To Lead Is Human – Episode 57
How Smart Leaders Stay Resilient in Uncertain Times (Sharon Richmond)
Sharon Richmond: Hi there, I’m Sharon Richmond and this is a special edition of To Lead Is Human. Today, I’m speaking directly to you, leader to leader. No guests, no filters, just one human voice reaching out in what I know has been a relentless, pressure filled environment. Let’s be real folks, 2025 isn’t just a challenging season, it’s a full on, never ending convergence of volatility. It’s VUCA squared, AI disruption, broken supply chains, global unrest, cultural tensions, regulatory spikes, and our workforce that’s rethinking everything since the pandemic. It’s not one wave, it’s the whole ocean. So the question is, how do you lead best when the map keeps changing and the ground keeps shifting?
Here’s what I’ve learned through 40 years of coaching leaders in fast moving companies in complex environments. There are five moves, five must dos that separate the reactive from the resilient. They’re not theories. These are practices I’ve helped leaders install over the years, long before the pandemic. And they’re more relevant now than ever. Let’s walk through them.
When disruption hits, our instinct is to cling to what’s familiar. But real leadership begins when you choose not to default to habit. So your first shift is getting off autopilot. Ask yourself, are you reacting or responding? Smart leaders pause. They notice, they listen, they choose, and then they move. But on purpose only. An example I love of this is Adobe. When they were faced with a collapsing market model, they didn’t panic, they listened. They restructured teams to stay close to the customer. They pivoted to subscriptions. And it worked because they built intentional adaptation into their DNA. You can do that too, if you build the pause into your process. When you pause, intentional action follows.
Second, under pressure, fear takes over. This isn’t a character flaw, it’s biology. And it happens to leaders as well as all the people we have the privilege to lead. But when leaders lead from fear, it ripples through the system. Silence, withholding, risk aversion, decision paralysis. That’s what you get with fear based leadership. Instead, you want to create a psychologically safe environment, as Amy Edmondson has described. And you want to model honesty and openness. You want to encourage dissent. Ask what did we avoid talking about today? And really listen. Those missing conversations are going to be key.
At Google, many of you are probably familiar with Project Aristotle, the research project where Google learned that high performing teams weren’t made up of the smartest people, they were made up of the people that felt safest to speak up whether they were in agreement or disagreement and were not at fear for their jobs. That kind of safety makes broad, innovative thinking possible. You don’t need to be the hero, you just need to make it safe to be brave.
Third, let me say something plainly. One of your most important leadership tools is your nervous system, and I bet you never think about that. Emotional intelligence isn’t the soft stuff. It’s what you can count on to keep you grounded when everyone else is spiraling and resilience. It’s not about endurance, it’s about recovery. It’s knowing when to breathe, when to name what’s true, and when to say, I don’t know yet. If you were paying attention when Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand was demonstrating this real time, she led with grace throughout the pandemic and then stepped down with clarity. That was her emotional intelligence telling her she had done as much as she could do. And that’s leadership. Brave, courageous leadership.
The next change that a leader can take on is shifting from being the hero to building the capacity in your teams. If you’re still solving every problem yourself, you’re the bottleneck and you’re what’s holding your team back. Here’s a better goal. Build capacity. Develop thinkers. Invite people to be problem solvers. Give people the confidence and the authority that they need to share their true thoughts. And when your organization does that, so many new opportunities will emerge, even in the most difficult of circumstances.
At Atlassian, for example, they use something called team health monitors. These are tools that help teams self diagnose and grow without needing top down intervention or solutions. The lesson here, you as the leader, don’t have to carry the load alone. Ask your team, what would you do if I weren’t here? And then let them surprise you. In times of uncertainty, people, people don’t need a map, they need a compass. And you as the leader are the person that can provide that direction and stability to your organization.
What are the constants? What’s not changing? What are your values? What’s the purpose of your organization? What do you never compromise on? These are the kinds of reflections and questions and conversations that will help your organization find stable ground even in the midst of the chaos of the world surrounding us. Patagonia gives us a great example. They never stop being Patagonia. Even in crisis, their values stayed visible as they changed their leadership model so it would work for the future.
So I challenge you, figure out what your top three leadership constants are. What’s not changing? Share them. Live those. Let people anchor to your consistency, to your groundedness, even when the conditions around all of you are swirling.I guess what I’d like to close with is what I think of as a better question. I know what I’ve shared so far today is a lot, so here’s one powerful shift you can start with. Instead of asking what should I do right now? Ask what does this moment require of me? Because leadership today isn’t about knowing anything. It isn’t about top down. It isn’t about directions. It isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about holding the emotional culture and strategic space for the people you have the privilege to lead, to rise, to contribute, and to weigh in, ultimately helping your company be more successful than you even thought possible. So let’s lead accordingly.
I always like to offer you some takeaways, so here’s how to think about what to do next. If volatility is the new norm, and it is, as leader, you must move from the instinct to control and hold on to things to a new openness and adaptation that allows more people to share their perspectives and bring in new ideas. Your intentional leadership depends on you taking the pause, reflecting and acting with purpose, and communicating that purpose to everyone else as well. When you can create a psychologically safe working environment, you will see better thinking, faster learning, and bolder decision making. Resilience and emotional intelligence are both key tools that you can turn to to help you stay anchored in your steady human centered leadership.
Generative leaders, the kind you all want to be. Creating new direction together with others and achieving your goals builds capacity in others. It focuses on not solving everything themselves, but inviting others into problem solving space. Anchoring to the constants in your organization like what’s not changing during this period of time will provide ground and confidence, clarity and trust during chaotic times. And you can take that one powerful shift to ask the kinds of questions that invite thoughtful and grounded action for yourself and for others. Thanks for joining me today. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this conversation.
I’m Sharon Richmond and this has been To Lead is Human. You can find out more about me at leadinglarge.com. That’s L E A D I N G large.com. To Lead Is Human is part of the Mirasee FM Podcast Network, which also features such shows as Once Upon a Business and Making It. This episode was produced by Andrew Chapman. Danny Iny is our Executive producer and Marvin Del Rosario is our audio editor.
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