If 2020 is proving to be anything, it’s going to be a wild and unpredictable ride. One look at the news and you’re confronted with uncertainty at every turn: the 2020 elections, Brexit, COVID-19, conflicting economic growth indicators, escalating climate change, and growing global tensions. Many people are feeling it. Anxiety levels are at an all-time high and growing, as people worry about their health, safety and financial futures.

While recent
events may have sped up the uncertainty, we’ve been living in a tumultuous time. Business has adopted the military
acronym VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous – to
describe the current state of normal. It can be hard for leaders to manage an
uncertain environment for themselves, let alone keep others focused and calm.
But that’s exactly what leaders of all levels must do to remain effective and
forward-looking.

A company can’t
innovate if its workers are anxious, pessimistic and even afraid. People must
be able to cope with uncertainty in a way that’s not paralyzing.

So, what are some
proactive techniques to move forward when we’re unsure of the outcome? How can
we avoid cycling through what might
happen and stay engaged in the here and now?

Here are some thoughts
on how to, as the Brits say, keep calm and carry on, when there’s tumult just
outside the door.

Get in control of your irrational
thoughts.

Your limbic
system is responsible for the fear you experience during times of uncertainty.
And according to Dr. Travis Bradberry, co-author of Emotional
Intelligence 2.0, fear inhibits
sound decision-making.

The best way to combat
these irrational thoughts? Turn on your self-awareness. Bradberry argues,
“People who are good at dealing with uncertainty are wary of this fear and spot
it as soon as it begins to surface. In this way, they can contain it before it
gets out of control. Once they are aware of the fear, they label all the
irrational thoughts that try to intensify it as irrational fears – not reality
– and the fear subsides. Then they can focus more accurately and rationally on
the information they have to go on.”

Ride
the waves you can’t stop.

There’s no use in
fighting against the choppy current, especially around issues that you can’t
affect anyway. Even if it goes against your basic instincts, try to ride the
wave of uncertainty rather than using precious mental energy to create an imaginary
sense of control. When you feel yourself fixating, stop and ascertain if your
efforts can bear fruit. If not, try to let it go.

Leadership and
management writer for Inc., Peter
Economy, suggests that you should focus on “upping
communication throughout your organization, creating fluid hierarchies, being
fully transparent and improvising whenever necessary.”

Adaptability is
key at all levels. Create a cultural value around it and reward supportive behaviors
in others.

Focus on what matters.

While you try to
ignore what you can’t change, pick strategic battles you want to fight. This
may mean that instead of being overwhelmed by large trends, you focus on a core
mission. If you had to pick the top priorities for your time and energy, what
rises to the top?

Inc. columnist Eric Holtzclaw argues that now is the time to hone in on your one
true mission: “The goal of your organization – the reason
you exist and what you bring to the world – should serve as the litmus test for
everything that you do as you work through uncertainty. Staying true to your
organization’s goal helps you prioritize as you sort through the chaos
surrounding you. Make sure your company knows what its mission is, remind your team
of that goal and drive toward it.”

Collaborate, don’t hunker.

Now is not the
time to go it alone. Writing in Harvard
Business Review, career expert Patti Johnson suggests that effective
leaders consider multiple perspectives when navigating uncharted waters “by
encouraging collaboration, input, and new ideas.” She writes: “Be inclusive,
and rely less on hierarchy and more on relevant experience. Above all, avoid
the ‘I have all the answers’ trap. It’s important to know when your expertise
helps and when it’s creating a blind spot.”

When we’re under
stress, we can go inward and tighten down external inputs. Resist the urge. You
need the full capacity of your team – and the exponential impact of multiple
ideas – to navigate uncertain times.

Make incremental steps.

Uncertainty
can cause us to take drastic steps to alleviate our anxiety, and to create a
new normal. Many organizations, and people, have followed big changes with
equally big mistakes.

Instead, put together a plan composed of incremental, achievable steps. Johnson argues that this approach helps you to avoid the risks that come with making big, sweeping decisions. She writes, “Create a series of short-term plans that can evolve as the situation becomes clearer…Regularly ask your team, ‘What have we learned that must change our plans in the next three months?’”

Change
is iterative, as is our feeling about the change. Our first reaction is often
steeped in emotion, and with time a more sure-footed approach appears. Part of navigating any VUCA environment is realizing that every
step opens up new doors, and it’s only when we walk through them that we
realize what’s next.

Kristi Hedges is a leadership coach, speaker and author of The Power of Presence and The Inspiration Code .  Find her at thehedgescompany.com and @kristihedges .

Photo by MARK ADRIANE on Unsplash.

The post How to Lead with Positivity When The World Is In Chaos appeared first on The Hedges Company.