Uncertainty paralyses humans

Bite sized leadership advice

Uncertainty paralyses humans.

We like predictability so that we can feel in control.

We aren’t comfortable with ambiguity, some of us are just better with accepting our discomfort.

This feeling gets worse in times of change or crisis, when we are unable to predict the outcomes, we lose our sense of security and safety.

If you have ever announced a change to your team, or even organisation wide and wondered why performance has fallen off a cliff, this is the reason why, and it is predictable.

If you are a change maker or leader with teams who need to change, take a long hard look at what is NOT changing, things that your team can ground themselves in.

How can you find something certain to communicate; what isn’t changing, or when certainty will be known.

Consider chunking the change to make it more manageable, step by step.

Watch out for change teams wanting to communicate that this is a ‘BIG change’, it is for them as they have been working on it for months, it does not mean that it is for the targets of the change.

If you don’t want to paralyse your teams, think carefully about how and what you communicate. Find certainty.

This is part of our Leadership Wizdom series, bite sized leadership advice for leaders who wish to improve their leadership, but don’t have much time. For more indepth articles check out The Change Wizard