness. Leaders and their reports can take practical steps to boosting both their self-compassion and their compassion towards others.

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