“Uncertainty is a permanent part of the leadership landscape. It never goes away. Uncertainty is not an indication of poor leadership; it underscores the need for leadership. It is the environment in which good leadership is most easily identified.” Andy Stanley author: Next Generation Leader

Reality!

You can certainly expect a high degree of uncertainty as a leader.  When you are out front and leading, the path forward is often uncharted and unknown.  You will constantly be operating in an environment in which you’ve never been before.  More often than not, those who choose to follow you will not have been there before either.  You’re out front! Get used to it!!

However, just because you are operating in an area that is new to you and as a result has a high degree of uncertainty doesn’t mean that those who follow you need to feel the uncertainty.  Your job as a leader is to create as much clarity and certainty as possible for those following you.

Fear and Anxiety

When uncertainty is allowed to run rampant in an organization it has a debilitating effect on the people in it.  As humans, we crave safety.  One of the reasons humans have formed into communities and tribes is because of the need for safety.  Simply put, there’s safety in numbers.  However, when people feel unclear and uncertain about the environment they are in feelings of fear and anxiety begin to take root.

In 2012, Google conducted a research project called Aristotle in which they surveyed 50,000 employees in an attempt to gain better understanding of what makes teams successful. What the survey respondents indicated as being highly important to them was psychological safety, dependability, clarity/structure, meaning, and impact.  All five of these are a direct result of your leadership ability to create clarity.

The obvious question becomes “how do you create clarity and minimize uncertainty”. On one hand the reality is that the presence of uncertainty is certain.  There will always be some degree of it, but the goal is to intentionally do whatever you possibly can to create as much clarity as possible.

Uncertainty Next Steps

According to Andy Buck, Author of Leadership Matters: How Leaders at all Levels Create Great Schools the following six techniques are useful in helping you creat clarity as much as possible:

1. Provide reassurance: model certainty.
2. Foster connection: create a shared sense of purpose.
3. Build relationships: use your heart and not just your head.
4. Communicate adnauseum.
5. Be decisive: Don’t wobble.
6. Be agile: Organizational resilience.  

Followers who are clear in the mission, vision, values, as well as the challenges facing the team have a higher propensity to feeling safe.  As a result, they are more inclined to take risks, challenge the status quo, and break from organizational or team paradigms.  Team members who lack clarity will not feel safe, and as a result they will pull back into their proverbial shells to protect themselves.

Perspective

Without clarity, your team will flounder and be unsuccessful.  In turn, you will be unsuccessful.  When there’s a lack of clarity its not their fault, its your’s.  You have the responsibility to create as much clarity as possible and navigate any uncertainty in ways that helps them succeed.  You are the one out front!  You have the best view point to see what’s ahead and the perspective to understand tactical and strategic steps that need to be taken to help the team succeed.

As Andy Stanley indicates, the presence of uncertainty is not in and of itself an indicator of poor leadership.  However, allowing uncertainty to become commonplace is an indicator of poor leadership.  Strong leaders will tell you that they didn’t always have all of the answers when faced with challenges.  However, they will more than likely tell you that in those uncertain times they took the next right step.

The Next Right Thing

Even as a leader you will have many instances in which you don’t’ have answers.  This can be quite unnerving, but putting on a false pretense that you do have the answers is certain disaster.  Honesty in these moments is key.  In the middle of turbulent times you have to give those following you clear and concise information.  You have to ensure they have solid things on which to focus.

This doesn’t mean denial of the challenges, and it certainly doesn’t mean flowery speeches.  It is analogous to a ship’s captain in the middle of the storm focusing on the lighthouse.  The captain certainly isn’t denying that the ship is in turbulent waters, but being focused on the lighthouse provides a high degree of certainty.

Uncertainty is certain!  You can take that to the bank, but allowing it to go unchecked is a recipe for disaster.  This means disaster for the organization, disaster for the people you lead, and disaster for your leadership legacy.  While uncertain times are not fun to go through, they can be the times that you can shine and leave a strong leadership legacy.  Find that lighthouse and use it to create as much certainty as possible.

“Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow.” Tony Schwartz